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 The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...

at Tupper Lake Junction, just north of Tupper Lake. The road's founder, Dr.

William Seward Webb William Seward Webb (January 31, 1851 – October 29, 1926) was a businessman, and inspector general of the Vermont militia with the rank of colonel. He was a founder and former president of the Sons of the American Revolution. Early life Webb w ...

, was president of the

Wagner Palace Car Company Webster Wagner (October 2, 1817 – January 13, 1882) was an American inventor, manufacturer and politician from New York. Life Wagner was born near Palatine Bridge, New York. He developed a wagon-making business with his brother James. The bu ...

and a Vanderbilt in-law. He began by purchasing the

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

Herkimer, Newport and Poland Railway, which ran from Herkimer to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

converting Converting companies are companies that specialize in modifying or combining raw materials such as polyesters, adhesives, silicone, adhesive tapes, foams, plastics, felts, rubbers, liners and metals, as well as other materials, to create new produ ...

its trackage to , and straightening it to avoid multiple crossings of the

West Canada Creek The West Canada Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in upstate New York, United States. West Canada Creek is an important water way in Hamilt ...

. 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 Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec. The Mohawk and Malone opened in 1892 from

Malone Malone is an Irish surname. From the Irish "''Mael Eóin''", the name means a servant or a disciple of Saint John. People * Gilla Críst Ua Máel Eóin (died 1127), historian and Abbot of Clonmacnoise, Ó Maoil Eoin * Adrian Malone (1937–2 ...

Junction to Childwold Station with a branch from

Lake Clear Lake Clear is a hamlet and a lake in Franklin County, New York, United States. The area is named for Lake Clear, part of the original Seven Carries canoe route. It is located in the town of Harrietstown. In the late 19th century, Lake Clear was ...

Junction to Saranac Lake. The line was sometimes erroneously called the Adirondack and St. Lawrence Railroad (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 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 Midw ...

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

New York Central 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 Midw ...

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 Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...

'' train, and later, the ''Iroquois,'' provided direct sleeping car service from New York City's

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

to Lake Placid. In 1953, the NYC terminated service north of Malone toward Montreal. 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. On April 24, 1965, the NYC ran its final train on the route. 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 The Adirondack Railroad (formerly the Adirondack Scenic 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 ...

. 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 The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

ultimately sided with the railroad on September 26, 2017, annulling the rail trail plan in its entirety. 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. New York State has completed renovation of the long-decayed tracks from Big Moose to Tupper Lake, and the Adirondack Railroad plans to expand passenger service from Utica beyond Thendara and Big Moose to Tupper Lake (108 miles) in Spring, 2023.

Stations

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

Lake Placid station The Lake Placid Station is a former railroad station, built by the Delaware and Hudson Railway in Lake Placid, New York. In the post-World War II period, the NYC's ''North Star'' train, and later, the ''Iroquois,'' provided direct sleeping car ...

*Ray Brook *

Saranac Lake Union Depot 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, ...

*Lake Clear Junction *Tupper Lake *Childwold (service eliminated between 1959 and 1960) *Sabattis *Big Moose * Thendara station (noted on NYC timetables as near Old Forge, a resort village, 1.9 miles to the northeast) *

Remsen station Remsen station is an historic train station in Remsen, New York. It serves as a flag stop on the Adirondack Scenic Railroad and has been serving trains since the 19th century. History In December, 1855, the railway tracks from Utica to Boonvi ...

(service eliminated between 1959 and 1960) *

Utica Union Station 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. The station ...

References

External links

Prototype History - The Adirondack Line''New York Times'', "FINANCIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS.; Mohawk and Malone Bonds." May 13, 1893.''New York Times'', "NOW FOR THE ADIRONDACKS.; DR. WEBB'S RAILROAD OPEN FOR BUSINESS." June 26, 1892Details for several of line's stations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohawk Malone Railway Defunct New York (state) railroads Railway companies established in 1892 Railway companies disestablished in 1913 Predecessors of the New York Central Railroad 3 ft gauge railways in the United States Subdivisions of the New York Central Railroad

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

Stations

See also

References

External links