Nostalgia & History > When RR's were busy in Niagara Falls NY

In my post yesterday 'Encore 56: NYC FA+3 FB's action ('68') cr7998 wrote "In addition, NYC / PC were still running some trains between New York and Detroit through Ontario. Amazing to think that NYC once had four routes between Rochester and the Buffalo / Niagara Falls area. Today, I think Niagara Falls is pretty much a dead end for freight traffic."

Those comments hit home for me, and here are 3 of my pictures that recall that RR period in 'The Falls'. Hopefully someone can provide us with details about activity there today.

#'1 was in 1968, #2 was on 3/1/68 and #3 was taken on 10/6/67.

 

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A first-class set of older photos. My favorite is photo three with the Burlington unit in the lashup.
Bob

The second one has NYC C430 2056 as the second unit.   That loco is still around on the WNY&P.

Its amazing that the whole Western NY/ Southern Ontario area used to have this much rail vibrancy. Almost all gone. I'm not sure why the CN would operate into Niagara Falls ON at this point. Great series.

The NF engine terminal in March 1966, taken during my freshman year at nearby Niagara University.

Art House

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stevelv Wrote:
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> The second one has NYC C430 2056 as the second
> unit.   That loco is still around on the WNY&P.

Another cool factor is the train is ML9 which was the westbound equivalent of ML12.  ML9 returned to Detroit via Canada because the empty racks could clear the Detroit tunnels while the loads went via Toledo.

 

Art: The scene in your post is the kind that I remember in NF back then ... Alco FA's and Alco switchers were common there during that time. What caught my eye also was the distinctive TP&W box car in your picture. It reminded me that I posted this shot of one of those cars that I also shot in NF ,,, I took the picture on Mar. 11, 1968. Not sure that I ever saw another TP&W car in that scheme.

Where the one in your picture was spotted could mean it was perhaps it was carrying something that the RR shop there would have delivered from time to time that always showed up in a TP&W car. Also noted that both of our pictures were taken in March ... but in different years!
Kind of a real long shot  .... more than likely just a coincidence ; ^ )

 

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The bridge piers in the third image intrigue me.
 
In the 1800's, with much fanfare, a railroad suspension bridge was built over the Niagara Gorge between the US and Canada.

I always wondered how effective such a bridge would be in a railroad environment. I know they feature in "Thomas the Tank Engine".

Excellent shot of the TPW car. That's a bonus round.

Man what a happening place!

eminence_grise Wrote:
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> The bridge piers in the third image intrigue me.
>  
> In the 1800's, with much fanfare, a railroad
> suspension bridge was built over the Niagara Gorge
> between the US and Canada.
>
> I always wondered how effective such a bridge
> would be in a railroad environment. I know they
> feature in "Thomas the Tank Engine".

A suspension bridge that large for trains is a scary thought. Thanks for pointing that out. It apparently lasted longer than I thought it would although I don't know how much freight traffic it would have seen or could accommodate. It's replacement seen in the photo clearly was up to the task of 20th Century railroading demands.

Thanks for the great shots around Niagara Falls when it was a busy railroad town.  In the pre-Conrail days, Niagara Falls was an important interchange point between the Canadian National and three connecting lines on the U.S. side, Erie / EL, Lehigh Valley and NYC / PC.  The NYC also ran through trains between Niagara Falls and Detroit over its own line through southern Ontario.  That line was built as the Canada Southern Railway (CASO reporting marks), and came under NYC control, becoming NYC's Canada Division.  In its halycon days, NYC routed some high priority traffic over the Canada Division, including hotshot NY-4 from Chicago to New York City, which typically carried plenty of perishables.  Another regular train on that route was ML-9, the westbound train of empty multi-levels from eastern points to Detroit.  NYC had its own bridge over the Niagara River, a mile downstream from the famous waterfalls.  That bridge, with an elegant steel arch, was built in 1925 and known as the Michigan Central Bridge (the NYC leased the Canada Southern to its Michigan Central subsidiary).  Another user of the bridge was C&O, which also had a line through southern Ontario, including trackage rights over the Canada Southern east of St. Thomas, ON.  C&O interchanged to the Erie/EL, LV and NYC / PC at Niagara Falls.  The third photo shows the Michigan Central Bridge with a westbound train.  

A short distance downstream from the Michigan Central Bridge is the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, another arch bridge that was used for interchange between the Canadian National and the railroads on the U.S. side.  The Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, built in 1897, replaced the original Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge that was opened in 1855.  A specific rail station, called Suspension Bridge, NY, was established for traffic moving via this route (abbreviation SUSBG).  Routing on a bill of lading would be, for example, NYC-SUSBG-CN or EL-SUSBG-CN.  I not 100% sure, but I believe this was done to differentiate with traffic that moved over the Michigan Central Bridge, or traffic interchanged between the railroads on the U.S. side, which would show Niagara Falls as the interchange point (abbreviated NIAFS).  An example of such a routing would be C&O-NIAFS-LV.  Of course, the formation of Conrail made many of the old routings redundant.  

Within a few years, Conrail began moving the remaining through trains off the old Canada Southern, onto the Lake Shore main line via Buffalo and Cleveland, before selling the route to CN and CP in 1985.  The CP used the line over the Michigan Central Bridge until 2001, when an agreement was reached with the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, to cease service on the line because it ran right through a congested tourist area.  The Michigan Central Bridge still stands, with an uncertain future.  The nearby Whirlpool Rapids Bridge sees only Amtrak service today.  The freight traffic that used to move via that route has been diverted to the International Bridge between Buffalo and Fort Erie, ON.  Today, the only freight traffic moving in and out of Niagara Falls is for local business.  Several chemical plants and other industrial accounts still provide some local business for CSX in the area. 

Steve Salamon  
Valley City, OH

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/20 20:42 by cr7998.