I awoke early and had to go to the lobby twice to upload the pictures and stories since the Internet would not work in the room at the Utica Days Inn. Once I did that, Randy, Cathy, Dave and I all went out to Denny's where I made a great Grand Slam Breakfast. Dave offered to keep our luggage in his car during the trip so David, Randy and I walked over to Utica Union Station and when on the bridge over the tracks, we stopped for pictures.
This was the same train as yesterday, except for Adirondack Scenic FP10 1502 would be on the point of our train to Lyon Falls. From here we walked back to the train and after checking in with Sarah, I went to get a few pre-departure pictures.
Adirondack Scenic Railroad FP10 1502, ex. Metro North FP10 412, exx. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 1151, nee Gulf, Mobile and Ohio F3A 884A built by Electro-Motive Division in 1947.
Adirondack Scenic Railroad herald.
Our train waiting to depart Utica.
A Brief HistoryIn 1832, the Black River Company was created to build from Rome or Herkimer to Ogdensburg. However, nothing was accomplished and in 1853, the Black River & Utica Railroad was created to build between those two places. By 1855, the railroad opened from Utica to Boonville. Following a foreclosure sale in 1858, the BR&U was reorganized in 1861 as the Utica & Black River, with plans to build further north with plans to eventually reach Montreal.
Over the next few years, the Utica & Black River created a number of additional companies to build sections of the line. For example, in 1872, the line had been expanded northward to Carthage, with connections to Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. By the mid 1880's, many of these lines were absorbed by the U&BR and the railroad was leased in 1885 by the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad and merged in 1886.
In 1891, the RW&O was leased by the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad. In 1913 the RW&O was merged into the NYC&HR, which became the New York Central Railroad then became New York Central in 1914. In 1964, the New York Central abandoned the line between Lyon Falls and Lowville. Below Remsen, the Utica to Lake Placid passenger service ended in 1965. In 1970, the Penn Central removed the Lyons Branch between Remsen and Snow Junction since it and the Adirondack Branch tracks ran parallel.
In 1991, the Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad purchased the Conrail's Lyons Branches and Newton Falls secondary. Today, the MHWA, a part of the Genesee Valley Transportation System, still operates the line from Utica, past Snow Junction to Lyon Falls. The railroad also hauls stone from a quarry located north of Forestport on the Adirondack Scenic Line. MHWA uses a fleet of Alco locomotives, based in Utica, and serves the line as necessary, generally one to two weekdays per week.
The Trip
My ticket to ride today. I was working on yesterday's story as we departed.
The Hotel Utica where some members of our group stayed. The train rolled north to Holland Patent where we detrained for a photo runby.
Our train posed in Holland Patent before the photo runby.
Photo runby.
New York Central Holland Patent station built in 1892.
Posed pictures.
Two views of Adirondack Scenic Railroad 1502.
This truck was delivering to the lumber yard here when he cut his turn too tight and hit the power pole, causing the pole to shake and it pulled off the yarning from the house across the street while we were posing our train.
I returned to the open door baggage car as we were leaving Snow Junction.
Views along our route to Lyon Falls.
The view ahead.
Milepost U27.
Another pond along our route.
We took the next curve.
The train passed beneath this wooden bridge as we continued north this morning.
More of the Upper New York scenery.
A New York railfan catching our train south of Boonville.
Lumber yard activities.
Two more views as we continued north.
Crossing the Black River Canal, which is 77 miles long and was an engineering marvel of the 19th century. Built between 1837 and 1855, the Black River Canal ran uphill, connecting the waters of the Erie Canal with those of Black River. The southern section of the overland canal linked Rome and Boonville, a distance of 25 miles.
Taking another curve.
More tree blossoms.
An interesting pedestrian bridge over the Black River Canal.
Circuit Crossing stop sign.
Boonville Black River Canal Museum.
Black River Canal.
The Boonville Covered Bridge built by Robert Klossner and H.N. (Mac) Waterman in 2005. It is a 70 foot long, single-span structure which incorporates the Town lattice truss design.
New York Central Boonville station built in 1910.
A canal lock wall along our route.
No rain yet today, which we were all loving.
Our train came to the Sugar River bridge and after crossing it, we stopped for a photo runby.
