11 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

The Post Star, Glens Falls, NY 1/19/18:

Railroad closes Saratoga Springs ticket office

 

 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga & North Creek Railway has closed its ticket office and gift shop in Saratoga Springs, but the company says the closure does not affect its plans for the rail line going forward.

 

The move will not affect the ability of passengers to board in Saratoga Springs, as they will be able to give the conductor electronic ticketing information instead of physical tickets.

 

The railroad was selling tickets and had a gift shop at the Station Lane building since 2011, but has found that changes in its business did not warrant keeping the space open.

 

More here.

 

[Sloan]

 

 

Railroad owner threatens to pull out without $5 million payment

 

QUEENSBURY — The owner of Saratoga & North Creek Railway told Warren County leaders Thursday that he plans to shut down the railroad unless someone buys a northern rail line from his company for $5 million.

http://poststar.com/...c0d43df504.html

[CNJRoss]

Saratogian, Saratoga Springs, NY 4/2/18:
 

Scenic Saratoga & North Creek Railway future in doubt

 

 

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> A scenic, but financially-plagued railroad has apparently reached the end of the line.

 

Warren County officials say they have no plans of spending the $5 million company owner Ed Ellis says is needed to keep the Saratoga & North Creek Railway operating this summer.

 

So, barring an unexpected 11th-hour source of funding, the roughly 60-mile line will be idle except for limited freight traffic.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

Adirondack Almanack 4/5/18:

 

Local Railroad CEO Seeks $5M Payday

 

 

In March 2016, Ed Ellis stood before the Warren County Board of Supervisors and said that there would be no oil tanker railcars stored in the Adirondacks.

 

He said it again and again as he pushed county leaders to authorize a new five-year contract to operate the Saratoga and North Creek Railroad (SNCRR). He gave the Supervisors his “word.”

 

SNIP

 

It didn’t take long for Ellis to backtrack. By the fall of 2016, he was floating the idea of storing oil tankers, but backed off it when he either could not get any oil tankers or when he encountered state and local opposition. Jump ahead to 2017 and Ellis did exactly what he said he would not do – he started storing oil tankers in the Adirondacks.

 

Jump ahead to 2018, and we saw Ellis telling a Warren County Board of Supervisors committee that he never said he would not store oil tankers in the Adirondacks. He said that oil tanker storage was always the plan for the Sanford Lake line between North Creek and the Tahawus Mine. Ellis said that there should have been no doubt about his intentions for oil tanker storage in 2016 and because Warren County helped to block him from bringing in thousands of oil tankers last year, the County is morally obligated to buy the Sanford Lake Railway from him for $5 million.

 

More here.

 

Related:  Saratoga & North Creek RR Plans Oil Car Storage

[CNJRoss]

The Post Star, Glens Falls, NY 4/2/18:
 

Railroad to shut down following snow train run on April 7

 

 

Saratoga & North Creek Railway notified its local partners that it plans to halt its operations after the April 7 “snow train” run between Saratoga Springs and Thurman.

 

The company will not operate tourist trains after that date, but does not plan to lay off its employees at that point, according to Justin Gonyo, the railway’s general manager.

 

He would not say for how long workers would stay on if the railroad is shuttered.  .  .  .

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Post Star, Glens Falls, NY 4/9/18:

Another train operator reaches out

 

 

Tourist trains may not be dead on Warren County’s rail line after all.

 

While Saratoga & North Creek Railway ran what the company says was its last tourist train on Saturday, Warren County leaders said they have heard from a representative of another railroad that is interested in excursion train operations on the county-owned line.

 

Continue here.

 

[CNJRoss]

The Post Star, Glens Falls, NY 5/21/18:

Railroad moves out of stations, county frets over insurance, maintenance

 

 

Saratoga & North Creek Railway has moved out of all but one station on the Warren County-owned rail line and plans to be out of the last station this week.

 

Railway general Manager Justin Gonyo told Warren County leaders that the railroad has moved out of the North Creek, Thurman and Hadley stations and will be out of the Riparius station this week. It is still using the “locomotive house” in North Creek and has no timetable for vacating it.

 

“I don’t know when that will happen,” he said Monday.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Post Star, Glens Falls, NY 5/22/18:

Pennsylvania railroad operator offers help on Warren County line

 

 

A railroad operator in Pennsylvania believes he can help turn around Warren County’s rail line.

 

Robert Lowe, who owns Rail Holdings Inc. in south-central Pennsylvania, said he reached out to Warren County officials in recent days after reading about the demise of Saratoga & North Creek Railway. The railway has operated on the rail line owned by the county and town of Corinth for seven years, but announced in March that it was shutting down.

 

Lowe’s overture was mentioned at a public Board of Supervisors meeting on Monday, and he discussed the interest in a phone conversation with a reporter Tuesday.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Saratogian, Saratoga Springs, NY 8/9/18:
 

Shuttered railway’s future uncertain

 

 

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. >> Warren County Supervisors’ Public Works Committee is scheduled to meet Friday to discuss future plans for the recently-closed Saratoga & North Creek Railway.

 

The scenic rail line, operated by Chicago-based Iowa Pacific Holdings LLC, failed to open this year for financial reasons and the firm’s contract with Warren County and the town of Corinth, which own the tracks, has been terminated.

 

The Public Works Committee is expected to discuss the possibility of leasing operations to another firm, or developing new plans for the rail corridor such as a multi-use recreation trail. However, most of the meeting is expected to be in executive session, said committee Chairman Matt Simpson of Horicon.

 

“We have to really analyze everything here,” he said. “Nothing is off the table at this point. There has been no predetermination about which direction to go. We want to figure out what’s best for Warren County.”

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY 12/25/18:
 

Rail bike company sues train line owner

 

 

 

Revolution Rail Co., the rail bike company that was ousted from a rail line north of North Creek, has filed a lawsuit against the owner of the line, claiming that the rail owner illegally terminated its contract with the rail bike provider.

 

SNIP

 

Revolution Rail Co. has operated on tracks north of North River for the last two summer seasons. offering rides on pedal-powered rail bikes over the Hudson River and into the state Forest Preserve.  .  .  .

 

Iowa Pacific is in the process of selling the line that runs from North Creek to the hamlet of Tahawus in Newcomb to OmniTRAX of Colorado.  .  .  .

 

Continue here.

 

Related:  New rail bike company starts up near North Creek