The Adirondack Railroad (formerly the Adirondack Scenic Railroad) is a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

serving the

Adirondack Park The Adirondack Park is a park in northeastern New York (state), New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At , ...

that operates over former

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

trackage between Utica and Tupper Lake. The railroad is operated by the not-for-profit Adirondack Railroad Preservation Society, with train crews composed largely of volunteers. ADIX operates between Utica and Remsen over trackage of the Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad, part of the Genesee Valley Transportation Company. The Remsen–Tupper Lake segment is owned by the State of New York and is designated as a multi-use corridor for rail traffic during the spring, summer, and fall seasons, and as a snowmobile trail during the winter months. As of 2021, passenger trains operated between Utica and Thendara, with several trains continuing north to Big Moose. Historic stations have been restored in Holland Patent, Remsen, Saranac Lake and Lake Placid. The section of track between Utica and Lyons Falls is used for

freight In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...

traffic operated by the Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad (MA&N).

History

The line was built in 1892 by

William Seward Webb William Seward Webb (January 31, 1851 – October 29, 1926) was a businessman, and inspector general of the Vermont militia with the rank of colonel. He was a founder and former president of the Sons of the American Revolution. Early life Webb ...

, a Vanderbilt in-law, as the Mohawk & Malone Railway and was purchased from him in 1893 by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. Its successor from 1913, the New York Central Railroad, ran passenger trains on the route until April 24, 1965. It passed to the

Penn Central Transportation Company The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania Railroad, ...

on February 1, 1968, which abandoned freight operations north of Remsen in 1972. New York State bought the entire Utica-Lake Placid line from the bankrupt Penn Central in 1974, primarily to serve the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

in Lake Placid. The Adirondack Railway then operated passenger services between Utica and Lake Placid from 1979 to 1981. Tracks were dormant from 1981 until 1992, when restoration began with a section from Thendara to Minnehaha, New York. The section was approved and demonstrated on July 4, 1992, and the line was given the name Adirondack Centennial Railroad. It was renamed Adirondack Scenic Railroad in 1994. The railroad had formerly planned to restore passenger operations over the entire length of the Utica–Lake Placid corridor, and did operate from 2000 to 2016 on the segment between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid. Other advocates in the area called for replacing the Tupper Lake–Lake Placid section with a

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

instead. Tracks were slated to be dismantled in late 2016, but their removal was delayed by legal battles between the railroad advocates, rail trail advocates, and the state. The

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

ultimately sided with the railroad on September 26, 2017, annulling the rail trail plan. However, in the subsequent Adirondack Park Act, the term "travel corridor" was redefined to include a trail in place of a rail line, reviving the option of a rail trail. The tracks on the Tupper Lake-Lake Placid section were removed in October 2020. Concurrently, New York State renovated the tracks from Big Moose to Tupper Lake. The first train ran over the entire Utica–Tupper Lake corridor in September 2022, and regular scheduled tourist excursion service began in late spring, 2023. The name was changed again to the Adirondack Railroad in 2020.

Gallery

Image:Adirondack Scenic RR engine 6076.jpg, ASR #6076 Image:New York Central Caboose, Adk Scenic RR.jpg, NYC caboose, Now in Utica, NY Image:Adirondack Scenic RR engine 6076 at Lake Placid.JPG, ASR #6076, Lake Placid Image:Adirondack Scenic Railroad - Saranac Lake Stn.jpg, Saranac Lake Union Depot File:Remsen Depot 2005.jpg, Remsen Depot. Rebuilt in 1999, on the same site and to the same plans as the original station.

Notes

References

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External links

Adirondack Railroad website

Adirondack Rail Trail website

Wikimapia - Saranac Lake to Lake Placid

Wikimapia - Thendara to Utica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adirondack Scenic Railroad Heritage railroads in New York (state) Tourist attractions in Essex County, New York Tourist attractions in Franklin County, New York Tourist attractions in Herkimer County, New York Tourist attractions in Oneida County, New York Transportation in Essex County, New York Transportation in Franklin County, New York Transportation in Herkimer County, New York Transportation in Oneida County, New York Adirondack Park Saranac Lake, New York

History

Gallery

See also

Notes

References

External links