Little Falls – Irondale railway line

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Little Falls-Irondale
Dolgeville Branch
Route length: 22.5 km
Gauge : 1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend
   
 Little Falls Schenectady – Syracuse
   
 Crum Creek
   
 7.1 Ingham Mills
   
 Ransom Creek
   
 15.9 Dolgeville
   
 19.7 Salisbury Center
   
 Jerseyfield Lumber Co. Forest Railway
   
 22.5 Irondale

The Little Falls – Irondale railway in New York State connected Dolgeville and Salisbury with Little Falls and the main line of the New York Central Railroad from New York City to Buffalo .

history

From the mid-1830s there were several attempts to connect Brockett's Bridge (later Dolgeville ) to the railway network. The Manheim and Salisbury Railroad (later Mohawk and St. Lawrence Rail Road & Navigation ) founded in 1834 did not achieve its goals, nor did the Little Falls, Dolgeville and Piseco Lake Railroad, founded in 1882 . The plan for a railway line from Saratoga to Utica via Gloversville and Dolgeville was also not implemented.

However, the entrepreneur Alfred Dolge saw the need for a railroad to Dolgeville to maintain and improve the local economy. On his initiative and with the support of New York banks, the Little Falls and Dolgeville Railroad was founded on February 2, 1891 .

The railway line was completed on December 14, 1893. Instead of the planned $ 250,000, the construction cost $ 575,000. Operations began on January 1, 1894.

On May 31, 1899, the company had to file for bankruptcy and was re-established on December 24, 1902 under the same name. In the following years, the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad acquired the majority of the shares and was able to gain control of the company on July 24, 1906.

To develop the iron ore mine in Irondale near Salisbury , the Dolgeville and Salisbury Railway was founded in 1907 . In April 1908, operations on the line began. The Little Falls and Dolgeville Railroad was responsible for the management.

On April 16, 1913, the Little Falls and Dolgeville Railroad and on January 15, 1917, the Dolgeville and Salisbury Railway was integrated into the New York Central Railroad . The route was henceforth referred to as the Dolgeville Branch .

In 1925, passenger traffic between Dolgeville and Salisbury Center ceased. On April 30, 1933, the last passenger train ran between Little Falls and Dolgeville. After a paper mill closed its plant in Salisbury in 1945, freight traffic between Dolgeville and Salisbury Center was also stopped.

The last train on the line finally left on July 10, 1964.

Route

The railway line of the Little Falls and Dolgeville Railroad began in the station of the city Little Falls on the four-track main line of the New York Central Railroad. Immediately after the train station, a steep incline begins on the left side of the narrow valley of the Mohawk River . At the end of the village the route runs over a walled embankment. Below this embankment was the “Gulf Curve” of the NYC route. There was an accident here on April 19, 1940 due to excessive speed and several deaths. The train hit the embankment.

After a rock breakthrough at the end of the narrow valley, the route turned slightly to the northeast, then continued east before the route turned north. The Crum Creek was purified on a trestle bridge overcome. Immediately afterwards there was the Ingham Mills stop.

The route then continued north to overcome Ransom Creek on a trestle bridge. This largest bridge on the route was constructed of wood and iron. After a height-increasing arc around the place Dolgeville, its passenger and freight station is reached. In Dolgeville, stops were also temporarily set up on S. Main Street, Ransom Street and High Falls Park.

The later continuation of the route led north to Salisbury Center. At the western exit of this settlement, a track triangle was built as a turning point. The forest railway of the "Jerseyfield Lumber Company" converged here from the northwest. This company operated from 1910 to 1925 a standard-gauge route network that extended to Jerseyfield Lake .

To the northeast, the track led to the iron ore mine in Irondale.

business

Originally, the Little Falls and Dolgeville Railroad used its own locomotives. After the takeover by the New York Central Railroad, locomotives of this company were then moved to the line.

The operation was limited in the 1940s to a freight train that drove to Salisbury Center in the morning and returned to Little Falls in the afternoon. Later the route was only used when necessary. In accordance with the Timetable and Train Order train protection system, the trains going to Little Falls had priority.

The speed on the line was set at 17 miles per hour (27.4 km / h) in 1940 and 10 mph (16.1 km / h) in 1951. The speed over the trestle bridges was set at 10 miles per hour.

The maximum weight for freight cars was set at 120,000 pounds (54,431 tons ). In exceptional cases, the weight could also be 130,000 pounds (58,967 tons).

Water supplies were available in Little Falls and Dolgeville. The Dolgeville water station was dismantled in the 1940s.

The last train was carried by the ALCO S-1 No. 847 diesel locomotive .

literature

  • Lucinda M. Parker: The Little Falls & Dolgeville Railroad . 72 years of shortline. 1st edition. Worden Press, 1986, ISBN 978-0-914821-25-0 .

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