Saratoga, Mt. Macgregor & Lake George Railway

Anyone have any information on this line ?

A map or where did it actually go ?

After President Grant died at Mt. Macgregor in 1885 was his body shipped out on this railroad or did it somehow go on D&H ?

I suspect the line never went to Lake George but was it surveyed to that point ?

Cactus Jack

I am pretty familiar with this old line. There is quite an interesting history to this. First of all the line was 11 miles long. It began on (or near) North Broadway in Saratoga Springs (near what is called the City Center locally). The end point was on top of Mt MacGregor near a Hotel by the name of the Balmoral (this burned down). Today most of Mt MacGregor is owned by the State and is a Corectional facility. (soon to be closed). The exception to this is Grants Cottage which is open to the public at certain times. The Balmoral was about one hundred yards or less from Grants Cottage. When Grant died at Mt MacGregor his body was brought down to Saratoga and transfered to a D&H train very near what is North Broadway today. Actually the exact spot is about fifty yards on RT 50 from North Broadway. The Mt MacGregor and D&H had tracks for a short distince which ran next to each other. I should mention that the Mt MacGregor line was 3ft gauge. There was a lot of experimentation with electric motors on the Mt MacGregor line. The actual engine which brought Grants body to Saratoga was of this type. There was some steam on this line but the vast majority of engines were forms of crude electric engines (one actually ran off a crude battery). The body was transfered to a D&H train and brought south from that point. (I will not get into the funeral train because that is another story). Once the Balmoral burned the line to the top of the mountain faded into history. However this was not the end of the story. The Hudson Valley electric line bought the line from Saratoga to a point at the base of the mountain (Wilton) . This became part of the through line to Glens Falls from Saratoga. So yes in theory you could ride on the old Mt Macgregor line to Lake George (minus the line that went up the mountain). The D&H bought the Hudson Valley line in later years and maintained it until the whole line was abandoned. So it is 100% correct that you could board a trolley in Saratoga and get off in Lake George. You may have had to change cars at Glens Falls sometimes, but you could get to Lake George . The Delaware & Hudson book by Jim Shaughnessy has a picture of the two trains side by side in Saratoga. There is also a History of the Hudson Valley line by David Nestle which has track schematics of the whole line.
Today most of the ROW is gone. However you can still see certain segments if you know where to look. If you are interested in tracking this line . I suggest you get a copy of Dave Nestles book and photo copy the maps. I do believe the Saratoga city Library has a copy of this book.

Photo of the McGregor RR funeral train next to the D&H Funeral train.

http://www.grantcottage.org/historic/st ... trains.htm

The early 1883 experimentation with an electric loco (The Ampere) ranks among the very first use
of an electric railroad, albeit third rail, but it preceded Sprague by a bit. Quite an innovation for the time on very steep grades. Later electric locos for this line were the John Brlll and Henry Denton

Here's a portion of the route of the railway. I'll have to do some adding, I can see from ticker's posting.

Oops, I see that I forgot the link.

http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/relation/1198700 is the route of the railway from the top of the mountain into Wilton.

Russ, do you know where in Wilton it connected with what became the Hudson Valley Railway that went on South to Saratoga to IIRC Broadway station? Much of that ROW is visible going both north and south of Wilton.

Carter B

Maybe I can help out a little with that question. The original line crossed Rt 9(east to west) about one hundred yards south of where Ernst road crosses Rt 9. You can see the power line and the elevation of the old ROW at that point. There is a Bar (Mt MacGregor Pub) very near this location. The Pub is on the west side of Rt 9. The line went up the hill toward Mt MacGregor(following the power line) You can see the power line in the rear of the Pubs parking lot. On Google Earth you can see a road or trail that is labeled old railroad grade(near Wilton). This was not part of the original Mt MacGregor line. I am thinking this grade connected to the old line (Mt MacGregor line ) at a point very near where the old MacGregor lined crossed Rt 9. That would be about one hundred yards or less south of the Mt MacGregor Pub but on the East side of Rt 9. You can see some of the old ROW useing Google Earth. The line going North out of Wilton is pretty clear. A good place to see the old ROW is to take Rt 9 north out of Saratoga. When you come to a Red light marked Northern Pines road, take a right. As soon as you take the right you will see a Stewarts store. The road next to Stewarts parking lot is Davidson Drive. This part of Davidson drive is sitting right on the old ROW. If you look straight north from Davidson drive at this point. You will get a real good view of the ROW.

ticker, Thanks!! looks like the original ROW of the railroad, before the Hudson Valley Rwy line took over the ROW south of Wilton to Saratoga, and extended on up to Glens Falls after the Mt. McGregor line went defunct.
Here's what I have found about the Hudson Valley Rwy http://web.me.com/gino.dicarlo/ginostro ... R/map.html
From your descriptions, it appears to pretty much follow the power lines to the East of Rte 9 from Ernst Rd down to Davidson Rd, and beyond to parallel "Trolley Bed Ln" and crossing Hudson and Hillside Ave's just north of Saratoga then disappearing at Maple. (appears to be old ROW embankment at N 43.10398 W 73.77077)

This past weekend I came across am 1882 ticket "souvenir" from the Saratoga, Mt. McGregor & Lake George RR Co at a stamp show. Being a collector of many things, including anything engraved that catches my eye, I HAD to purchase it. Thing is, my collection is about 95% New England, so I am now wondering if I should keep this item.

