Adirondack Railroad

The Adirondack Railroad (formerly the Adirondack Scenic Railroad) (reporting mark ADIX)[1] (ASR) is a tourist railway located in the Adirondack Park that operates over trackage of the former New York Central Railroad between Utica and Lake Placid. The railroad is operated by the not-for-profit Adirondack Railroad Preservation Society, with train crews composed largely of volunteers.

Adirondack Railroad
Adirondack Scenic Railroad
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

ADIX operates between Utica and Remsen over trackage of the Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad, part of the Genesee Valley Transportation Company. The Remsen-Lake Placid segment is owned by the state of New York and 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.

Passenger trains operate between Utica and Thendara. Historic stations have been restored in Holland Patent, Remsen, Saranac Lake and Lake Placid. The section of track between Utica and Lions Falls is used for freight traffic. The freight traffic service is operated by Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad (MA&N).

History

The line was built in 1892 by William Seward Webb as the Mohawk & Malone Railway and later purchased by the New York Central Railroad.[2] The New York Central ran passenger trains on the route until April 24, 1965.[3][4] It passed to the Penn Central Transportation Company, which abandoned operations north of Remsen in 1972. The Adirondack Railway operated passenger services between Utica and Lake Placid from 1979 to 1981.[5] 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. At that point, the line was named the Adirondack Centennial Railroad. It was later renamed as the Adirondack Scenic Railroad in 1994.

The railroad planned to restore passenger operations over the entire Utica-Lake Placid corridor. While this vision is supported by several local communities (most notably Tupper Lake and the Next Stop Tupper Lake[6] organization), opponents called for replacing the Tupper Lake–Lake Placid section with a rail trail.[7] Trackage was slated to be dismantled in the Fall of 2016,[8] but was delayed pending resolution of a protracted legal battle.[9] The New York state Supreme Court ultimately sided with the railroad on September 26, 2017, annulling the rail trail plan in its entirety.[10][11] As of Spring 2018 the Adirondack Park Agency is seeking to redefine the term "travel corridor".[12]

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

  • ASR #6076
  • NYC caboose, Now in Utica, NY
  • ASR #6076, Lake Placid
  • Saranac Lake Union Depot
  • 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. Gove 2006, pp. 65–69
  3. New York Central timetable, October 1964, Table 8, last timetable showing service
  4. Gove, William. 'Logging Railroads in the Adirondacks,' Syracuse, NY: 2006, p. 71.
  5. Drury 1985, p. 14
  6. "Next Stop Tupper Lake — Working to bring rail service back to Tupper Lake".
  7. "World-class bikeway envisioned". Adirondack Daily Enterprise. June 3, 2011.
  8. "Governor green-lights rail-trail plan - AdirondackDailyEnterprise.com - News, Sports, Jobs, Saranac Lake region — Adirondack Daily Enterprise".
  9. "Adirondack Scenic Railroad on 'pins and needles,' some rides will begin July 1". NewYorkUpstate.com. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  10. 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).
  11. Lynch, Mike (September 28, 2017). "Judge Rules In Favor of Adirondack Scenic Railroad". The Adirondack Explorer. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  12. "Adirondack Park Agency to redefine travel corridor". Archived from the original on April 17, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2018.

References
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