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NYC Adirondack Division

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Posted by Deggesty on Thursday, December 8, 2016 8:51 PM

In 1984, the North American Travel Edition was published 8 times a year--December-January, Februry-March, April, May, June-July, August-September, October, and November.

 

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Posted by MidlandMike on Thursday, December 8, 2016 8:41 PM

My Oct 1970 copy of the Offical Guide indicated it was published monthly.  It seems like it went quarterly sometime after Amtrak's 1971 start-up.

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Wednesday, December 7, 2016 6:49 AM

In its salad days, the OG was a monthly publication.  Up to about the early 1960's, it also included suprisingly complete airline schedules.

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Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 5:10 PM

In 1945, a year's subscription was $18.00--$1.50 per issue.. In 1971, it was $48.00 per annum--for less than half as many pages.

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 5:00 PM

Deggesty
Now, Brian, I was quoting from The Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States Porto Rico Canada Mexico and Cuba also Tables of Railroads in Central America  Airline Schedules (the July 1943 issue)

In later years, the title was truncated. I do not know if a passenger edition is still published; the last time I bought an issue was in the summer of 1984. 

It used to be, many years ago, that residents of small towns that were on railroads could obtain a free copy from the agent in their towns--if the agent was on an end of the company's distribution list; copies were sent on from greater stations/personnel to lesser stations. I became familiar with the publication that way.

As I recall, a subscription to the 'Official Guide' was several hundred dollars a year - in 1950's dollars, thus the trickle down method of distribution to the outlying lower volume stations.  With the Guide being published (I think) Quarterly, it could take a year or more before the 'end of the line' agency got their copy of the Guide.

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Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 3:34 PM

Now, Brian, I was quoting from The Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States Porto Rico Canada Mexico and Cuba also Tables of Railroads in Central America  Airline Schedules (the July 1943 issue)

In later years, the title was truncated. I do not know if a passenger edition is still published; the last time I bought an issue was in the summer of 1984. 

It used to be, many years ago, that residents of small towns that were on railroads could obtain a free copy from the agent in their towns--if the agent was on an end of the company's distribution list; copies were sent on from greater stations/personnel to lesser stations. I became familiar with the publication that way.

 

 

 

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Posted by Brian Schmidt on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 3:09 PM

That would be The Official Guide of the Railways, a regular reference for the age of private passenger service. Look at train shows and on auction sites for back issues, which can be found for a few bucks apeice, depending on the age and condition.

Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine

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Posted by Thendara on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 12:20 PM

What is the "Guide" and where can one go to consult them? Thanks?

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Posted by caboose63 on Monday, December 5, 2016 4:20 PM

That would be an awesome layout to see when done. always have loved the NYC adirondack division, even though i live in michigan

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Friday, December 2, 2016 6:46 AM

Passenger trains always had numbers, they were required for operating purposes.  Names were strictly for advertising and marketing purposes.

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Posted by ATSFGuy on Friday, December 2, 2016 2:35 AM

By the early 60's that is when passenger trains lost their names and were given numbers. This continued till 67/68 I believe.

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Posted by Deggesty on Thursday, November 24, 2016 3:53 PM

There was quite a bit of overnight Pullman service on the Adirondack Division in the summer of 1943--including three cars New York-Lake Placid, one car Montreal-Buffalo, and one car New York-Malone. There was also the day train between Utica and Montreal, which still ran until 1965. The Guide for July, 1943, does not show any names for these trains. 

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, November 24, 2016 3:41 PM

Passenger service ran until 1965.  I don't think any of the trains had official names - just numbers.  Given that trains often had nicknames, that's possible here, but I don't know of any.

In 1961 it was 164 and 165.

The 1957 Official Guide shows two trains each way to/from Lake Placid, #3 and #5 northbound and #2 and #4 southbound.

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Posted by ATSFGuy on Thursday, November 24, 2016 3:24 PM

Did the NYC have any named passenger trains in the Adirondack division?  Or was that part of the system freight-only?

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Posted by wanswheel on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 12:18 PM

It’s interesting the snowmobile association calls it “the former Webb Railroad,” as if unaware New York Central had ever existed. 

http://nysnowmobiler.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/nyssa_magazine_1116_ezine.pdf

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, November 22, 2016 8:36 PM

It's not highlighted as such, but if you follow the line north from Utica to Lake Placid, it's easy to pick out:

https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/opdm/passenger-rail/passenger-rail-repository/2016%20NYS%20Rail%20Map.pdf

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Posted by ATSFGuy on Tuesday, November 22, 2016 8:30 PM

Anyone care to post a map of the NYC with the Adirondack Division line highlighted?

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Posted by MidlandMike on Tuesday, November 22, 2016 8:16 PM

Tree, yes I believe the rip-up-the-rails group is an unholy alliance between the power sports enthusiasts, cross country skiers, bikers, hikers and wilderness advocates.  Once the tracks are pulled up, they will all turn on each other.

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, November 21, 2016 3:36 AM

Repeating a posting f some time ago.  In 1968 I was on my way from Brandon, Manitoba, to Downers Grove and Westmont, IL, returning from acoustical check-out of the Brandon Perfomring Arts Center.  CP Canadian coach Brandon - Winnepeg, GN sleeper to St. Paul, and planned Morning Hiawatha to Glenview where my car was parked.  Into the Buffet-lounge area with my latest copy Trains to read during supper/dinner.  Well-dressed man alone at a table for four.  "Hi, that's a picture I took on the cover of your magazine."  I: "What, you must be Phil Hastins.  May I join you?"   During our conversation he invited me to join him for a cab ride between Crookston and Grand Forks on the E-unit, which I did.

