Mohawk and Malone Railway

Last updated
Mohawk and Malone Railway
Mohawk and Malone Railway
Overview
LocaleNorthern Adirondacks at Tupper Lake Junction
Dates of operation18921913
PredecessorHerkimer, Newport and Poland Railway
Successor New York Central
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Previous gauge
originally 3 ft (914 mm) gauge
Gold bond of the Mohawk and Malone Railway Company, issued 1. March 1902 Mohawk and Malone Railway 1902.jpg
Gold bond of the Mohawk and Malone Railway Company, issued 1. March 1902

The Mohawk and Malone Railway was a railroad that ran from the New York Central Railroad's main line at Herkimer north to Malone, crossing the northern Adirondacks at Tupper Lake Junction, just north of Tupper Lake. The road's founder, Dr. William Seward Webb, was president of the Wagner Palace Car Company and a Vanderbilt in-law. He began by purchasing the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge Herkimer, Newport and Poland Railway, which ran 16 miles (26 km) from Herkimer to Poland, converting its trackage to 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge , and straightening it to avoid multiple crossings of the West Canada Creek. He then had track built from Tupper Lake to Moira and thence to Malone. A separate company, the St. Lawrence and Adirondack Railway (also controlled by Webb), completed the line to Montreal, Quebec. [1]

Contents

The Mohawk and Malone opened in 1892 from Malone Junction to Childwold Station with a branch from Lake Clear Junction to Saranac Lake. The line was sometimes erroneously called the Adirondack and St. Lawrence Railroad [2] (even though a separate company with this name also operated in this time). After 1893, it was controlled by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. [3]

In 1913, it merged with the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad as the "Adirondack Division" of the New York Central.

Use for regional New York Central passenger train service in the 20th century

Through the first half of the 20th century, the New York Central ran day and night trains on the route for service from Utica to Montreal via Lake Clear Junction and Malone. In the post-World War II period, the NYC's North Star train, and later, the Iroquois, provided direct sleeping car service from New York City's Grand Central Terminal to Lake Placid. In 1953, the NYC terminated service north of Malone toward Montreal. [4] [5] In mid-1957, the company cut mainline service back from Malone to Lake Clear Junction, with all service terminating on the Lake Placid branch that left the division's main route at Lake Clear Junction. [6] [7] On April 24, 1965, the NYC ran its final train on the route. [8] [9]

In the 1990s, service on the southern segment of the route between Utica and Thendara would return with tourist excursions run by the Adirondack Scenic Railroad. In the mid-2010s, the State of New York attempted to convert most of the Utica-Lake Placid segment to a rail trail. However, the Adirondack Railroad successfully won an effort in court to resist rail removal. 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] In 2020, pro-trail advocates persuaded the New York State Legislature to amend the Adirondack Park Act to allow removal of former NYC tracks from Tupper Lake to Lake Placid (34 miles) and to build a new rail-trail there instead, thus negating the prior Court decisions. Track removal occurred between October, 2020 and November, 2021, with trail completion planned in 2024. When the State completes renovation of the long-decayed tracks from Big Moose to Tupper Lake, planned for late 2021, the Adirondack Railroad plans to expand passenger service from Utica to Tupper Lake (108 miles) in 2022. [12]

Stations

Stations served in final years of passenger service, 1957 to 1965

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin County, New York</span> County in New York, United States

Franklin County is a county on the northern border of the U.S. state of New York. To the north across the Canada–United States border are the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, from east to west. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 47,555. Its county seat is Malone. The county is named in honor of United States Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herkimer County, New York</span> County in New York, United States

Herkimer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,139. Its county seat is Herkimer. The county was created in 1791 north of the Mohawk River out of part of Montgomery County. It is named after General Nicholas Herkimer, who died from battle wounds in 1777 after taking part in the Battle of Oriskany during the Revolutionary War.

