Black River and St. Lawrence Railroad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Black River and St. Lawrence Railroad | |
|---|---|
| Locale | New York |
| Dates of operation | 1869–1870 |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) |
The Black River and St. Lawrence Railroad is a historic railroad that operated in New York.
Its history can be traced to 1866 when George Gilbert of Carthage, New York received a charter to build a railroad from Carthage in Jefferson County to the Oswegatchie River, at or near Harrisville, in Lewis County. Preliminary surveys began in the fall of 1866.
The company was organized as the Black River and St. Lawrence Railway and construction was contracted to the Row, Fields & Co., of Brockville, Ontario. Construction began on April 29, 1869 and continued through October of that year before resuming in 1870. Iron was quite expensive at the time, and so the railroad was constructed with wooden rails.
The company was reorganized as the Carthage and Adirondack Railway in the spring of 1883 after a mine owner in Jayville decided to acquire the Black River and St. Lawrence Railway to extend it from Little River in St. Lawrence County to Jayville. Construction of the extension was completed in 1889.
