Along the Electric Trail

On Saturday, May 7, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., there is an opening reception for an exhibition of the interpretive panels along the Electric Trail in Columbia and Rensselaer counties, presented by the Hudson Area Library in partnership with Columbia Friends of the Electric Trail.

The exhibition will be installed in the Community Room of the library, 51 North Fifth Street. During the opening reception, there will be an introduction to the history and conversion of the electric train line by Matt Kierstead, who provided the documentation and interpretive services for the Electric Trail panels.

The exhibition of the panels continues through June 30.

In conjunction with the exhibition, on Thursday, May 26, Kierstead returns to discuss the project in more detail in his talk Trolleys, Trails and Tales: Interpreting the Empire State Trail's Albany-Hudson Electric Trail. The talk, which is part of the History Room's local history series, will present the corporate, social, and technological history of the Albany-Hudson Fast Line, the electrified high-speed interurban railway in Columbia and Rensselaer counties. It will also tell the story of the Hudson River Valley Greenway's conversion of the surviving trolley line right-of-way into the Empire State Trail's "Albany-Hudson Electric Trail" segment. Finally, Kierstead will discuss the process of developing the trailside interpretive signage that explains the history of the railway, the communities it passed through, and historical features visible from the trail to the trail's users. The talk takes place in person in the Community Room at the Hudson Area Library.