NYC Passenger Train Service on the Adirondack and St. Lawrence Divisions

[bill613a]

I rode the Adirondack Scenic Railroad this past weekend.  At the depot/museum in Thendara they had various NYC memorabilia regarding the area service but nothing or no one had info as to the last passenger train service here. The October 1964 timetable lists a thru sleeper to Lake Placid and then it is gone in the April 1965 timetable. Was it gone before the timetable change and when did service to Watertown, Canton and Potsdam cease?

[rcdrye]

The sleeper was originally supposed to become winter only but was never restored, with all Lake Placid service ending in 1966.  St Lawrence Division passenger service ended in 1961.

[daveklepper]

Bill, can you give us a report on your ride?  With or without photos?

[bill613a]

Using my AGR points I travelled business class Cleveland-Utica. The LSL was OT all the way EB.  Thursday and Saturday were the only scheduled runs so I over nighted in Utica. Just north of the station is the main drag (Genesee St) which had several motels and restaurants. Whereas Friday was a nice sunny day Saturday was rainy and miserable so I took a cab from the motel to the station.

Utica Union Station is quite an interesting facility as it not only hosts ATK and the ASR but also Greyhound/Trailways.  In addition there are several municipal departments (DMV) located there also plus a barbershop and small snack stand. In the NW corner of the station is the Trackside Restaurant which features fine dining.  They started to load up the train at  9:15 and we left about 20 minutes later. There are two classes, first class and coach, of which I opted for coach ($40 instead of $60) as I figured I'd chow down in Old Forge.

It was slow going the first few miles but we spent the next two hours going to a reasonable clip. The coach I was in must have been recently purchased from the NS excursion fleet as it had non-reclining sofa seats and was still in NS colors. The car road well and several people wandered back from first class and said our car was much roomier.  There was very little color change but it was still  scenic. At Thendara most of the people detrained for the short bus ride to Old Forge while some stayed on to Big Moose Lake and a luncheon.  While in the station and on the train most of the comments regarding Old Forge was that it was too touristy. I coulldn't have disagreed more as I viewed it as another slice of Americana especially since as a native New Yorker I had never heard of this place.  Icing on the cake was that today they were hosting a regional Fire Dept event so there was a parade for no extra charge. There were plenty of places to shop and eat.  I had lunch at Walt's Diner, a local favorite. Before I headed back to the bus pick up point point I stopped in the local movie theater, the Strand.  Vintage in every sense of the word and the manager was kind enough to let me look around. This gentleman had the most extensive collection of camera and video equipment I have ever seen in addition to old movie posters.  Definitely museum quality.  While waiting for the train back some people were saying the next month or so would see huge crowds with the arrival of the leaf peekers.  

The trip back was uneventful although one of the car hosts said half the train was zonked out from all the walking and shopping.  If you do this trip you'll need comfortable shoes. I had a two hour layover before the wb LSL was due in so I sampled the fare at the Trackside Restaurant in the station and it didn't. disappoint. The LSL was about 30 minutes late.  The attendant in the Cafe/BC car was johnny on spot and brought me my complimentary drink and travel kit. We were only a few minutes late into Cleveland as the LSL scorched the rails. I would highly recommend the ASR.

As an addendum to my original post in Geoffrey Doughty's book NYC'S GREAT STEEL FLEET (1948-1967) there is a section that lists the disposition of all NYC trains. Locals 164 & 165 ended 4/25/65

[daveklepper]

Thanks for the report.