Fulton Chain RR ("Peg Leg" ) in New York State

I recently came across a reference to the this little narrow gauge line in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, and was surprised because I had never heard of it before (and yet I like to think I know something about railroad history in the Northeast US). Completed in 1888, the Fulton Chain RR was 3' gauge with wooden rails (of old-growth spruce and hemlock, apparently), and ran between the Moose River Settlement and Jones Camp (Minnehaha), a distance of about 8 miles. The railroad ran in the summer only and served vacationers going to the Forge House hotel in Old Forge, NY as the middle section of a combined stagecoach-railroad-steamboat route from Port Leyden, NY on the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg standard gauge; this was apparently considered an improvement over the existing stagecoach road to Old Forge, known as the Brown's Tract Road, the condition of which was described as "infamous". The name of the narrow gauge referred to the Fulton Chain of Lakes, used for centuries as a water route across the Adirondacks, and its nickname "Peg Leg" referred to either the wooden rails or the many timber trestles it used to cross swampy ground.

The best history I've been able to find is this article by Charles Herr: Adirondack Almanack: Peg Leg Line: The First Fulton Chain Railroad (The railroad is sometimes referred to as the First Fulton Chain RR to distinguish it from the so-called Second Fulton Chain RR, a 2-mile standard gauge branch of the New York Central that reached Old Forge by a completely different route in 1896.)

The railroad had two steam locomotives and an unknown quantity of rolling stock that apparently included at least one open passenger car and one or more baggage cars. The first engine was built by the firm of Ryther & Pringle of Carthage, NY and was of unknown design. It was apparently found unsatisfactory and was soon replaced with a 9-ton Porter 0-4-2T. The few photos I've seen show only the Porter.





(Both photos are from the Herr article linked above, which gives credit to the Town of Webb Historical Association.)

The railroad ran for 4 summers until a fire at Moose River on October 1, 1891 destroyed the depot, enginehouse, and all of the equipment. Replacement equipment (from where?) was obtained to resume service in 1892, but the railroad ceased operations after that year.

-Philip Marshall



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/16/2016 03:31PM by philip.marshall.