Buffalo NY

Mike,

you being in south Carolina, what ever pocessed you to look up western NY on googlemaps?? 

 I think it's owned by CN, the line that crosses into the US. It comes right down thru Niagara Falls, Canada. I think it was a problem for both traffic and security so those tracks coming over the Niagara Gorge on two bridges right next to each other are all closed now I believe.

 There was a line around the Gorge coming to the old Stauffer Chem plant that was removed. I see a line from the 290 Freeway going thru Buffalo and Tonawanda that was also removed.

 There were so many industries that have moved out of the area that it's easy to see why they don't need all the old lines now. There's still CSX and NS yards all around in use though. I imagine it's not the hayday it used to be.

Remember....at one time Buffalo was a major rail hub and very important city. The Pan-American Exhibition was held there circa 1900-1901.......William McKinley was visiting the exhibition when he was assassinated.    Teddy Roosevelt was sworn in there.

 

Unfortunately, its RR history has seen better days, now.

 

Peter

Here's a link to the story of Roosvelt's journey to Buffalo.  Seems the train he was on had an accident on the way to Bufffalo.

Another Buffalo legacy structure is the Buffalo Central Terminal. Built in 1930 it was a Buffalo landmark. Now it is largely abandoned and damaged. I traveled on the NYC to/from Cleveland Ohio in 1962 via the terminal. I have a Trains article with original photos and plans.

 

A most amazing and unique structure of its day.

 

 

 

 

They are trying to save it...http://buffalocentralterminal.org/

Yes from SC but I love exploring current railroads and abandoned lines throughout the US.  Google maps makes that easy to do now days.

 

Looks like NS opened an intermodal yard in Buffalo.  I wonder if its doing well.  That should be good for the retail shipments.  They come on rail..then to trucks for local deliveries.  

Freight and Amtrak passenger (to and from Toronto) traffic still cross daily into and from the US.

NS has designated Bison (Buffalo) as an in-land port.  It will be a receiving point for containers coming out of northern New Jersey via Allentown and/or the eastern Southern Tier line (Binghamton - Croxton).  At this moment I believe that there are two container dailies each way between Bison and Allentown.  There is one daily between Bison and Ayer which handles additional Ayer - Binghamton container traffic in Binghamton coming from/going to Northern New Jersey.

 

Poppyl

 

 

 

Do inland ports replace at the port terminals...or just offer alternatives and convenience...adding to existing options?

Mike,  The southern bridge from Suspension Bridge to Niagara Falls, Ont.  (former Michigan Central, NYC) is out of service and has no connection to any railroad.

It's really has died off, most of the fallen flags routes have become bike paths. Part of the frontier yard (CSX) is abandoned.  And if you head west on the I-90 towards Erie PA the thruway go right besides the old LV and a bridge or two is still standing. You still have some short lines that operate, B&P operates the old Pennsylvania line, and DL&W operates small sections and interchanges with both csx and NS. DL&W is part of the gvt trail which also operates a part that runs through Lockport & medina. They do a handful of excursions on that line and the medina rr museum has purchased 2 NYC e-8's currently still being restored.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR1GnJ0pSJA

 

Watch from 9:15 to 10:30

To my way of thinking, the use of the term "inland port" is meant to indicate that the RR will run dedicated container trains between the sea-land transition location and the inland location with no intermediate stops except for crew and equipment changes.

 

In this case, trucks that in the "old" days would have hauled containers from Northern New Jersey to Buffalo, for example, now fan out from Bison so road costs to customers should be lower.  Not quite as sure that schedules are as quick, however.

 

Poppyl

 

The bridge coming out of Buffalo is still used. I believe it's the International Bridge. The two next to each other that are lower of the Falls, one is still used . I travelled over last year for Blue Jay games. The train was Amtrak all the way, with a VIA crew taking over in Niagara Falls. We also see a lot of grain cars for the storage silos were famous for. Cheerios are manufactured here. Buffalo is a great train spotting area. We were once the second largest rail hub in the country.

Some picture from my trip to Buffalo in May.....Delaware Ave in North Buffalo...

 

 

 

Peter