Route Review: Revolution Rail Co. in North Creek, NY
Founded in 2017 by former Rail Explorers employee Rob Harte and partner Mike Dupee, Revolution Rail Co. runs along the Adirondack Railway north of the quaint, ski hamlet of North Creek, NY, at one point crossing the Hudson River where it is as small as a mountain creek. I pedalled this route in August of 2018. While operations are currently closed for the winter, they resume on May 11th.
The Site
Check-in is at the North Creek Station, which until recently was the northern terminus for the Saratoga and North Creek Railway and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. While the tourist train from Saratoga Springs ceased operations last year and left the future of the entire line in question, the train and a few historic coaches and locomotives were still on site. The station, well-placed in an Adirondack hamlet, is a simple structure that feels like a cozy barn inside. A smaller, adjacent building houses the North Creek Depot Museum.
The Route
After a short drive north of the station in a former school bus, the railbikes were waiting on the tracks by a small turnoff. On the six-mile (9.7 km) round-trip ride, the tracks run along and over the Hudson River and then briefly along the Boreas River, all under the Adirondack forest canopy. The highlight of the trip is the trestle over the Hudson.
At the far point of the route, the riders leave the railbikes and walk down to the banks of the Boreas River while the bikes are turned around for the return trip. A small, bespoke turntable on the tracks is used, as seen in the photo and RevRail Instagram post below.
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A post shared by Revolution Rail (@revrailco) on Aug 18, 2017 at 6:44pm PDT
The Vehicles
According to our guide, the vehicles were entirely designed by the founders. The frames are made of tubular and plate aluminum bolted together. The drivetrain, wheels and some other components appear to be supplied by Railriders.
It’s worth noting here that the ride was delayed because of an intense thunder and lightening storm and the tracks were sopping wet when we rode them. The braking felt secure, although I had no need (opportunity?) to test hard-braking of polyurethane wheels on wet rail.
Travel Notes
Initially a logging camp, the hamlet of North Creek grew from the tanning and raw garnet mining in the area. By the 1930s, The North Creek Ski Bowl had been established and by the 1960s New York State opened the Gore Mountain ski resort, making both Alpine and Nordic skiing the main draws of the hamlet.
In 2014, I travelled to North Creek for a weekend of Nordic skiing. At that time, It was still possible to travel all the way by train by taking Amtrak to Saratoga Springs and transferring to the the (sadly now defunct) Saratoga and North Creek Railway, which, in my case, required a fun night out in hopping Saratoga Springs before boarding the morning train to North Creek. The trains offered elegant, white-linen table service in big, comfy seats and served local fare prepared onboard. Because the tourist train has stopped running indefinitely, I opted to visit Revolution Rail Co. by rental car from the Amtrak station in hard drinking Schenectady, NY.
For those who stay in North Creek, there is a small but high-quality selection of bars, restaurants and cafes on Main Street. The Gore Mountain gondola lift is a great attraction, both in that many of the former gondolas are on display in and around North Creek, and in that the lift itself is open year round for skiing, hiking, Autumn leaf-peeping and mountain biking.
