Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad

Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville
Reporting mark FJG
Locale Fulton County,
Upstate New York
Dates of operation 1867–1984
Successor Delaware Otsego
Track gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (standard gauge)
Electrification 600v DC
Headquarters Gloversville, New York
Website http://www.fjgrr.org

The Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad (FJ&G) was at one point a 132 mile steam engine and electric interurban railroad that connected its namesake towns in east central New York State to Schenectady, New York. It had a successful and profitable transportation business from 1870 until the 1980s carrying workers, salesmen, and executives of the very large number of glove manufacturing companies in the area to the New York Central (NYC) station at Schenectady. From here they could catch trains south to New York City (NYC) or west to Chicago. It also handled freight and had freight interchange with both the NYC and the Delaware and Hudson railroads. Passenger business declined starting before the Great Depression and particularly during it. Following a determined and expensive effort to recapture passenger business by acquiring five ultra modern high-speed Bullet interurban cars in 1932, the FJ&G abandoned passenger service in 1938. Freight business continued on for a few more decades, was later taken over by the Delaware-Otsego Railroad management and then eventually abandoned.

History and Route

The FJ&G was formed in 1867 as a steam railroad. The first train ran from Fonda in 1870 all the way to Gloversville. Gloversville, named after the many glove companies in the area (237 in 1905), was at the northern end of the FJ&G for a few years before the railroad was pushed north by business owners. The Gloversville and Northville Railroad went from northern Gloversville through Mayfield and Cranberry Creek to Northville which became its permanent terminus. In the later 19th century Broadalbin made a connection with the FJ&G at Broadalbin Junction where trains could head east to Vail Mills and Broadalbin. The Gloversville and Broadalbin as well as the Gloversville and Northville railroads were eventually acquired by the Fonda Johnstown and Gloversville. The Fonda Johnstown and Gloversville was itself acquired by the Cayadutta Electric Railroad and both of these lines assumed the name of the FJ&G for the remainder of their lives.

Acquisition of Bullet Cars

After World War I, ridership started to decline on both the steam and electric divisions. The steam line acquired gas powered cars to take patrons to the Sacandaga Park in the early 1920s and FJ&G management concluded by 1932 that reequipping the passenger car fleet on the electric line would reverse matters even though the Depression had been underway since 1930. In 1932 at considerable expense, five lightweight, fast, comfortable, and power efficient Brill Bullet interurban cars were purchased from J. G. Brill and Company of Philadelphia.[1][2] The bright orange FJ&G interurbans ran hourly into Schenectady where they looped around Crescent Park. Ridership did initially improve with operation of the new Bullet cars, but increased auto ownership, improved paved roads, the deepening of the Depression, and further decline in the glove business brought on another ridership reversal. The first sale of the unique Bullet cars by Brill had been to the Philadelphia and Western. The second and last sale was to the FJ&G.

Passenger Service Abandonment

The Great Depression deepened and glove and fine leather manufacturing in Gloversville and Johnstown declined. The FJ&G's Mohawk River bridge, which once had carried pedestrians and cars as well as trolleys, had been damaged ten years earlier by river ice. It was finally condemned by New York State in 1935 as too dangerous for any public transport. The FJ&G was forced to sell the Bullets and go back to using older interurbans that could run in either direction without having to turn around as they had in Crescent Park. By 1938 the FJ&G decided to abandon the entire electric car service and shut the line down that year and the successful Bullet cars eventually went to the Bamberger Railroad interurban in Utah.[1][3]

Freight Business, Purchase by Delaware Otsego, and Decline

As the next few decades past following the abandonment of passenger service, freight business continued. With the collapse of the leather business and other industry leaving, traffic declined to the point of the FJ&G closing down after 104 years of private ownership in January 1974. The Delaware Otsego Corporation acquired the line in 1974, but after only a decade of ownership the Delaware Otsego System abandoned the line in 1984. A trackmobile formed one last train that traveled the line collecting any equipment left on the dormant line in 1988, and the tracks were removed 2 years later. Some of the right of way was turned into a recreational trail from just south of the city of Johnstown to Denny's Crossing near Broadalbin Junction. Another small portion near Vail Mills has also been converted to trail use, but the remainder of the original and now trackless FJ&G has remained unchanged for over 2 decades due to lack of funding, land disputes, and lack of interest. A small portion of the roadbed south of the city of Johnstown was built on by the Wal-Mart Distribution Center and the right of way in Vail Mills near routes 30 and 29 is soon to be altered with the intersection being converted to a traffic circle.

If the rails to trails is to continue the FJ&G will need to be paved from Denny's Crossing toward Vail Mills to form a connection in that area and onward into Broadalbin. On the southern portion, the original right of way will need to be altered to go around the industrial park to continue south toward Fonda.

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Middleton: Technology of Bullet and lightweight interurban cars, p419. Brill Bullet car purchase by little known interurban FJ&G, p94. Bullet cars sold to the Bamberger Railroad in Utah in 1938 where they operated successfully eighteen more years, p94; p246, text and photographs.
  2. ↑ Hilton: Technology improvements in interurban cars, pp208–230.
  3. ↑ Swett: Operation of former FJ&G Brill built Bullet cars on the Bamberger Railroad of Utah: entire publication.

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