Adirondack Scenic Railway

The line that today operates as the Adirondack Railroad was built in 1892 by William Seward Webb as the Mohawk & Malone Railway and was purchased the following year, 1893, by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. Passenger service continued under the New York Central Railroad—its successor from 1913—until April 24 1965, after which the line passed to Penn Central Transportation Company on February 1 1968; Penn Central abandoned freight operations north of Remsen in 1972. New York State acquired the entire Utica‑Lake Placid corridor in 1974 to support the 1980 Winter Olympics, and the Adirondack Railway ran passenger trains between Utica and Lake Placid from 1979 to 1981. After a dormant period from 1981, restoration began in 1992 with a 4‑mile segment from Thendara to Minnehaha, demonstrated on July 4 1992 and initially named the Adirondack Centennial Railroad, then renamed the Adirondack Scenic Railroad in 1994. The railroad operated the 8‑mile Saranac Lake‑Lake Placid segment from 2000 until 2016, survived a 2017 New York Supreme Court decision that upheld its right to retain the tracks, and in 2020 changed its name to the Adirondack Railroad while the 34‑mile Tupper Lake‑Lake Placid section was removed. The first train traversed the full 108‑mile Utica‑Tupper Lake corridor in September 2022, and regular tourist excursions resumed in late spring 2023.