Tekene Branch The Tekene Branch was built between 1888 and 1896 by the Kinsley Lumber Company; it ran west from the New York Central line at Tekene Junction 4.4 miles to the Kinsley site, and then north, 2.5 miles to Debar Pond.
Malone Farmer, October 21, 1903
The dispute between William Rockefeller and the Delaware & Hudson railroad over the control of the Tekene branch railroad running to Mr. Rockefeller's Debar tract has been temporarily settled by an arrangement with the Delaware & Hudson to operate the road and haul Mr. Rockefeller's timber, which is satisfactory to both sides. The gauge of the road is to be widened by the D. & H. to Mr. Rockefeller's camp so as to facilitate all shipments. The D. & H. has filed in the Franklin county clerk's office papers covering that portion of the Tekene branch not on Mr. Rockefeller's land. They do not cover any new extension of the road, as has been stated, but simply apply to the branch extending to the Debar mountain tract which they are to widen. The wood on the great tracts burned over, which is to be cut this winter to save it and will be shipped to the Brooklyn Cooperage Company at Tupper Lake, is to be transported by the D. & H. to Tekene Junction and delivered to the N. Y. Central under its traffic agreement with the D. & H. The matter in dispute between the latter railroad and Mr. Rockefeller resolved itself simply into one of getting out his wood and timber at a satisfactory rate. It makes little difference who owns the Tekene branch so long as the D. & H. is willing to operate it, and at a rate less than Mr. Rockefeller could possibly operate it himself in hauling out his timber.
Adirondack Record-Elizabethtown Post, July 5, 1945
…The old Chateaugay road had its beginning as a state-owned line from Plattsburg to Dannemora.
The Iron works at Clinton prison, forges and blast furnace, previously operated under contract by the Kingslands of Keeseville, were taken over by New York State in 1866, and in 1878 an act was passed authorizing construction and management of a railroad from Lake Champlain to Dannemora prison. Building of the line was put in the hands of the superintendent of state prisons, and the road was completed in 1879, being marked on maps as the Dannemora Railroad. May 20, 1879, the Chateaugay Railroad was organized by Smith M. Weed and associates, and a lease was obtained of the Dannemora Railroad, following their decision to run a line from Rogersfield (Lyon Mountain) to Dannemora for the shipment of ore and iron.
On June 5, 1879, the contract was let for grading from Dannemora to the site of the Chateaugay Ore and Iron Company works.
December 17 the first regular train ran over the entire line from Lyon Mountain to Plattsburg. The total length of the Chateaugay line to Lyon Mountain is 36 miles and it rises from its beginning to its summit about 1,900 feet. There was formerly a branch to Bradley Pond from Lyon Mountain. The total cost of the whole road and equipment was $384,817 of which the state paid $75,000.
The Chateaugay Railroad was soon extended to Standish, to Loon Lake in 1886, and to Saranac Lake in 1887. Another line ran from Saranac Lake to Lake Placid in 1893, George Looby, engineer, Howard Weaver, conductor, a standard gauge. One dollar was the fare for the ten mile trip. Both lines were taken over by the D. & H. Company in 1903 and a third rail laid to make it possible to use the narrow gauge equipment on the Chateaugay road. The Tekene branch was constructed to Debar Pond in 1888.
After the branch was abandoned and rails taken up, the last mile of the right of way of the main and all of the spur were included in the 9,000-acre tract set aside as the Debar Mountain State Game Refuge, establishment of which was promoted by F. M. Merrill, engineer for the conservation department.
