Building the track and operating the Sacandaga Line
Construction of the track was
initiated on
June 26, 1872 by a group of Northville,
Gloversville and Johnstown businessmen. The Town of Nortampton had
a direct interest and was bonded in support of the $200,000 in construction
funding raised through stock subscriptions. The group bit off more
than it could chew. The track was soon acquired and completed by the
FJ&G in 1875 following what was in effect a bankruptcy sale. The
survey
map of the original track contains a wealth of information. It
shows the land owners from whom land was acquired, excavation details,
culverts, grades and elevation levels; it is the elevation below 770
in some sections that doomed the Sacandaga Line when the reservoir
was created in 1930. This was the case for the area around the Northville
Station as well as for 7 miles of track south of Cranberry Creek.
Till the
early 1920's the Sacandaga Line was strictly a steam line;
logs and lumber made up a significant percentage of the freight.
Summer season passenger traffic to Sacandaga Park peaked at 90,000
in the early 1900's. The steam line served
quite a few passengers from well north of Northville but the track
was never extended further north. People came to Sacandaga Park from
as far south as New York City. Excursion trains with hundreds of passengers
from Schenectady and Gloversville ran on holidays and as part of special
events. After 1920, the majority of passenger trains
ran on gasoline; this was cheaper, cleaner and a better match
for the now much-reduced
passenger traffic. The Sacandaga Line passenger trains only ran
during the summer months when Sacandaga Park was open. It is likely
that the southern section of the steam line (to Fonda) subsidized
the Sacandaga operation all along. Once the automobile arrived in
the 1920's, the resort became increasingly independent of the train
service.
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Sacandaga Park resort
The
opening of the Sacandaga Line led to the transformation of Sacandaga
Park. What had started as a Methodist camp meeting ground in 1876 became
the Coney Island of Upstate New York. Following the
fire of 1897, the FJ&G took full control, built better cottages,
installed water & sewer infrastructure, and tastefully
landscaped the 750 acres that made up the resort. By 1905 the FJ&G
controlled or owned all the venues in the Park. There were many rustic
roadways, arbors, gardens and ponds;
also amusement rides (the Midway),
picnic grounds, a golf course and nearly a mile of shore line with ample
bathing beaches. An
island in the river (Sport Island) was developed for sporting
events. A miniature railroad ran over a bridge
between Sport Island and the Park. The railroad leased
cottage lots and also operated four large hotels.
The lease agreement
makes it clear that the railroad ruled. The famous Rustic Theater was
an open air theatre that booked some of the biggest stars of those days.
The 30th annual mammoth picnic of leather tannery Booth and Company
on August 26, 1909 featured 14 athletic events, a 100-man tug-of-war
and a double-header baseball game!
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Creating the Sacandaga Reservoir
The
first seed that lead to the destruction of the Sacandaga Line (and the
demise of the Sacandaga Park resort) was planted as early as 1874 -
one year before the tracks were even completed. It was stated in the
annual report of the Canal Commission of the State of New York that
the creation of reservoirs on the head-waters of the Hudson would
allow control over its seasonal flow, prevent flooding of downstream
communities, improve navigation and provide other benefits - not
the least of which was greater and more stable hydropower generating
capacity. The Hudson
watershed, located largely in the Adirondack State Forest Preserve,
offered more than a dozen potential reservoir sites. By the late 1800's
the topography of the Adirondacks was known (surveyed by Verplanck Colvin).
By 1922 a series of State commissions had carefully documented the hydrology
of the watershed and tributaries. The remedial impact of various reservoir
options on past floods were modeled and potential
hydropower generating benefit profiles were known . The State legislature
removed a key stumbling block in 1918 by amending Article 7, Section
7 of the State Constitution to allow reservoirs to be created on the
"forever wild" State Forest Preseve. The lightly populated
Sacandaga Valley proved to be the ideal reservoir site based on storage
capacity, land acquisition cost, construction cost, hydropower potential
and last but not least, political cost. Large floods in 1902 and 1913
and a shortage of electrical and mechanical power for the rapidly growing
manufacturing plants along the Hudson, justified applying eminent domain
laws to secure Sacandaga Valley land for the future reservoir. Based
on correspondence,
beneficiary
cost allocation, land
acquisition strategies, testimony before regulatory State Commissions
etc, there is little doubt that the project was driven by the power
companies and large manufacturers along the Hudson. On July 6, 1922
the City of Glens Falls and
others petitioned
the NYS Water Control Commission for the creation of the Hudson
River Regulating District (HRRD). Following testimony in which the proponents
clearly outdid the detractors and Sacandaga Valley representation was
meager, a final order was signed less than a month later to create he
HRRD as a public (benefit) corporation (August 2, 1922). Although various
reservoir options existed (General
Plan, White Engineering, June 3, 1925), it was clear from the start
that the Sacandaga Reservoir was the reservoir of choice (Preliminary
Plan for the Sacandaga Reservoir, HRBRD January 23rd, 1924). By
then, the power companies were already purchasing land
options throughout the Sacandaga Valley under the name of the Indian
River Company. Adirondack Power & Light (AP&L) created itself
some additional leverage by acquiring the
site of the proposed Conklingville Dam. On September 5, 1924 the
FJ&G filed a damage
claim for $4,193.768 - an amount many times greater than the HRRD
had budgeted in its bond issue disclosure. The HRRD reacted by
condemning the railroad property, setting the stage for a lengthy
valuation process and litigation.
It was by then quite clear that the creation of the reservoir required
relocating the Northville Station and more than 7 miles of tracks between
Mayfield and Cranberry Creek. It would also substantially transform
the railroad-owned Sacandaga Park resort. More than half of the FJ&G-owned
buildings in the Park were below the "taking line", as shown
in the inventory
and crossreferenced on the 1925
valuation map. This included beautiful
residences, whimsical cottages, two hotels and many amusement and
support buildings. The building inventory included a complete valuation
of all the buildings and
their contents. It is interesting that the 1926 supporting photographs
suggest a
lack of building maintenance by the FJ&G that appeared to have gone
on for several years. Interestingly, the resort also was increasingly
profitable in the years immediately preceeding. Since President
Hees of the FJ&G was closely connected with the power companies
(he was a board member of AP&L) the railroad was well aware early
on of the inevitability of the Sacandaga Reservoir. Moreover, based
on the rapid decline in passenger traffic starting well before 1920,
the railroad also knew that the Sacandaga Line would never be profitable,
even if its relocation was fully paid for by the HRRD bond holders.
There are ample documents to show that the HRRD made a substantial effort
to realistically
estimate the cost and plan the track relocation project. Detailed
drawings and budgets were made; sources
of construction material located; the proposed track was analyzed
for grade and curve changes, and required road underpasses. These efforts
contributed to a fair damage settlement but must have left a bad taste
when all this turned out to be no more than a valuation exercise. The
FJ&G probably never intended to relocate the tracks; it merely aimed
to fully satisfy its stock and bond holders and settle a score with
the HRRD for the condemnation procedures and the alleged "NYS conspiracy".
Although the creation of the reservoir brought the promised benefits
to the Hudson downstream users, it was a very painful period for the
local people in the valley and the surrounding communities: an
entire way of life was lost! The communities and settlements of
Parkville, Osborn
Bridge, Cranberry Creek, Munsonville, Benedict, North Broadalbin,
Fish House,
Batchellerville, Beechers Hollow, West Day, Day Center and Conklingville
disappeared all or in part. The current recreational benefits of the
Great Sacandaga Lake are fair compensation for the great damage done
to the local community in the past.
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