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Adirondack Scenic Railroad Trip Report

We rode the Adirondack Scenic Railroad in three sections. Our first trip was from Lake Placid to Saranac Lake and back on 31 July 2010. Next, when the Utica trips only went as far as Thendara, we took the short trip from Thendara to Carter Station on 22 July 2012. Finally, on 27 July 2013 we took the recently added trip from Utica to Big Moose.

We left early in the morning for the long drive to Lake Placid. After a very pretty ride through the mountains we arrived in Lake Placid, found the station, and spent some time exploring the museum there. We rode to Saranac Lake, grabbing a snack in the café car along the way. At Saranac Lake we watched the locomotive change ends and spent a few minutes in the station wandering through all of the vendors offering things for sale. For the return trip we spent much of the time in the rear vestibule watching the tracks disappear behind us.

The next trip, from Thendara to Carter, began with a drive to Utica and then up through the small towns largely following the rail line. We arrived in Thendara a bit early, so had ample time to look around. The trip to Carter Station was spent mostly in the open air car, enjoying the crisp summer air.

The final trip began with an early morning drive to Utica. After spending some time exploring that gorgeous train station we went outside and waited for the train to board. The train was quite crowded on this day, but we still easily found seats and settled in for the ride to Thendara. At Thendara most passengers disembarked to spend the day in Old Forge, but a few others joined us for the ride up to Big Moose. Once at Big Moose we enjoyed a buffet lunch, spent some time exploring, and headed back to Thendara. We had a long wait in Thendara, allowing time to grab some popcorn and chat with the other through passengers and some of the volunteers. Eventually we were on our way back to Utica though, ending our journey on the Adirondack Scenic Railroad.

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