Hudson Valley Railway Trolley

Between the Northumberland Dam and the Dix Bridge, cut-stone piers remain from an old trolley trestle that crossed the Hudson River. For much of a century, a network of trolleys carried passengers between the tri-city area of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy and Lake George, serving places such as Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls along the way. Begun in 1885, the system first used horse-drawn cars on narrow gauge tracks. By the 1890s, the line had been electrified and extended to Warrensburg, New York. In 1895, the Greenwich and Schuylerville Electric Railroad was established and the trolley bridge over the Hudson was built, with power supplied by a hydroelectric dam on the Battenkill in Middle Falls. The line was later absorbed by the Hudson Valley Railroad, which continued running from Greenwich to Thomson until 1928. At its height, the Hudson Valley Railroad had more than 100 cars, 130 miles of track, and more than 500 employees.

Northumberland, New York · United States