Fish Creek South to Mechanicville
Retracing the S & S ROW - Section 2
The Mechanicville Branch skirted the east side of Saratoga Lake then veered southeastward to gradually climb to the higher terrain. There are quite a few spots where the ROW crosses current roads and you can find the ROW. The big feature on this section is the Brown Road Bridge Ruins.
Camp Backyards...
Many of the camps along the east side of the lake have the ROW in their backyard.
North Approach to Brown Road Bridge
May 24th, 2014 - It was a wet day but I wandered on the ROW north of the Brown Rd Trestle and found a pile of RR ties and took a nice shot of the embankment.
Brown Road Bridge Ruins
The remaining bridge abutments over Brown Road are pretty impressive as is the mini waterfall and gully next to it. There are a few stacks of hewn timbers from the wooden trestle scattered nearby as well. It must have been a powerful sight to behold in its heyday...
Brown Road Bridge Photos (7 Slides)
Putnam Road
The ROW parallels Putnam Road for a bit and the embankment is clearly visible.
Route 70 - Wayville
There were no visible indicators as to where the ROW crossed Rt 70 but according to the Existing Stations in New York State site, this house was once the Wayville train station!
Route 423 Crossing
Looking northwest on Route 423 (street view posted), the private driveway encompasses the old ROW. A careful study of the landscape on the southern side of the road reveals the ROW's slight embankment.
Rt 75 and Burgess Ave
Paralleling the stream whenever possible, kept the railroad's grade fluctuations to a minimum. Once again, a glance across a field reveals the old railroad embankment.
Lake Road Crossing
After reviewing the aerial shot, a glance out the car window confirmed where the ROW continued...
Jolly Road Crossing
Although the sunlight was not in our favor for photos, we were compensated with finding the remains of a short bridge.
PS: No that’s not a foamer or a railroad hobo :-) - that’s Gary, a good friend of mine from high school - another crazy out braving the cold in the freezing temps...
Filke Road Crossing
At Filke Road, a short farm road has taken advantage of the ROW and once again, remnants of a small bridge were found. The sunlight was perfect for the photo of the small bridge remnants.
Van Ness Road Crossing
As the aerial indicates, at Van Ness Road the ROW is seen traveling south through a small valley."Follow the Yellow Brick Road?" - No, just "Follow the Power/Telephone lines..."
Brickyard and Stillwater Road Crossings
It was tough to discern the ROW in this area but seeing strange monster chimneys in the woods [sidebar] more than made up for this loss. The ROW appears—from the aerial—to be where the power lines cross the roads.
RR Curve Aerial
In a continuation of the aerial above, the Saratoga & Schuylerville ROW descended the hill in a wide curve, then headed northward to Stillwater. The other double track in the aerial below is the Boston and Maine Railroad mainline (actually now the Pan Am Southern Railroad) heading eastward towards the Hudson River crossing. (see photo)
Stillwater - End of the Line
Some of the ROW has been converted into a Multi-Use trail and is easy to find as you turn north on Railroad Ave and continue on Kellogg Road.- you can see the stone work. Trail Info >
The Champlain Canal existed along here as well, hence the side street name Towpath Road. Open Street Map is a great resource for not only zeroing in on Stillwater but tracing the whole ROW as well.
