Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor

Former NY Central Adirondack Division Rails Being Removed

October 27, 2020 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

The New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) has begun tearing up the former NY Central Adirondack Division tracks connecting Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake, part of a $1.9 million State project to build a rail trial suitable for use by bicyclists and snowmobilers.

The 34-mile rail corridor being removed was key to a once-thriving 119-mile railroad which operated almost continuously from 1892 until 1972, first as the Mohawk & Malone, and then by the New York Central starting in 1913. [Read more…] about Former NY Central Adirondack Division Rails Being Removed

Vote On Historic Railroad Corridor Set For Thursday

May 11, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Adirondack Park Agency will decide if the proposed final Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor UMP conforms to the State Land Master Plan. The State is planning to tear up part of the historic Adirondack Railroad line between Tupper Lake and Lake Placid for a multi-use trail. [Read more…] about Vote On Historic Railroad Corridor Set For Thursday

Adirondack Wild: Rail-Trail Plan Fails to Assess Impacts

April 16, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

A DEC plan for the 119-mile Travel Corridor that runs through the heart of the Adirondack Park does not adequately assess actual and projected impacts on the Park’s public wilderness and natural resources according to the group Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve.

At issue is whether the plan complies with the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan. Adirondack Wild does not believe it does comply. The group filed comments on the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor Unit Management Plan amendment with the Adirondack Park Agency this week. [Read more…] about Adirondack Wild: Rail-Trail Plan Fails to Assess Impacts

Comments Sought On Plan To Tear-Up Historic Rail Line

March 22, 2020 by Editorial Staff 13 Comments

The Adirondack Park Agency has announced a public comment period for Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan conformance on proposals from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) to amend the 1996 Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor Unit Management Plan.

The State is planning to tear up part of the historic Adirondack Railroad line between Tupper Lake and Lake Placid for a multi-use trail.

State Issues New Plan For Historic Adirondack Rail Line

November 14, 2019 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

The New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Transportation (DOT) have announced the release of a draft Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor Unit Management Plan (UMP) Amendment/Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS).

The amended proposal comes after the operators of the Adirondack Scenic Railroad, which ran on the line between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid, successfully sued the state. They successfully argued that the State’s plan to turn the historic railroad line into a rail-trail did not comply with state historic preservation law or the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan.

The decision was handed down by State Supreme Court Judge Robert Main Jr. in 2017. In December, 2018 the state Adirondack Park Agency changed the “travel corridor” definition in the State Land Master Plan to allow for the removal of the rails. [Read more…] about State Issues New Plan For Historic Adirondack Rail Line

Public Meetings Over Historic Railroad Line Planned

August 27, 2013 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) announced today that they will hold four public meetings in September about the management of the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor, a 119-mile nineteenth-century rail line in the western Adirondacks.

A bitter debate has raged in the Adirondacks over the past several years after rail-trail advocates began pushing to have the historic railroad tracks torn-up. In 2011, an organization calling themselves Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates began calling for the outser of the tourist railroad operation and for conversion of the rail bed to a multi-use trail. More than 10,000 people have signed-on to a petition calling for the removal of the tracks. The trail advocates’ call for a reassessment of the corridor’s management plan has resulted in this round of public hearings. [Read more…] about Public Meetings Over Historic Railroad Line Planned

Move To Tear-Up Adirondack RR Draws Response

June 26, 2013 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

What follows is a press release issued by Bethan Maher, Executive Officer of the Adirondack Railway Preservation Society.

The New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced on June 6th that the State will initiate a public process to review the Unit Management Plan for the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor, part of the 141 miles of track on which the Adirondack Scenic Railroad operates. Although the Railroad does not feel that revisiting the UMP is necessary in determining the future of the rail corridor, the Railroad remains confident that the State will once again determine the best use of this public asset is to maintain its designation as a multi-use corridor with a completed rail line and blended recreational and trail opportunities along the completed line. [Read more…] about Move To Tear-Up Adirondack RR Draws Response

Adirondack Rail-Trail: Railway Preservation Society Responds

June 13, 2013 by Editorial Staff 3 Comments

What follows is a press release issued by the Adirondack Railway Preservation Society in response to a decision by the state to reopen the plans for the Adirondack Scenic Railroad route, formerly part of the New York Central Railroad, through the Adirondacks. The state acted following activism by the group Adirodnack Recreational Trail Advocates who seek to have the rails torn up for a rail-trail.

The New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced on June 6^th that the State will initiate a public process to review the Unit Management Plan for the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor, part of the 141 miles of track on which the Adirondack Scenic Railroad operates. Although the Railroad does not feel that revisiting the UMP is necessary in determining the future of the rail corridor, the Railroad remains confident that the State will once again determine the best use of this public asset is to maintain its designation as a multi-use corridor with a completed rail line and blended recreational and trail opportunities along the completed line. [Read more…] about Adirondack Rail-Trail: Railway Preservation Society Responds