Webb, New York Town in New York, United States

Webb is the northernmost town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,807.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Central Railroad</span> American Class I railroad (1853-1968)

The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midwest, along with the intermediate cities of Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, and Syracuse. New York Central was headquartered in New York City's New York Central Building, adjacent to its largest station, Grand Central Terminal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adirondack Park</span> Part of Forest Preserve in Northeastern U.S.

The Adirondack Park is a part of New York's Forest Preserve in northeastern New York, United States. The park was established in 1892 for “the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure”, and for watershed protection. The park's boundary roughly corresponds with the Adirondack Mountains. Unlike most state parks, about 52 percent of the land is privately owned inholdings. State lands within the park are known as Forest Preserve. Land use on public and private lands in the park is regulated by the Adirondack Park Agency. This area contains 102 towns and villages, as well as numerous farms, businesses and an active timber-harvesting industry. The year-round population is 132,000, with 200,000 seasonal residents. The inclusion of human communities makes the park one of the great experiments in conservation in the industrialized world. The Forest Preserve was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad</span> Railroad in New York (state)

The Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad was a railroad that grew, in stages, from Rome, New York to Watertown and then to Ogdensburg, New York and Massena, New York. The original Rome and Watertown Railroad terminated in Cape Vincent, NY on the St. Lawrence River. A branch of the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad, commonly known as "The Hojack Line", operated along the south shore of Lake Ontario, from Oswego, New York to Niagara Falls, New York.

Tupper Lake (village), New York City in New York, United States

Tupper Lake is a village in Franklin County, New York, United States. The population was 3,667 at the 2010 census. The village is located within the boundaries of the Adirondack Park, west of Lake Placid. Along with nearby Saranac Lake, these three villages make up what is known as the Tri-Lakes region.

The New York and Ottawa Railway was a railway connecting Tupper Lake in northeastern New York to Ottawa, Ontario, via Ramsayville, Russell, Embrun, Finch and Cornwall. It became part of the New York Central Railroad system in 1913, although it was under the larger company's possession since the end of 1904. It had started-out as the Northern Adirondack Railroad and evolved into the Northern New York Railroad, the New York and Ottawa Railroad, and was last known as the New York and Ottawa Railway before being merged into the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. Other lines that were a part of this route are described below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adirondack Railroad</span> Tourist railway in upstate New York

The Adirondack Railroad 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.

Thendara, New York United States historic place

Thendara is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Herkimer County, New York, United States. Thendara is located in the Adirondack Park, in the southern part of the town of Webb, west of Old Forge on Route 28.

Union Station (Utica, New York)

The Boehlert Transportation Center at Union Station is a train station served by Amtrak and the Adirondack Railroad in Utica, New York. It is owned by Oneida County, and named for retired U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-New Hartford.

Massawepie Lake Body of water

Massawepie Lake is a lake located in the town of Piercefield, in southern St. Lawrence County, New York, approximately 12 miles (19 km) southwest of the village of Tupper Lake, New York. The lake is also surrounded by the Massawepie Scout Camps. The name of the lake is of Iroquois origin, meaning "the beaver's lake". The outlet flows west into the South Branch Grass River.

Lake Clear is a hamlet and a lake in Franklin County, New York, United States. The area is named for 940-acre (3.8 km2) Lake Clear, part of the original Seven Carries canoe route. It is located in the town of Harrietstown.

Beaver River is a hamlet that is six-tenths of a mile square, at the east end of Stillwater Reservoir, in the town of Webb in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The hamlet is surrounded by the Adirondack Park. The hamlet has a year-round population of eight that increases during the summer, as many people have camps in this wilderness area. There are 125 private properties and three commercial businesses. No roads lead to the hamlet; it is accessible only by hiking, small self-propelled private track speeder or boat in the summer and by snowmobile, snowshoes or cross country skis in the winter. There is no electrical service. The town is named for the Beaver River, which was impounded to form the Stillwater Reservoir. The Beaver River is a west-flowing tributary of the Black River and part of the Lake Ontario watershed. The former New York Central Railroad right of way, on the National Register of Historic Places, passes through the hamlet; an existing bunkhouse is a part of the historic property. The Adirondack Railroad will resume tourist passenger service from Utica to Tupper Lake, via Beaver River, in 2022: 41 years since the last passenger train ran on its trackage. The last New York Central Railroad passenger train left Beaver River on April 24, 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thendara station</span>

