Honeoye Falls - LV and NYC

When did the LV build the connector from their tracks to the NYC to server customers on the Peanut Line? Also, the LV had a two tracks that curved off the line to Hemlock at Honeoye Falls. It seems the southern track was removed at some point while the northern spur into HF remained until the end. When did this happen? Thanks.

Charles

I think the Lehigh Valley built that connector to the Peanut when the Peanut was abandoned. With regard to the two tracks off the main line, if memory serves me, the LV had a wye at Honeoye Falls on the east side of the main. Ted

nydepot wrote:When did the LV build the connector from their tracks to the NYC to server customers on the Peanut Line?

The NYC abandoned the Peanut Line between Holcomb and (IIRC) Caledonia around 1938 or '39. LV built their connector at that time. When I get a chance to visit the library this fall, I'll do some more research on this subject.

The New York Central abandoned the "Peanut" between Holcomb and Caledonia, 23.15 miles, on 14 January 1939.

Will go through some files in the near future as I have the information about the LV taking over the NYC customers in HF someplace.

I believe that the south leg of the wye was removed after passenger service to HF/Hemlock was abandoned.

Contacted a highly reliable source who has resided in Honeoye Falls all his life. Follows is what was related:

The connecting track from the LVRR down to the Peanut was constructed in 1940. This connection allowed the LV to serve the Peanut Yard businesses plus Hamilton Mill.

There was a full wye off the Rochester branch at Honeoye Falls. The compass south leg of this wye was torn up in 1967.

The former Rochester Branch between Rochester Jct. and Lima including all trackage in Honeoye Falls was torn up in 1984.

Could you take a look at OpenStreetMap and tell me if I have all the tracks in HF depicted correctly?
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=42.95 ... 5&layers=M

It looks like the LV had two spurs in HF. One on the north between and paralleling Norton and Monroe, and one on the south, which connected with the Peanut. You can see on both the ortho and topo maps the appearance of a wye leg off the north spur connecting to the LV. Are those the only tracks, apart from the main lines of the LV and Peanut? The 1904 topo map shows a trolley line coming in from Lima, and a set of yard tracks south of the Peanut and east of Carriage St.

Accurate as to general layout.

The LVRR spur down to the station came off the Rochester Branch and formed the north leg of the wye track. The spur down to the Peanut came off the north leg of the wye, crossed the south leg of the wye at grade and continued generally east, terminating at the Upper Mill. The station spur split just east of the Peanut connection switch and this track served a coal yard. The station spur split again just west of the LV depot and this track served a large feed mill.

The electric line was the Lima & Honeoye Falls Railroad. This came into Honeoye Falls from the southwest, ducked under the LVRR bridge over the Peanut, paralleled the Peanut and terminated just west of Main Street. Service on this line was discontinued on 17 August 1915. This information from A Railroad for Lima by Paul Worboys.

The LVRR bridge that spanned both the Peanut and the L&HF RR was demolished in 1989.

A few years ago I was out in Caldeonia and the Peanut line was still being used to service a customer in Caledonia. Is this still the case?

Slightly off topic - if anyone has photos of the last days of the Peanut line in Holcomb, or can direct me to any, I would love to see them!

Passed through here the other night and it made me wonder if anybody ever got a picture of the LV or even Conrail on the bridge over Honeoye Creek. At least, I think to reach the one customer they had to cross here, there's a "Papermill Road" to the east.

It would have been possible to make a spectacular shot of the falls with the bridge with a train passing here.

Mike Stellpflug did.

RussNelson wrote:Could you take a look at OpenStreetMap and tell me if I have all the tracks in HF depicted correctly?
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=42.95" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 5&layers=M

It looks like the LV had two spurs in HF. One on the north between and paralleling Norton and Monroe, and one on the south, which connected with the Peanut. You can see on both the ortho and topo maps the appearance of a wye leg off the north spur connecting to the LV. Are those the only tracks, apart from the main lines of the LV and Peanut? The 1904 topo map shows a trolley line coming in from Lima, and a set of yard tracks south of the Peanut and east of Carriage St.

This is an old post and OpenStreetMaps may have changed, but when I open the link I get a map with 4 options to display under "Layers": Standard, Cycle, Transport, and Humanitarian.

I don't see old RR ROW in any of them. What am I missing? Jim

nydepot wrote:Mike Stellpflug did.

I think lvrr325 is referring to the Peanut Line bridge abutments that are in the creek just above the falls in town.
The LV never used that part of the Peanut Line as far as I know.

There are no falls anywhere near where the LV crossed Honeoye Creek between Monroe Street and Sibley Road.

RussNelson wrote:Could you take a look at OpenStreetMap and tell me if I have all the tracks in HF depicted correctly?
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=42.95" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 5&layers=M

It looks like the LV had two spurs in HF. One on the north between and paralleling Norton and Monroe, and one on the south, which connected with the Peanut. You can see on both the ortho and topo maps the appearance of a wye leg off the north spur connecting to the LV. Are those the only tracks, apart from the main lines of the LV and Peanut? The 1904 topo map shows a trolley line coming in from Lima, and a set of yard tracks south of the Peanut and east of Carriage St.

This post is only 7 years late. I think there was one more LV spur. If you go to the USGS Topo map viewerhttps://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#15/42.9569/-77.5959" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
they have maps from different dates all in one place. Very handy.
The 1934 map does not yet have the LV/ex-NYC connection since the NYC is still in, and the spur to the LV station between Norton and Monroe you mention is there. But there is also a long LV spur on the north edge of town, north of and sort of parallel to what is today Maplewood Ave, going down close to the river, crossing North Main St.
In the 1951 map, the long spur north of Maplewood Ave is abandoned (dotted line), the NYC is gone, and the LV /ex-NYC connection is in as you described.

EDIT: Sanborn maps from 1927 show a paper mill (American Pulp Corp) at the end of the northern spur, on the river, with a mill race going to it, presumably from above the falls.

Looking west from where East Street crosses the creek:

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.952571, ... 312!8i6656" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looking at historic aerials I see that bridge not present in 1971, so that answers my question, unless there's a postcard view out there it's unlikely anyone took a photo there.

Looking at the topo maps shows an interesting arrangement of sidings at one time, I didn't realize the station was on a stub branch off the main track. For a time the track into the station was accessed via a facing point northbound switch and the track crossed on a diamond the connector to the old NYC and a short second siding to some other industry. Eventually the latter closed and it's track was connected to the station track.

Spur north of town appears to have run to a mill on the creek.

The bridge over the creek went out with the NYC in 1941-ish when it was ripped up. The H.F. trackage was turned over to the LV and the rest of the NYC from Holcomb to Caledonia ripped up.

There is a photo of an NYC steamer crossing the street but I haven't seen one on the bridge itself.