CORINTH, N.Y. — The Saratoga Corinth & Hudson Railway has introduced its newest piece of equipment, a flatcar that proved to have an extensive and significant history.
SC&H car No. 16151 was unveiled on June 3 for the Alco Historical & Technical Society’s annual “Alco Adventure” day. During restoration for use as an open-air excursion car, it was discovered the car used the tender frame from Delaware & Hudson 4-4-0 locomotive No. 451, wrecked in a collision with another locomotive at The Glen, N.Y., on D&H’s Adirondack Branch on Aug. 26, 1946. Engineer Frank J. Keehan, 57, of Saratoga Springs, a veteran of more than 40 years on the D&H, is credited with giving his life to minimize the impact of the collision, knowing the train he was about to run into was carrying school children.
The tender frame was subsequently converted into a maintenance-of-way car with a small crane. It was saved by SC&H owner Hal Raven from a former titanium mine in Tahawus, N.Y., where it had been left when D&H pulled its last ore train out of the mine in 1989. It is beleved to have spent most of its life on the branch or at the mine after the wreck which led to the scrapping of No. 451.
The flatcar has been named “The Spirit of The Glen” and carries a plaque honoring Frank J. Keehan. Among those on hand at the dedication was retired D&H employee Bill Bibby, who said his father was one of the first D&H employees on the scene of the collision at the Glen.
The SC&H runs on the southernmost portion of the former D&H Adirondack Branch, operating over about 7 miles between Corinth and Greenfield, N.Y. More information is available at the railroad’s website.
