After Randy and I arose at the Best Western at Lake George and had breakfast, we drove northwest to North Creek, parked the rental car and I started to explore before we boarded the first of our rare mileage trips.
Upper Hudson River Railroad RS36 5019, ex. Southwind Rail Transportation Ltd. 5019, nee Delaware and Hudson 5019 built by American Locomotive Company in 1963.
Upper Hudson River Railroad S1 5 built by American Locomotive Company in 1947 was the switcher at their plant in Schenectady.
Our Excursion Train
Our train consisted of S1 5, Canadian National coach 4970, Upper Hudson River open air car 107, Canadian National coach 5038, Canadian National coach 5033, Upper Hudson River open air 108 and Upper Hudson River caboose 100.
Upper Hudson River caboose 100, nee Lehigh Valley 95018 built in 1942.
The rear end of our excursion train today.
Upper Hudson River caboose 101, ex. Conrail 24548, nee Penn Central 24548 built by International Car in 1971.
Bart Jennings, Greg Molloy and the conductor chatted before departure time.
A Brief History
In 1848, the Sackets Harbor & Saratoga Railroad was organized to connect the two towns and tap an iron mines at Sanford Lake. Surveys were made in 1853 and in 1854 ground was broken. The company was reorganized as the Lake Ontario & Hudson River Railroad in 1857. In 1860 it was reorganized again into the Adirondack Estate & Railroad Company. Construction of the railroad in 1865 reached Saratoga Springs. Funds for construction ran out after reaching Wolf Creek in late 1865. On November 1, 1865, the company was seized for non-payment of $1.3 million in bills.
New track work began during late spring of 1866 with the goals of reaching traffic sources at Warrensburg and North Creek. In 1871 service began to North Creek. On September 29, 1881 the railroad failed again this time with 10 million dollars in interest payments and bonds. On June 11, 1889, the line was sold to the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company with complete control not taking place until 1902. At that time it became known as the Adirondack Branch of the Delaware Hudson Railroad. North Creek was the northern end of the line until the development of titanium and iron mines and processing plant beside Lake Sanford. On May 29, 1957, the last regular passenger train operated over the line. Fall foliage, ski trains and numerous excursion trains operated over the branch until early 1980's. On November 7, 1989, rail service to the ore mines ended with a 58 car ore train pulled by four engines, leaving just International Paper Company in Cornith as the last on-line rail shipper.
In 2003, IP closed their Cornith Mill and all service on the line ended. To preserve the line, in 2006 the Town of Cornith bought 16 miles of the line for 2.2 Million dollars. In 1998, Warren County bought the track to run excursion trains in interest of tourism and economic development. In 1999, the Upper Hudson River Railroad was contracted to run excursion trains over 8.5 miles from North Creek to Riverside Station. The track was later rebuilt from Riverside to Hadley. Today, the railroad operates from the 90 foot turntable in North Creek southward to the 96 foot high bridge in Hadley.
The Trip
Our trip would follow the Hudson River south to Cornith.
Views of the Upper Hudson River.
At some locations, there are trees between the river and the train.
The bridge we had driven across on the way to North Creek. We arrived at Riparius and detrained for the first photo runby of the morning.
The highway bridge that we would use to photograph the train.
The reverse move, after which I moved forward to the grade crossing.
The photo runby at Riparius.
The Delaware & Hudson station built in 1913 and is a one-story, rectangular, hipped roof frame building with covered platforms at each end. A baggage room was added between 1915 and 1924 and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997 as the Riverside Train Station.
We all reboarded the train.
A view as we departed Riparius.
Cabins across the Hudson River.
Views along the Hudson River.
Rounding a curve.
Views along the Hudson River.
Mill Creek.
The Hudson River on a beautiful late spring day.
The highway bridge across the Hudson River.
The highway heads to the bridge.
A new platform at Thurman, buit in 2009, for the North End Local.
Views along the Hudson River.
Curving into Stony Creek.
More river views.