Thendara station is the Adirondack Scenic Railroad's longest-duration northern terminus, and is near Thendara, New York. It is served by trains heading south to Utica beginning around the month of May each year. Trains continue along the 57-mile route along the Moose River in Adirondack Park. In the Winter, the right-of-way is used as a major snowmobile trail in the area after trains stop running in October. The resort village of Old Forge is 1.9 miles northeast of Thendara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saranac Lake Union Depot</span>

Saranac Lake Union Depot is a former New York Central Railroad station in Saranac Lake, New York. It was built in 1904 by the Delaware and Hudson Railway. In its heyday, the station served several daily trains going north to Malone, New York, on to Montreal, Quebec, and south to Utica, New York and Grand Central Terminal in New York City. Passenger coaches went direct from New York City to Saranac Lake until late 1952 or early 1953. Direct sleeping cars from trains such as North Star and then Iroquois continued as late as 1964 to the station. Tourist trains were operated on the 8-mile sector between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid by the Adirondack Railroad between 2000 and 2016. The tracks were removed in 2022 to enable construction of a rail-trail between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake, to be completed in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Placid station</span>

The Lake Placid Station is a former New York Central Railroad station, originally built by the Delaware and Hudson Railway, in Lake Placid, New York.

The Adirondack Railway was a short-lived tourist railroad which operated in northeastern New York. The company was founded in 1976 to operate a disused railway line owned by New York State since 1974. It operated trains between 1979–1981, including from Utica to Lake Placid, New York, for the 1980 Winter Olympics, before multiple derailments led to the end of service. The route is now operated by the Adirondack Railroad from Utica to Thendara and Big Moose, New York, which will extend service to Tupper Lake by 2022 after New York State completes track renovation northeast from Big Moose: scheduled for November, 2021.

The North Star was a named night train, train #21, 1947–1962, of the New York Central Railroad (NYC) that went from Grand Central Terminal of New York City to Union Terminal of Cleveland, Ohio. It was distinctive in the history of the New York Central's history of service to the North Country of New York State, because it was the longest lasting train in the NYC's later decades that hosted sleeping cars that went continuous from New York City to Lake Placid in the Adirondacks. Predecessor trains in the pre-World War II period carrying direct sleeping cars to the Adirondacks included the Niagara (#29) and the Ontarian.

References

  1. Commission, United States Interstate Commerce (1930). Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States. Valuation reports. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  2. Kudish, Michael, Where Did the Tracks Go in the Central Adirondacks?, Volume Two, Purple Mountain Press, Fleischmanns, New York, 2007. ISBN   978-1-930098-81-7.
  3. Raymond W. Smith (October 1993). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: New York Central Railroad Adirondack Division Historic District". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation . Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  4. New York Central timetable, December 1952, Table 42
  5. New York Central timetable, April 1953, Table 42
  6. New York Central timetable, April 1957, Table 42
  7. New York Central timetable, October 1957, Table 42
  8. New York Central timetable, October 1964, Table 8, last timetable showing service
  9. Gove, William. 'Logging Railroads in the Adirondacks,' Syracuse, NY: 2006, p. 71.
  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), 2016-213U.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 2017-10-16.
  12. Adirondack Railroad website and New York State DEC press release.
  13. "New York Central System, Table 55". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 91 (11). April 1959.
  14. "New York Central System, Table 41, absent from trains on table". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 92 (12). May 1960.
  15. "New York Central System, Table 55". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 91 (11). April 1959.
  16. "New York Central System, Table 41, absent from trains on table". Official Guide of the Railways. National Railway Publication Company. 92 (12). May 1960.