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Adirondack Railroad

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Coordinates: 44°21′12″N 74°17′20″W / 44.35342°N 74.28885°W / 44.35342; -74.28885

Adirondack Railroad
Adirondack Scenic Railroad
Image-Adirondack Scenic Railroad - Saranac Lake Stn - Front.jpg
Saranac Lake Station
LocaleNew York
Commercial operations
Built byMohawk and Malone Railway
Original gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Preserved operations
Reporting markADIX
Preserved gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Commercial history
1913New York Central takes over
Closed1980
Preserved era1992 -
Preservation history
1992Restoration starts
HeadquartersUtica, NY
Website
adirondackrr.com

The Adirondack Railroad (formerly the Adirondack Scenic Railroad) (reporting mark ADIX)[1] is a tourist railway serving the Adirondack Park, which plans to operate over trackage of the former New York Central Railroad 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 operate between Utica and Thendara, with a few 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 traffic operated by the Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad (MA&N).

History

The line was built in 1892 by , a Vanderbilt in-law,[2] as the Mohawk & Malone Railway and was later purchased by the New York Central Railroad.[3] The New York Central ran passenger trains on the route until April 24, 1965.[4][5] It passed to the Penn Central Transportation Company on February 1, 1968,[6] 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 in Lake Placid. The Adirondack Railway then operated passenger services between Utica and Lake Placid from 1979 to 1981.[7] Tracks were dormant from 1981 until 1992, when restoration began with a 4-mile (6.4 km) 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 Utica–Lake Placid corridor (142 miles [229 km] in length), and did operate from 2000 to 2016 on the short, isolated segment between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid.[8] While this vision was supported by several local communities (most notably Tupper Lake and the Next Stop Tupper Lake[9] organization), opponents called for replacing the Tupper Lake–Lake Placid section with a rail trail.[10] Trackage was slated to be dismantled in late 2016,[11] but was delayed pending resolution of a protracted legal battle.[12] The New York Supreme Court ultimately sided with the railroad on September 26 2017, annulling the rail trail plan in its entirety.[13][14] However, the Adirondack Park Agency was successful in redefining the term "travel corridor" in the Adirondack Park Act in 2020.[15][needs update] As a result, tracks are being lawfully removed since October 2020 to create a rail-trail along the 34-mile (55 km) segment from Tupper Lake to Lake Placid: now planned for completion by 2024.[16] Simultaneously, New York State is renovating the tracks from Big Moose to Tupper Lake, with project completion scheduled for November 2021.[17] The railroad should be serving the entire 108-mile (174 km) Utica–Tupper Lake corridor in 2022.[18]

The railroad changed names from the Adirondack Scenic Railroad to the Adirondack Railroad in 2020.

Gallery

  • ASR #6076

  • NYC caboose, Now in Utica, NY

  • ASR #6076, Lake Placid

  • Remsen Depot. Rebuilt in 1999, on the same site and to the same plans as the original station.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Search MARKs". Railinc. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  2. ^ http://www.shelburnefarms.org
  3. ^ Gove 2006, pp. 65–69
  4. ^ New York Central timetable, October 1964, Table 8, last timetable showing service
  5. ^ Gove, William. 'Logging Railroads in the Adirondacks,' Syracuse, NY: 2006, p. 71.
  6. ^ Railroad and Railfan Magazine, February, 2018 cover story: "Penn Central Fifty Years Later"
  7. ^ Drury 1985, p. 14
  8. ^ http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com, May 4, 2016.
  9. ^ "Next Stop Tupper Lake — Working to bring rail service back to Tupper Lake".
  10. ^ "World-class bikeway envisioned". Adirondack Daily Enterprise. June 3, 2011.
  11. ^ "Governor green-lights rail-trail plan - AdirondackDailyEnterprise.com - News, Sports, Jobs, Saranac Lake region — Adirondack Daily Enterprise".
  12. ^ "Adirondack Scenic Railroad on 'pins and needles,' some rides will begin July 1". NewYorkUpstate.com. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  13. ^ Adirondack Railroad Preservation Society, Inc. v. New York State Adirondack Park Agency (Leilani Ulrich); New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (Basil Seggos); New York State Department of Transportation (Matthew Driscoll), 2016-213 U.S. 16-1-2017-0129 (Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Franklin; September 26, 2017).
  14. ^ Lynch, Mike (September 28, 2017). "Judge Rules In Favor of Adirondack Scenic Railroad". . Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  15. ^ "Adirondack Park Agency to redefine travel corridor". Archived from the original on April 17, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  16. ^ http://www.northcountrypublic radio.org (May 16, 2021)
  17. ^ "Adirondack Railroad looking ahead to expansion of service". WSYR. March 9, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  18. ^ Adirondack Railroad website

References

External links

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