Events Sept. 27 to mark 175th Anniversary of Northern Railroad

MOOERS | Seven historic railroad depots or sites where they once stood across northern Clinton County will be dedicated with new markers on Sept. 27. A series of events commemorates the 175th anniversary of a railroad line that once connected towns from Lake Champlain to the St. Lawrence River. Each depot was a stop on the Ogdensburg & Lake Champlain Railroad (O&LC), originally founded as the Northern Railroad. In its final years of operation, the line was run by the Rutland Railroad. Tracks were laid 115 miles, reaching from Rouses Point to Ogdensburg. Completed by Oct. 1, 1850, historians point out that this was, in essence, the original "rooftop" highway. A brief ceremony is planned at each depot or former depot site to unveil the plaques, moving west to east from Churubusco to Rouses Point. At each stop, town and regional historians will share stories and local lore. Town of Mooers Historian Vicki Brassard said the September 27 commemoration pays homage to generations of hard-working residents who helped the railroad connect people, and to a rail line that helped business enterprise grow. "We welcome everyone -- local residents, students, railroad enthusiasts, and history lovers alike -- to come be a part of this special day. Let's honor the rails that once connected us and helped shape the future of Clinton County," she announced. Markers will be unveiled at seven depot locations: 9 a.m.: Churubusco, located across from the fire station on Clinton Mills Road 10 a.m.: Ellenburg Depot, Station Hill Road 11 a.m.: Altona, located on Station Street, will host several speakers. 12 p.m.: Mooers Forks, at Blackman Corners Road. Brassard said the original station burned in 1900 and was replaced with a building more familiar to the hometown people of today. The building was later used as an Agway Feed store. 1 p.m.: Mooers Junction Depot at 109 Maple Street, where local railroad enthusiasts, the late Larry Marnes and Christopher Trombley, restored the depot. The interior reflects a railroad station from the 1950s era to include historic memorabilia, equipment, photographs and a caboose formerly used on the Delaware & Hudson. Mooers Junction had a diamond crossing where trains could transfer goods and travelers from the east-to-west O&LC (Rutland RR) line to north-to-south Delaware & Hudson trains. 2 p.m.: Champlain Village on Prospect Street 3 p.m.: Rouses Point, Montgomery Street location to mark where the railroad once reached Lake Champlain TRIBUTE TO RAILS The Northern Railroad Historic Marker project was envisioned by Calvin Castine, Town of Champlain historian and Area 1 Clinton County legislator, who gained support from Woodmen Life Chapter 452 to purchase the markers. Individual towns and historians selected each site. "A year ago, I approached the chapter about buying seven markers to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the Northern Railroad, which opened in autumn of 1850," Castine told The Sun. In addition to railroad anecdotes, Castine will speak on behalf of the Woodmen Chapter. Different stations opened in sequence as tracks were laid, he said, accounting for first run dates that vary from Sept. 28, 1850, to Oct. 1, 1850. He relayed how the rail line's big curve in Altona reflects fierce rivalry among industrialists in Boston and New York City as each vied for a Lake Champlain crossing. For Boston, the crossing choice was Rouses Point; NYC eyed Plattsburgh. "Boston won," Castine says of the historic fray. "The decision to cross the lake at Rouses Point turned out much better for the Northern Tier." A "junction" of the D&H and O&LC was created at Mooers Junction as the railroad expanded, he explained of the complex system of smaller lines that hauled people and agricultural products. "D&H had made a connection from Chazy and used the Junction to get to Canada," Castine said. A web of rails eventually transported all manner of goods, such as apples, blueberries, lumber and iron products made in Champlain. The O&LC Rouses Point depot no longer exists, not to confuse that site with the D&H Railroad Depot on Pratt Street that has been restored and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. "The Northern Railroad marker will go where the railroad tracks went to cross the lake, between the sportsmen's pier and the Veterans Park in Rouses Point, near where the Steamboat Hotel once was," Castine said. "You had all kinds of trains going through Rouses Point, east, west, north, south," he laughed. "I think railroad history is so important to the northern tier here, it should not be forgotten. We should remember our history and what got us to this point in time." For Chris Trombley, remarks at Mooers Junction will also pay tribute to Larry Marnes, who inspired their purchase of the junction depot and started renovations in the early 2000s. In a Home Town Cable segment filmed in 2005, Marnes and Trombley had been working at it for two years. "Larry and I were lifelong friends. We did a lot of railroad stuff together. We'd go by the old station in Mooers, one of the local fellows we knew owned it," Trombley told the Sun. "And we bought it, I was kind of a silent partner. We started renovation with the roof. We had a slate roof on there, and we removed it and sold it. We took those funds and hired somebody to replace the roof, which saved the building." Trombley said they did a lot of work inside together over the years. "He did a lot of that by memory, it was restored to the mid-1950s era." A big market in the final years for the Rutland (O&LC RR) brought milk from local farms into Vermont for distribution to Boston. "Train 87/88 was the Milk Train," Marnes shared in the Home Town Cable interview 20 years ago. "This train also carried passengers in a rear car. It used to come into the Mooers Junction station about 12:30 p.m., just after noon." Marnes restored the Mooers Junction train depot's ticket booth, where it once stood, the dent still evident in the floorboards from passengers waiting at the ticket window. In 2012, Marnes and Trombley were honored with a preservation award from Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) for their stewardship and preservation of the Mooers Junction train depot. Local railroad history buffs maintain that local business grew rapidly across the Northern Tier with the advent of the Northern Railroad. For more information about the 175th Anniversary Northern Railroad tribute, contact Castine via email at Home Town Cable: hometowncable@yahoo.com

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Events Sept. 27 to mark 175th Anniversary of Northern Railroad

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