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  • The Remsen-Lake Placid Corridor
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The timeline can also be accessed with this link.

The Stations

The stations along the Corridor include stations in Utica, Thendara, Saranac Lake, and Lake Placid.  Here, we discuss the history of Union Station in Utica and Saranac Lake's Union Depot.  Information about the stations was found on the Adirondack Scenic Railroad's website.

Utica

Union Station in Utica, New York is owned by Oneida County. It serves the Adirondack Scenic Railroad, as well as Amtrak, and occasionally, New York, Susquehanna and Western passenger trains.

Prior to the construction of Union Station in 1912, two other stations stood on the same site.  The first station was built by the Utica & Schenectady Railroad in 1836.  Until 1853, when the line combined with others to form the New York Central, the station serviced the Syracuse and Utica line, serving mainly as a station on the way west. Then the Black River & Utica Railroad began running trains north.  In 1869, Utica's second rail station was built due to increased rail traffic.  Finally, construction of Union Station began in 1912. It was designed by architects Allen H. Stem and Alfred Fellheimer who were from New York City and who also designed New York's Grand Central Terminal.

Saranac Lake

In 1904 the Delaware and Hudson Railroad built Saranac Lake's Union Depot, but trains had run through the town since 1887 when the Chateaugay Railway Company opened the track for traffic from Plattsburgh to Saranac Lake.  According to the Adirondack Scenic Railroad's website, 18 to 20 passenger cars passed through the Union Depot each day from 1912 to 1940, which were the station's busiest years. The station closed in 1965, but it was restored in 1997, and today the Adirondack Scenic Railroad runs tourist trains between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid.

This image is from the Adirondack Scenic Railroad's website. It shows the path of the full Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor and the villages and cities through which it travels. (Image is a link.)