In 1891, William Seward Webb began construction of a rail line that ran from Herkimer in the south up into the heart of the Adirondacks. The track cut through some of the region’s deepest wilderness. For seventy years, the New York Central carried passengers to Malone and Lake Placid and points in between.
The old line is all but abandoned now. But trains still make the run a few times each year, bringing supplies and equipment to the tourist railroad in Lake Placid. Brian Mann made the trip this spring. He found that a small army of train buffs are fighting hard to keep the historic route alive.

The rail line described in this story is closed to passengers, but Adirondack tourist trains do run all summer long in Old Forge, Lake Placid, and North Creek. For more information, see the links below.

Brian Mann travels to Beaver River on the Stillwater Reservoir. With no road access, the community is one of the most remote in the Adirondacks—the pleasures and hardships of living beyond the road's end.

The Adirondack Museum is planning an exhibit on the railroad worker. Who were the people who laid the tracks and ran the trains? Martha Foley talks with writer Amy Godine about her research for the upcoming exhibit.