Rails in and around Saratoga Springs

By Richard Chait

Saratoga Springs is special. Its reputation goes back to 1767 when Native Americans brought Sir William Johnson to the area for the healing powers of the High Rock Spring. From this humble beginning, the popularity of Saratoga Springs and its many mineral water springs grew from the 19th century to the mid-20th century. Railroads played a key role in that growth. The first train entered Saratoga Springs in 1832. Regularly scheduled passenger trains made Saratoga Springs more accessible, and as a result, it grew by leaps and bounds. Beautiful train stations welcomed visitors, the Saratoga Race Course opened, large bathhouses were constructed, the Grand Union and other luxurious hotels awaited overnight guests, and many people from all walks of life visited the casino in historic Congress Park. Visits to historic locations such as Mount McGregor and North Creek were made easier by train. Along with the railroads in and around Saratoga Springs, this book also includes historic highlights of those locations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 11, 2017
• ISBN: 9781439662458

Richard Chait

Richard Chait has been an avid railfan for many years. This is reflected in his writings and societal activities. Born and raised in Rochester, New York, he has spent many summers enjoying Saratoga Springs. He currently maintains a residence in Saratoga Springs and has gained full appreciation for the many contributions rail transportation has made to the rapid growth of the area.

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apology.

INTRODUCTION

Since the early 1800s, Saratoga Springs has seen significant economic growth. Underlying this growth have been the railroads in Saratoga Springs and the surrounding area that are the subject of this book.

First and foremost is the Delaware & Hudson, a railroad that began in the 1820s as the coalcarrying Delaware & Hudson Canal Company. Innovative management used a gravity rail line to aid in bringing the anthracite coal down from the mines of northeastern Pennsylvania to waiting canalboats. It is interesting to note that the first commercial steam engine in the United States to run on rails, the Stourbridge Lion, was part of this operation. The company realized that hauling coal to New York State markets was a very lucrative business and that there was more money to be made by moving coal by rail than by boat. By leasing and acquiring smaller independent railroads, the company had a rail line that by the late 1860s extended from Binghamton near the Pennsylvania border north to Albany, Saratoga Springs, and the Canadian border. By the late 1890s, Canal had been dropped from the company’s name. The company continued to prosper. By the 1930s, the railroad part of the company operated independently as the Delaware & Hudson Railroad. D&H was not immune from the financial difficulties that plagued the northeastern railroads in the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1960s, D&H was reorganized as the Delaware & Hudson Railway and placed under holding company control. In April 1973, D&H was back on its own and celebrating its 150th anniversary. However, the struggles continued for D&H. In the 1980s, D&H operated unsuccessfully as part of Guilford Transportation Industries. In the early 1990s, D&H was sold to the Canadian Pacific Railway. Recently, the portion of the former D&H main line that runs south to Pennsylvania was sold to the Norfolk Southern Railroad. The Canadian Pacific retains the former D&H main line that runs north to Montreal.

The initial chapter of the book sets the stage for a presentation of D&H as well as several other railroads that were attracted to Saratoga Springs. The chapter details the rich heritage Saratoga Springs has enjoyed as health resort, and sporting and gaming center during the 19th and 20th centuries. It is said that this area was known as Serachtague, a place of swift water, to the Native Americans, who believed that the spring water, carbonated and rich in minerals, provided special healing powers. As a result, several bathhouses were built in the mid-1900s for the many visitors who sought the therapeutic benefits of Saratoga’s natural springs. Today, only one bathhouse is open, the Roosevelt Baths and Spa in Saratoga Spa State Park. Nearby, both the Lincoln and Washington Bathhouses remain but are used for other purposes.

Elegant hotels, such as the Grand Union Hotel and the United States Hotel, were built in the mid-1800s and were visited by many of the rich and famous. The Adelphi and the Rip Van Dam Hotels, seen on Broadway today, are fine example of the lodgings that once dotted Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs. Thoroughbred horse racing, also started in the mid-1800s, is enjoyed today by thousands who attend the Saratoga Race Course every year.

Access to the Queen of Spas or the Spa City, as Saratoga Springs has been called, was made much easier with the arrival of the railroad in the early 1830s. In the early 1870s, D&H, recognizing the opportunity that Saratoga Springs presented, constructed a beautiful Victorian rail station close by Broadway’s grand hotels. The atmosphere around the station was special. As trains arrived, bells would ring to signal carriages to back into place to get ready to receive the arriving passengers. The latest D&H steam engines powered the many passenger trains that stopped in Saratoga Springs (at times referred to as Saratoga in the text). Those who wanted to take in the races, go to the bathhouses, or gamble at the casino in Congress Park had convenient access to the Saratoga area on D&H.

The book also covers other railroads of note as well as the historic places they served. The line to nearby Mount McGregor, the Saratoga, Mount McGregor & Lake George Railroad, was used to transport the body of President Grant, who spent his last days in 1885 on the mountain writing his memoirs. Today, the location is preserved as a New York State historic site known as Grant’s Cottage. Also nearby is the North Creek area, where Theodore Roosevelt learned that he had become president upon the assassination of William McKinley in Buffalo in 1901. Today, North Creek is accessible by riding excursion trains of the Saratoga & North Creek Railroad, a heritage line that operates on tracks that once served as the D&H’s Adirondack Branch. Tahawus, a historic area known for its valuable titanium-containing ore and once part of the Adirondack Branch, is located just beyond North Creek and is well worth a special side trip.

Other railroads are presented. The Saratoga & Schuylerville Railroad provided a connection to the strategic Hudson River and Champlain Canal area, while the Hudson Valley Railway Company ran an electrified interurban line that connected Saratoga Springs with Troy to the south and Glens Falls to the north. Today, both lines are gone, but memories remain. The former Saratoga & Schuylerville enginehouse serves as headquarters for a successful beverage company. The station that once