The Kaydeross Railroad, earlier known as the Eastern New York Railroad and Ballston Terminal Railroad, was an
electric-powered trolley line that served industries along the
Kayaderosseras Creek in the town of
Milton,
Saratoga County,
New York. It was a "
terminal railroad
A switching and terminal railroad is a freight railroad company whose primary purpose is to perform local switching services or to own and operate a terminal facility. Switching is a type of operation done within the limits of a yard. It genera ...
", which means it had an interchange at one end (in
Ballston Spa
Ballston Spa is a village and the county seat of Saratoga County, New York, United States, located southwest of Saratoga Springs. The population of the village, named after Rev. Eliphalet Ball, a Congregationalist clergyman and an early settler, w ...
) but terminated without any other interchange.
The railroad's primary purpose was to serve the dozen water-powered paper mills and a large tool factory that were situated along the creek. These included the paper mills and bag factory of "Paper Bag King"
George West, the famous Ballston Scythe & Axe Works of
Isaiah Blood, the paper box mill of the National Folding Paper Box Company, and the straw paper mill of Chauncey Kilmer (later the Cottrell Paper Company).
The railroad was unique for being one of the few trolley railroads in the country to have a primary function of hauling freight cars. At least eight freight cars could be hauled by the George West trolley car to the
Delaware and Hudson Railway interchange track on present day
New York State Route 50
New York State Route 50 (NY 50) is a state highway in the Capital District of New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with NY 5 in Scotia. Its northern terminus is at a junction with ...
.
Construction started in 1896 when an investor group headed by Arthur B. Paine was granted a franchise by the Village of Ballston Spa. By 1902 the railroad reached its greatest extent of twelve miles. It served the villages and hamlets of Ballston Spa,
Bloodville, Factory Village, Craneville, Milton Center,
West Milton,
Rock City Falls
Rock City Falls is a hamlet in the town of Milton, Saratoga County, New York, United States. The principal roads are Route 29 and Rock City Falls Road. The hamlet achieved fame as the origins of Paper Bag King George West, who established his E ...
, and
Middle Grove. A regular schedule was instituted to accommodate passengers.
The railroad was never a financial success. The Ballston Terminal Railroad Corporation declared bankruptcy in 1904, but a new corporation was formed called the Eastern New York Railroad, and operations continued uninterrupted. In 1918 the line was sold to I. W. Wiswall for $25,000 ($430,000 in 2018 dollars). Another reorganization occurred when several paper mill owners banded together and purchased the ailing railroad. It was thereafter called the Kaydeross Railroad. This line operated until 1929, when it shut down for the last time. By then, only three paper mills had survived. However, the railroad served its primary purpose of providing inexpensive transportation and distribution and contributed to the longevity of the industries it served.
[http://www.ballstonhistory.com The Ballston Terminal Railroad And Its Successors; Starr, Timothy, 2007]
Little of the railroad remains today. The brick powerhouse still survives in Factory Village, and approximately one mile of the former railroad bed is now a walking trail in Boice Park in Milton.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaydeross Railroad
Switching and terminal railroads
Defunct New York (state) railroads
Railway companies established in 1918
Railway companies disestablished in 1929
Interurban railways in New York (state)
1918 establishments in New York (state)
1929 disestablishments in New York (state)
American companies established in 1918