Online I went, and most of the information I have found about the railroad has been in this thread. If I read everything correctly, the line was eventually part of the D&H, but is now all gone? Can anyone confirm that the vignette on the ticket stub is actually of a company locomotive/location? Any additional info would be appreciated.

JD

CarterB wrote:Photo of the McGregor RR funeral train next to the D&H Funeral train.

http://www.grantcottage.org/historic/st" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... trains.htm

The early 1883 experimentation with an electric loco (The Ampere) ranks among the very first use
of an electric railroad, albeit third rail, but it preceded Sprague by a bit. Quite an innovation for the time on very steep grades. Later electric locos for this line were the John Brlll and Henry Denton

Where did you get the information on electric locos? An electric loco was tested on the Mt McGregor, but there never owned one in regular service. After the Daft test, the owners of the company looked to replace their steamers with electric, but it still wasn't practical!

Gino

I am currently writing a book on the Saratoga and Mount McGregor Railway. It should be out the Summer of 2016. It's not a big history, but an interesting one. There is a lot of mis-information out there on this railroad and I hope to clear things up.

First of all, the ROW of this line crossed the Corinth Mountain Road 3 times to make her way to the top. Second, it was always 3-feet gauge and never went to broad-gauge until The Saratoga Northern Railway took the charter. At that time, the line from Wilton to Mount McGregor was abandoned. Third, the line hosted a test in November of 1883 for an electric locomotive designed by Leo Daft. The engine came from another inventor. The engine had a battery, but power was supplied via a third rail temporarily built in the gauge for 1 mile. Also, the third rail was only built on level ground, not on the trestles. There was a story about a team of horses crossing the tracks and getting shocked by stepping on the third rail. No permanent damage was done to the horses. One passenger Coach, filled to twice it's capacity was used and reached a speed of 10 miles per hour. The return trip attained 20 miles an hour and derailed the engine and coach. The electric engine was damaged and couldn't be used for further tests. It was sent back to Daft's shop in New Jersey for repairs. No one was injured in the derailed coach.

This line lasted to 1898 when the D&H removed their trackage between North Broadway and Marion Ave. The SMcGRR used seven-feet of D&H property to run their track to Marion Ave., and leave the city of Saratoga Springs. A short amount of track was kept intact to run a schedule of one train a day. No fare was charged, but the owners did this to maintain the charter. In the life of the Narrow Gauge Line, it never reached Lake George. The original charter was for Saratoga to Warrensburg. This was done after the Hudson Valley Railway bought the Saratoga Northern and built from Wilton to South Glens Falls. The rest of the track was the Glens Falls and Sandy Hill Railway, also purchased by the HV.

After the D&H removed the Narrow Gauge Line from their property, the Saratoga Northern constructed a new route which connected to the Wilton ROW via East Ave., to Maple Ave. Their new trackage connected to the old ROW behind the current-day Wilton Eagles Club. It passed the Triangle Diner to get there.

The rest is in the book!

Gino

ticker wrote:Cactus Jack

I am pretty familiar with this old line. There is quite an interesting history to this. First of all the line was 11 miles long. It began on (or near) North Broadway in Saratoga Springs (near what is called the City Center locally). The end point was on top of Mt MacGregor near a Hotel by the name of the Balmoral (this burned down). Today most of Mt MacGregor is owned by the State and is a Corectional facility. (soon to be closed). The exception to this is Grants Cottage which is open to the public at certain times. The Balmoral was about one hundred yards or less from Grants Cottage. When Grant died at Mt MacGregor his body was brought down to Saratoga and transfered to a D&H train very near what is North Broadway today. Actually the exact spot is about fifty yards on RT 50 from North Broadway. The Mt MacGregor and D&H had tracks for a short distince which ran next to each other. I should mention that the Mt MacGregor line was 3ft gauge. There was a lot of experimentation with electric motors on the Mt MacGregor line. The actual engine which brought Grants body to Saratoga was of this type. There was some steam on this line but the vast majority of engines were forms of crude electric engines (one actually ran off a crude battery). The body was transfered to a D&H train and brought south from that point. (I will not get into the funeral train because that is another story). Once the Balmoral burned the line to the top of the mountain faded into history. However this was not the end of the story. The Hudson Valley electric line bought the line from Saratoga to a point at the base of the mountain (Wilton) . This became part of the through line to Glens Falls from Saratoga. So yes in theory you could ride on the old Mt Macgregor line to Lake George (minus the line that went up the mountain). The D&H bought the Hudson Valley line in later years and maintained it until the whole line was abandoned. So it is 100% correct that you could board a trolley in Saratoga and get off in Lake George. You may have had to change cars at Glens Falls sometimes, but you could get to Lake George . The Delaware & Hudson book by Jim Shaughnessy has a picture of the two trains side by side in Saratoga. There is also a History of the Hudson Valley line by David Nestle which has track schematics of the whole line.
Today most of the ROW is gone. However you can still see certain segments if you know where to look. If you are interested in tracking this line . I suggest you get a copy of Dave Nestles book and photo copy the maps. I do believe the Saratoga city Library has a copy of this book.

The engine used to bring Grant's body to Saratoga was one of their 0-4-2 Porters. It is running cab-forward. They ran backwards from the Mountain to Saratoga Springs.