CARTHAGE, N.Y. — A long-dormant Upstate New York rail line has returned to life after 25 years of inactivity.
Genesee Valley Transportation subsidiary Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern restored freight rail service to its Newton Falls Line on Nov. 7, 2025, operating a five-car train to Benson Mines, N.Y. The five gondolas, bracketed by MA&N Alco locomotives, were loaded with high-friction aggregate material from the former iron-ore mine.
Astro Aggregates LLC, a Long Island-based supplier of stone, sand, and construction materials, said it had entered a strategic partnership with Benson Mines in December 2024, and that the five loads, shipped via MA&N, CSX, and New York & Atlantic Railway, would be the first of many, with volume expected to increase to 500 cars per year.
“This material will be used to build the skyscrapers of New York City and pave the roads of all of Long Island,” Astro Aggregates President Marc Furman said in a press release. “We see the volume of stone being shipped increasing from this initial load to using 500 cars per year and then steadily increasing thereafter.”
Benson Mines is northeast of Star Lake, a hamlet of 800 residents within Adirondack Park. It closed in 1978, causing a dramatic loss of freight traffic and jobs. The remaining operations at the mine site have focused on overburden — the waste rock removed during mining.
The Newton Falls Line, part of MA&N’s Northern Division, is a 46-mile former Conrail branch line from Carthage to Newton Falls. MA&N began operating the line in 1991, with the Newton Falls Paper Mill providing steady freight business until its closure in 2000. The railroad’s final CANF (Carthage to Newton Falls) freight ran in November 2000. Efforts to generate new rail traffic on the line never gained traction, and the Newton Falls Line went into hibernation, seeing minimal track maintenance and occasional car storage.
Former MA&N General Manager Pete Gores, the engineer on the final CANF 25 years ago, said the first train represents decades of hard work by Genesee Valley Transportation and Benson Mines. Gores, who oversaw the MA&N during a shift in freight traffic and the closure of facilities by a series of major customers, is hopeful future activity at Benson Mines can lead to new jobs and provide traffic for the railroad.
“I’m elated,” he said. “Since the day the mill closed, it’s been my No. 1 goal to bring jobs back to the North Country.”
Leading the train from Benson Mines was Alco C425 No. 2454, still wearing the two-tone green livery of former owner BC Rail. Bringing up the rear was C424 No. 2403, lettered for sister railroad Delaware-Lackawanna.
Genesee Valley Transportation is popular among railfans for its large fleet of Alco and Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) units, many wearing the paint schemes of their former owners. Its customer-focused business model is also popular among shippers on its five railroads in New York and Pennsylvania.
The Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern’s 34-year-history has been marked by challenges created by a series of paper mill closures around the turn of the century. The company sought new traffic sources as business shifted from the Northern Division in Carthage to the Southern Division in Utica. Support from the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency and New York State Department of Transportation helped the Newton Falls Line avoid abandonment; the traffic from Benton Mines offers the hope of brighter days for the route.
