IRONSHOES, they called it, the only iron bobsled used on the Olympic bob run, Mt. Van Hoevenberg, adjacent to Lake Placid.  Conceived by Robert and William Linney and fashioned of "Chateaugay" iron, it became famous for winning four and two man team bobsled races when weight limits for sleds had been only recently imposed. The sled weighed about 500 pounds; the men were stalwarts of the area whose noticeable avoirdupois contributed to racing speed.

The sled, built to required specifications, and its teams became famous in the 1930's, only a step away from the difficult days of World War I in the Adirondack mining industry, a period when the Linney's were forced to "make do" at Republic Steel Corporations Lyon Mountain and Mineville properties, stepping up production continuously to the limit.

The bob run came into being; one and one half miles scientifically banked, a shining hazardously curved winter speedway maintained by the N.Y. State Department of Conservation. The Linney's were at hand, had the sportsman's racing instinct, were experienced iron makers, and "Ironshoes" was born to Republic Steel Corporation to bring fame to both the Linneys and Chateaugay iron.

The sled, now residing at the Adirondack History Center Museum, must speak of Adirondack iron-of Bill, Bob, and Joe Linney-of world renowned racing on Lake Placid's unique bob run-of the sled teams, and always, of an area where past and present combine to give a picture enjoyed by thousands of visitors.

Marjorie Porter, 1971

Aurora Ramsay works in the Brewster Research Library at the Adirondack History Center Museum in Elizabethtown.

ADIRONDACK HISTORY CENTER MUSEUM
ESSEX COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PO Box 428, 7590 Court Street
Elizabethtown, NY 12932
www.adkhistorycenter.org
Research Queries: research@adkhistorycenter.org
General Information: echs@adkhistorycenter.org