Ended up stopping off in Milwaukee to hear Golda Meir speak at Uhlein Hall, and continuing with the Afternoon Hiawatha to Glenview.  Entrance to the sold-out hall possible because I said I was from Bolt Beranek and Newman to insure the sound system worked properly.

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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, November 20, 2016 11:44 PM

MidlandMike
What I was getting at was that I am sure the snowmobile advocates were not happy with losing out on another winter of a usable trail.

I do get their desire to see the tracks gone.  And the "trail advocates" have been trading on that desire.

What some of the smarter snowmobilers have figured out is that if the tracks come up, their trail is coming up with them.

There are folks who want the snowmobilers out of the woods, too.  But they can't get them off the corridor as long as the tracks are in place.

If the tracks come up, you will see the appearance of folks who have kept silent until then - I'm betting even building a walking trail will encounter opposition.  They've done things like that in other parts of the Adirondacks.

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Posted by Miningman on Friday, November 18, 2016 10:23 PM

Glad you posted that Mike. 

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Posted by MidlandMike on Friday, November 18, 2016 8:51 PM

tree68

 

 
MidlandMike

At least it keeps the line from being torn up for a snowmobile trail for one more winter.

 

Beginning December 1st of every year, it is a snowmobile trail, if there's enough snow.  For the past few years, there hasn't been enough snow to ride anywhere, much less on the corridor...

 

Yes I knew the track was used as a snowmobile trail, but it really restricts the practical use for that.  What I was getting at was that I am sure the snowmobile advocates were not happy with losing out on another winter of a usable trail.

I am not a snowmobiler, but I am a skier.  I have visited Lake Placid in summer, and rode the Lake Placid-Saranac passenger train and hiked Mt. Marcy, but I have never skied at Whiteface.  This winter I am planning on making a ski trip there about the time of the court hearing.  I will let the hotel people know that if the rails are pulled, it will be my last trip to Lake Placid.

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, November 18, 2016 8:49 AM

MidlandMike

At least it keeps the line from being torn up for a snowmobile trail for one more winter.

Beginning December 1st of every year, it is a snowmobile trail, if there's enough snow.  For the past few years, there hasn't been enough snow to ride anywhere, much less on the corridor...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by MidlandMike on Thursday, November 17, 2016 11:51 PM

At least it keeps the line from being torn up for a snowmobile trail for one more winter.

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Posted by mudchicken on Thursday, November 17, 2016 1:06 PM

....from the Newswire story, sounds like the parties are also being re-introduced to the inept recklessness of PC-CR-APU land dealings with property in the station grounds aided and abetted by the clueless local clerk & recorders. 

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, November 17, 2016 12:49 PM

wanswheel
Hope springs eternal?

Maybe.  Or maybe they're trying to wear down the RR and it's legal fund...

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Posted by wanswheel on Thursday, November 17, 2016 10:59 AM

Hope springs eternal?

Excerpt from Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Nov. 15

http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2016/11/railroads-lawsuit-stalled-again/

A railroad group’s lawsuit against a state plan to remove 34 miles of train tracks has been delayed again, this time until the end of January.

Suzanne Messer, a lawyer for the Adirondack Railway Preservation Society, said the state attorney general’s office requested the latest postponement due to issues with ownership of several parcels of land in the travel corridor. ARPS, a nonprofit group that runs tourist trains under the Adirondack Scenic Railroad name, sued the state in April, a month before Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed off on the state plan — seen by some as a compromise — to upgrade 45 miles of tracks between Big Moose and Tupper Lake and to replace the tracks with a trail between Tupper Lake and Lake Placid.

The attorney general’s office and the state Department of Environmental Conservation have been silent on the suit despite multiple requests for comment over the last two weeks. DEC spokesman Sean Mahar said his agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation, but he confirmed Monday that the state requested the delay “for additional time to review title on a few parcels in question, and the state looks forward to oral arguments on the January court date.”

The state recently discovered it needs to acquire fee title to three parcels around North Country Community College in Saranac Lake as well as the Lake Placid train station, which is owned by the Lake Placid/North Elba Historical Society.

Messer said state officials are trying to get the owners of those parcels to voluntarily convey ownership to the state.

“The State is seeking to obtain letters of intent from the property owners at issue, meaning that the State is attempting to acquire that property through voluntary conveyances by the property owners,” Messer wrote in an email. “The State believes it can obtain those letters of intent during the 60-day stay period.”

Messer said the railroad agreed to the delay on the condition that no railroad infrastructure is removed during the postponement. The state had previously said local municipalities could start to remove the tracks as soon as this fall, with the rest of the infrastructure to be removed next year.

Messer said the lawsuit’s hearing is now scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Jan. 30 at the Franklin County Courthouse in Malone.

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, October 27, 2016 7:38 PM

Regular regular passenger service (NYC) ended back in 1965.

Freight closed out in 1974.  The Adirondack Railway ran 1979-1980, primarily for the Olympics, but they did log some 16,000 passengers in the summer of 1980.

The section we traversed is out of service, with the last trip through there a month or so ago, I believe.  The "north end" only ran between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, with Rail Explorers running down as far as Tupper Lake.  

All of our problems with trees were south of Tupper.  There hadn't been time for a patrol trip ahead of time, although the line south of Big Moose had been inspected last Friday - I had some of the track out of service and let the inspector through - and there were a number of trees down there, too.

Most of it was due to a heavy snow last Saturday, and high winds on Sunday.

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Posted by Firelock76 on Thursday, October 27, 2016 6:53 PM

Through the Adirondacks to Lake Placid, and behind steam at that. Can you imagine?

Great days, great days indeed.

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