Adirondack Railroad
{{short description|Tourist railway in upstate New York}}
{{distinguish|Adirondack (train)}}
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{{Update|date=June 2020|reason=need new logo}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox heritage railway
| name = Adirondack Railroad
| other_name = Adirondack Scenic Railroad
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| image_name = Image-Adirondack Scenic Railroad - Saranac Lake Stn - Front.jpg
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| caption = Saranac Lake station
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| locale = New York
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| builtby = Mohawk and Malone Railway
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| originalgauge = {{RailGauge|ussg|allk=on}}
| owned =
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| marks = ADIX
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| preservedgauge = {{RailGauge|ussg|allk=on}}
| era = 1992 -
| com-years = 1913
| com-events = New York Central takes over
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| closedpassengers =
| closed = 1980
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| years = 1992
| events = Restoration starts
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| headquarters = Utica, NY
| website = [https://adirondackrr.com adirondackrr.com]
| routemap = {{Adirondack Scenic Railroad}}
| routemap_name =
| routemap_state = expanded
}}
The Adirondack Railroad (formerly the Adirondack Scenic Railroad) {{reporting mark|ADIX}}{{Cite web |title=Search MARKs |url=https://www.railinc.com/findusrail/pub/mark/search.do?fwd=init |access-date=15 October 2016 |website=Railinc |archive-date=July 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715150949/https://www.railinc.com/findusrail/pub/mark/search.do?fwd=init |url-status=dead }} is a heritage railway serving the Adirondack Park that operates over former New York Central Railroad 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 traffic operated by the Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad (MA&N).
History
The line was built in 1892 by William Seward Webb, a Vanderbilt in-law,{{cite web |url=http://www.shelburnefarms.org/ |title=Home |website=shelburnefarms.org}}{{nonspecific|date=October 2024}} as the Mohawk & Malone Railway and was purchased from him in 1893 by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad.{{Harvnb|Gove|2006|pp=65–69}} Its successor from 1913, the New York Central Railroad, ran passenger trains on the route until April 24, 1965.New York Central timetable, October 1964, Table 8, last timetable showing serviceGove, William. 'Logging Railroads in the Adirondacks,' Syracuse, NY: 2006, p. 71. It passed to the Penn Central Transportation Company on February 1, 1968,Railroad and Railfan Magazine, February, 2018 cover story: "Penn Central Fifty Years Later" 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.{{Harvnb|Drury|1985|p=14}} Tracks were dormant from 1981 until 1992, when restoration began with a {{convert|4|mi|km|adj=on}} 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 {{convert|142|mi|adj=on}} length of the Utica–Lake Placid corridor, and did operate from 2000 to 2016 on the {{convert|8|mi|adj=on}} segment between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid.http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com, May 4, 2016.{{nonspecific|date=October 2024}} Other advocates in the area called for replacing the Tupper Lake–Lake Placid section with a rail trail instead.{{Cite news |date=June 3, 2011 |title=World-class bikeway envisioned |work=Adirondack Daily Enterprise |url=http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/524854/World-class-bikeway-envisioned.html}} Tracks were slated to be dismantled in late 2016,{{Cite web |title=Governor green-lights rail-trail plan - AdirondackDailyEnterprise.com - News, Sports, Jobs, Saranac Lake region — Adirondack Daily Enterprise |url=http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/562507/Governor-green-lights-rail-trail-plan.html?nav=5047}} but their removal was delayed by legal battles between the railroad advocates, rail trail advocates, and the state.{{Cite news |title=Adirondack Scenic Railroad on 'pins and needles,' some rides will begin July 1 |language=en-US |work=NewYorkUpstate.com |url=http://www.newyorkupstate.com/adirondacks/2017/06/adirondack_scenic_railroad_on_pins_and_needles_some_rides_will_begin_july_1.html |access-date=2017-06-23}} The New York Supreme Court ultimately sided with the railroad on September 26, 2017, annulling the rail trail plan.{{cite court | litigants =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) | vol = 2016-213 | reporter = U.S. | opinion = 16-1-2017-0129 | pinpoint =| court = Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Franklin; | date = September 26, 2017 | url= https://s3.amazonaws.com/ogden_images/www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/images/2017/09/27201417/170928RRCourtOrder.pdf}}{{Cite news |last=Lynch |first=Mike |date=September 28, 2017 |title=Judge Rules In Favor of Adirondack Scenic Railroad |work=The Adirondack Explorer |url=https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/judge-rules-favor-adirondack-scenic-railroad |access-date=2017-10-16}} 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.{{Cite web |title=Adirondack Park Agency to redefine travel corridor |url=http://www.adirondackrr.com/adkrr/adirondack-park-agency-to-redefine-travel-corridor/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417191835/http://www.adirondackrr.com/adkrr/adirondack-park-agency-to-redefine-travel-corridor/ |archive-date=April 17, 2018 |access-date=2018-04-17}} The tracks on the {{convert|34|mi|adj=mid}} Tupper Lake-Lake Placid section were removed in October 2020.http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org (May 16, 2021){{nonspecific|date=October 2024}}
Concurrently, New York State renovated the tracks from Big Moose to Tupper Lake.{{Cite web |date=2021-03-09 |title=Adirondack Railroad looking ahead to expansion of service |url=https://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/adirondack-railroad-looking-ahead-to-expansion-of-service/ |access-date=2021-06-22 |website=WSYR |language=en-US}} The first train ran over the entire {{convert|108|mi|adj=mid}} Utica–Tupper Lake corridor in September 2022, and regular scheduled tourist excursion service began in late spring, 2023.{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Michael |title=New train line connects Utica and Tupper Lake |url=https://www.mychamplainvalley.com/local-news/new-york/new-train-line-connects-utica-and-tupper-lake/ |access-date=11 October 2022 |work=ABC22 & FOX44 |date=13 September 2022}}{{cite web |author1=Railroading Rambler |title=1st Revenue Run in 42 Years! Utica-Tupper Lake NY |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FBJVGJGTdc |website=YouTube |access-date=October 21, 2022 |language=en-US |date=October 17, 2022}} 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.
See also
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
- {{Drury Historical Guide 1985}}
- {{Cite book |last=Gove |first=Bill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vuHYYmmnL1QC |title=Logging Railroads of the Adirondacks |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2006 |isbn=0-8156-0794-6 |location=Syracuse, NY |oclc=61881113}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://www.adirondackrr.com/ Adirondack Railroad website]
- [https://www.adirondackrailtrail.org/ Adirondack Rail Trail website]
- [http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=44.304196&lon=-74.054031&z=13&l=0&m=m Wikimapia - Saranac Lake to Lake Placid]
- [http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=43.580391&lon=-75.06546&z=11&l=0&m=m Wikimapia - Thendara to Utica]
{{City of Utica, New York}}
{{coord|44.35342|-74.28885|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=title}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adirondack Scenic Railroad}}
Category:Heritage railroads in New York (state)
Category:Tourist attractions in Essex County, New York
Category:Tourist attractions in Franklin County, New York
Category:Tourist attractions in Herkimer County, New York
Category:Tourist attractions in Oneida County, New York
Category:Transportation in Essex County, New York
Category:Transportation in Franklin County, New York
Category:Transportation in Herkimer County, New York