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Spencer Trask

The Silk Train That Killed Financier Spencer Trask

September 13, 2022 by Dave Waite 8 Comments

Ogdensburg Journal, January 3rd, 1910On the morning of December 31, 1909, Saratoga Springs philanthropist and financier Spencer Trask was just waking up after a night in a railroad sleeping car at the rear of the Montreal Express. The night before this southbound train had picked up Trask in Saratoga as it made its way toward New York City.

At 8:03 am, only moments after the express train had stopped unexpectedly on the mainline near Croton, Westchester County, New York, a train transporting bales of raw silk crashed into its rear, killing Trask, the porter in his sleeping car, and injuring several other of the passengers. While the direct cause of this deadly wreck pointed to a failure of signal equipment and railroad personnel, events leading up to the tragedy had been put into motion six thousand miles to the west seventeen days earlier. [Read more…] about The Silk Train That Killed Financier Spencer Trask

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: Croton, Fiber Arts - Textiles, Industrial History, Maritime History, New York Central RR, railroads, Saratoga County, Saratoga Springs, Spencer Trask, Transportation, Transportation History, Westchester County

Saratoga’s Spencer Trask Memorial Being Restored After Vandalism

July 14, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Saratoga Springs City Council has accepted a donation by the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation to make a repair to the architectural surround of the Spirit of Life and Spencer Trask Memorial in Congress Park, a National Historic Landmark. In 2019 a baluster of the surround was stolen. [Read more…] about Saratoga’s Spencer Trask Memorial Being Restored After Vandalism

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Crime and Justice, Historic Preservation, Saratoga Springs, Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, sculpture, Spencer Trask

Life and Legacies of Spencer Trask

January 3, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Spenser Trask at his Yaddo EstateSpencer Trask awoke on the morning of December 31st, 1909 in the last compartment of the last sleeper car on the Montreal Express as it neared New York City on the D&H Railroad line.

Getting dressed, his thoughts may have turned to the three passions that dominated his 65 years. He did not know then that it would be the final day of his eventful life. [Read more…] about Life and Legacies of Spencer Trask

Filed Under: Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History, New York City Tagged With: art, Gambling, New York City, Saratoga, Saratoga County, Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga Springs, Spencer Trask, Vice, Yaddo

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