Greece NY abandoned right of way BR&P/B&O

Hi guys,
Can someone give me some background on an abandoned stretch of track. The section I'm looking at starts at Dewey Ave. between Ontario Plastics and Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, at Barnard Crossing, going NNE (still rails). It then runs between Sheppler St. (Roch.) and Bennington Dr. (Greece). Crosses Stone Rd. at Matthews and Fields Lumber where the tracks end - looks like it serviced the lumber yard. Did it? Crosses Britton Rd. next to the Jewish Cemetery. Crosses Denise Rd. near Hampton Blvd. and veers NNE. Goes behind Charlotte High School (my Alma Mater). Crosses Latta Rd. between Latta Lea Golf course and a (recently removed) lumber yard - did it service the lumber yard? Seems to end just north of the Ontario State Parkway just west of lake Ave. as it headed east, where it is a multi use trail.

Questions. Did it have a name? Who owned it? From Barnard Crossing north, did it service any industries along the route? Does not seem to have spurs. When did it last see action? I remember repair cars parked on the ROW across from Matthews and Fields some while back.

Appreciate the help.

Mike
N Gauge Model Rail Roader

Baltimore & Ohio, (Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg Railroad) up from Ashford NY, connected with NYC Hojack (RW&O) at Charlotte
http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=43.23901,-77 ... River%20NY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Running_Track" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The track you are describing is the former BR&P / B&O trackage that did service Matthews and Fields as recently as about 10-15 years ago. It did extend to a coal dock on the Genesee River (near Turning Point Park) where coal was loaded onto ships bound for the port of Coburg Ontario (just about directly North of Hamlin Beach State Park). The coal dock and boats stopped service in the late 60's/early 70's.

The Charlotte Running track is a former NYC railroad line that runs north from Rochester to Charlotte and joined the old RW&O, later the NYC "Hojack" line near where the former RW&O swing bridge existed until 5 or so years ago. North of Ridge Road the BR&P line and the NYC line did not connect again until they reached Charlotte. There was a railroad bridge (heading approx North South) over the Lake Ontario State Parkway near Latta Road that was the BR&P roadbed, but, if I remember correctly it has been removed. There is still a railroad bridge (heading approx East West) over the Lake Ontario State Parkway close to Dewey Ave (just East) that was the Hojack line.

The BR&P line ended at Matthews and Fields since the 80's, perhaps before. I remember seeing inbound lumber shipments at Matthews and Fields in the 2000-2005 time frame.

The Charlotte Running track still exists (2016) but sees little use since the RG&E Russel station on Lake Ontario was decommissioned a few years back.

From what I have read the Canadian Railroads in Ontario had limited access to good quality coal for their steam locomotives so coal mined in Pennsylvania was transported by rail to ports on the southern shore of Lake Ontario (Charlotte (BR&P) and Sodus (PRR)) and then shipped by boat to Canada. Once steam engines went away in Canada (early 60's) this traffic vanished.

Cheers, Kevin.

Thanks Kevin.
I actually live, and grew up the next street over from Turning Point. Greece Historical just had a fantastic history lecture on the coal and car/passenger ferry to Colburg from the Turning Point.

Mike

More info for you on this thread: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.ph ... &start=135" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . Unfortunately this web site does not number posts on each thread, but the discussion starts about April 20th and goes to the following page.

The Wikipedia page states that the Charlotte runner was built by the RW&O. I believe that is incorrect and that it was built by the NYC about 1853. What became known as the State Street runner, the line the ran up the east side of the Genesee River, was built by the RW&O about 1891.

"The Wikipedia page states that the Charlotte runner was built by the RW&O. I believe that is incorrect and that it was built by the NYC about 1853."

That is my understanding as well. The Charlotte runner was built by the NYCRR not the RW&O. It was built in part to service amusement parks in Charlotte. There was (I believe) a roller coaster in Charlotte near the lake shore at one time. The Charlotte runner had a loop track right about where the new marina is going in. This allowed the NYCRR to run short passenger trains from Rochester up to the lake and turn them for a return trip.

And it collected fruit and vegetables from the Hojack line east and west of there for transport to the "big" city of Rochester. There was a Duffy-Mott applesauce plant in Hamlin that had rail service on the Hojack. That shut down in the 70's I believe.

Cheers, Kevin.

" It was built in part to service amusement parks in Charlotte. "

Two places worth the visit. Both have collections of period postcards of Charlotte Beach and the Amusement Park. Both will cause clogging of the arteries but what the heck. The Char Pit Restaurant on Lake Ave very near the Beach and Schaller's Restaurant on Island Cottage near Edgemere. (Actually the corner of Edgemere - Edgemere and Old Edgemere)

Matthews and Fields Lumber

Rail service was discontinued here some 8-10 years back. I was told, by a local historian that I trust, that M&F wanted to continue service. Rail being an efficient way to deliver large amounts of wood. The Rail Road informed them that if they wanted to continue to be a customer, M&F would have to pay for the maintenance of the rails from Barnard Crossing to Stone Road. Amazingly the trucking industry had no such requirement to have M&F maintain the town and county roads.
Mike

M&F has service via the LA&L in Henrietta 2-3 times per week. No need for the R&S. It's history.

mike157 wrote:Amazingly the trucking industry had no such requirement to have M&F maintain the town and county roads.

Amazingly, the town and county roads get a lot more use out of the public sector in one hour than the private rails serving one lonely customer do in a week...