Model Railroaders & Chapman plan ‘semi-permanent’ 1889 Glens Falls Trolley layout

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

The Upstate Model Railroaders club is working with the Chapman Museum to build a working model based on the single-track trolley line that ran up Glen Street in 1889.

“This will be a semi-permanent layout at the Chapman museum,” Railroaders spokesperson Forest Bevins tells The Chronicle.
He and fellow Upstate Model Railroaders member Ken Wheeler will build it in Mr. Wheeler’s studio.

They aim to complete it in time for the Chapman’s annual holiday display this fall. Donations totaling about $1,400 are sought to fund the project, mostly for electronic equipment they don’t already have. Otherwise, they are donating their time and materials, building some of the elements by adjusting existing kits, and making others “from scratch.”

“The Chapman contacted us for some sort of model railroad display that might involve Glens Falls and local railroads,” Mr. Wheeler said.
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The Model Railroaders had the idea to focus on the trolley line.

“Originally it was on a single track route through Glen Street. The track ran all the way from Troy, past Lake George and into Warrensburg,” Mr. Wheeler said, with spurs to Scotia, Saratoga, Hudson Falls and Fort Edward.

They plan a six-foot display, built in two modules depicting the line and structures on the west side of Glen Street, from the fountain at what is now Centennial Circle to the Civil War monument.

“We actually went downtown one morning with a tape measure, measuring the width of the buildings” that still exist from 1889. The display will include a reproduction of the Rockwell Hotel that stood where Hudson Avenue is now.

From Exchange Street to the Civil War Monument, they plan to replicate the original 1890 buildings that were subsequently destroyed by fire, “as best as we can,” from images at the time.

Mr. Bevins, a retired CAD designer, is crafting models of the two monuments via 3-D printing.

They chose 1889 because that is the year the fountain was taken down and moved to Crandall Park, to make way for an expanded double-track trolley line.

During World War II, the City of Glens Falls dismantled the fountain and donated it as scrap metal for the war effort.

Mr. Wheeler says, “Part of our mission is to preserve, not only model railroading and to display the artistry and craftsmanship involved in that, but also to preserve specifically, Glens Falls railroad history.”

The display will be interactive: Press a button and the trolley car will run on the track and then return to its base. They also plan to include buttons to play recorded audio that explains the history.

To donate, visit Upstate Model Railroaders or The Chapman online.

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