Here is what I know, grew up in Corinth.
By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, April 26, 2006
CORINTH -- Broken down and draped in tarps, the Corinth depot doesn't look like much now. But after a decade of wishing and hoping, a group of locals is seeing plans finally take shape to create a welcoming sight along the train tracks.
The Scenic Rail Implementation Committee will hold an open house Monday at the Corinth Fire House to gauge public interest in the 100-year-old depot and find out if people want to see it renovated or knocked down and replaced with a new building -- perhaps a replica of the 20-by-50-foot depot.
"This is a vital, historic building in our community," said village Trustee Pauline Densmore during a recent visit to the depot. "It should be used for something -- a depot, a restaurant or a gift shop."
The depot had its heyday decades ago when the Hudson River Pulp and Paper Company -- later International Paper -- a tool factory, a woolen mill and a chair factory all depended on the train. By 1960, the tracks were silent.
Densmore, a native of Corinth, has been working for more than a decade to refurbish the depot, but said there wasn't much point in the work until the town acquired the tracks from CP Rail in December of last year.
The town bought 16.8 miles of track between Saratoga Springs and the Saratoga-Warren County line for $2.2 million using federal money first earmarked by the late U.S. Congressman Gerald Solomon, R-Queensbury, in 1998 as well as money from the Corinth Industrial Development Agency, said Supervisor Richard Lucia. The federal grants covered the cost of renovating the Saratoga Springs train station eight years ago. The grants have since been sponsored by Rep. John Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, and used to buy and improve rail line and accompanying stations in Warren County.
A $95,000 grant will pay Creighton Manning Engineering of Albany to do a design report on the Corinth depot. Final results, including cost estimates for renovating or demolishing the structure, will be released in the fall.
Warren County owns another 40 miles of the line and this summer the Upper Hudson River Railroad will extend its scenic train trips 14 miles to the Thousand Acres Dude Ranch in Stony Creek, for a total of 28 miles from the North Creek train station, where President Theodore Roosevelt first heard the news President William McKinley was dead in 1901.
In addition to the historic status of the tracks and the depot, scenic train rides will help bring tourists into Corinth, Densmore said. A trolley to carry passengers from the depot on the mile-long trip into Corinth's downtown will be part of the final project.
Upper Hudson River Railroad began running trips on the rails in 1999 after a lengthy fundraising process to pay for the restoration of the North Creek station. Company President John Riegel said he has applied to run a scenic train operation in Saratoga County.
The Delaware and Hudson Railroad built the rail line to haul iron ore out of the wilderness. The Adirondack railroad began in Saratoga Springs in 1865 and reached North Creek in 1871. By the 1930s, skiers from Schenectady and points south were riding the rails to the Ski Bowl in North Creek. Rex Moon, a retired school superintendent now serving on the scenic rail committee, was among them, he said. North Country leaders want to see a return of the ski trains and Densmore emphasized the importance of winter sports in the future of the depot. She wants to see trails for snowmobilers incorporated into the site.
The small depot has a wide overhang that makes it look like a chalet and graceful, curled supports beneath the overhang. Inside, dark hardwood, now water-damaged and dirty, gives a glimpse of what it must have once looked like. Moon, poking around the ruins, found a lever and concluded it operated a light that let the train conductor know whether or not passengers were waiting.
"I'd call the architectural style early D&H," Moon joked.
Hornbeck can be reached at 581-8438 or by e-mail at
[email protected] (
[email protected]).
What to do
What: Public information meeting hosted by the Corinth rail station restoration committee and consultants.
When: 5:30-8 p.m. Monday
Where: Corinth Fire House, Route 9N
Info: Pauline Densmore, 654-9198, weekdays between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
