On the Saratoga & Schuylerville Railroad near Saratoga, NY.
(Photo by S. J. Whitney, NMRO.org)
THE SARATOGA AND SCHULERVILLE RAILROAD
The Saratoga and Schuylerville Railroad was a 26-mile line that briefly connected Saratoga with Schuylerville and Mechanicville, New York primarily transporting agricultural goods and milk before being absorbed by the Boston & Maine Railroad and eventually abandoned in 1957.
Originally chartered in 1833, the Saratoga and Schuylerville (S&S) wasn't built until after 1875. The S&S was envisioned as a link in a scheme to build a line from Boston to Buffalo. It connected Saratoga with Schuylervile and Saratoga with Mechanicville and was 26 miles long. Traffic on the S&S included primarily agricultural products and milk, plus inbound and outbound products destined for the large textile mill in Victory Mills.
As part of the Fitchburg Railroad system, the S&S was eventually absorbed into the rapidly expanding Boston & Maine Railroad (B&M) in 1900. When the Boston-Mechanicville route of the B&M became its mainline and the B&M focused westward from Mechanicville to Rotterdam Junction, traffic on the S&S branches declined.
In 1956, the ICC formally approved the little railroad's abandonment and by the middle of 1957, the Saratoga & Schuylerville was completely torn up and dismantled.
"The Saratoga & Schuylerville Railroad" -- 7/28/22
Richard Chait, author of "Rails in and Around Saratoga Springs," is a frequent speaker on railroad history in upstate and western New York. This presentation, "The Saratoga & Schuylerville Railroad: Gone but Certainly Not Forgotten," was given on July 28, 2022.
The Saratoga & Schuylerville (S&S) Railroad picked up in 1946 where the Fitchburg Branch of the Boston & Maine had left off years earlier. The line connected Saratoga Springs and Schuylerville, carrying coal and other commodities to communities along the Route 29 corridor. However, the S&S’s success was short lived, as the trucking industry soon began to offer stiff competition that was difficult to overcome. As a result, the Saratoga & Schuylerville curtailed its operations a short 10 years later, in 1956. Around Saratoga today one can still see reminders of this train line, which this special presentation will highlight, as well as detailing other interesting pieces of Saratoga and Schuylerville history.
Funding for this presentation was generously provided by the Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust.
