by SST
I didn't have time to edit for errors. I just slammed this in because it's time for work. I'll edit later.
Last night I headed up to N. Tonawanda to ride my bike around before the weather really makes a change. I couldn’t have picked a better evening and time.
I got up there just after sunset and stopped to grab a bite to eat and then dragged out the bike for the final ride. I was going to ride along the river but decided to take the short bike trail along the canal on the north side along Sweeney St. I rode underneath the rr bridge hoping to catch an Amtraker but to no avail. I headed to the end of the path and turn around. Again I stopped at the trestle. Out of the corner of my eye was a blinding bright light. I looked across the canal and there was CSX holding short of the bridge. I would guess he had just completed servicing Exolon [sp] on the Peanut. I waited a few minutes and could make out someone walking with a flashlight. Then he started moving across the bridge and I assume went to Niagara Falls. He had about 20 boxcars in tow. He was using a single unit #7241. After he disappeared from sight I continued on my way. I headed up Oliver St.
I really like exploring N. Tonawanda. There is so much to see if you know where to look. The first thing I noticed headed up Oliver was the freight house. They had the usual cabooses lined up and two switchers. But this time they had a Conrail boxcar on the track that goes behind the freight house. I liked it. It added some reality to there museum. Across the street, the property that the switching tower is on is either up for sale or lease. I don’t remember. I hope that doesn’t spell trouble for the tower. I’d hate to see some jerk developer tear it down.
I cruised up past where Robinson Steel was and then turned around. I crossed over the NYC Lockport track that’s still feeds several business and then weaved around the neighborhoods checking out xmas displays. Then I came upon Robinson Rd at Smurfit Corp and decided to check out the trackage. For the first time ever, I arrived when the signal tower was lit for Niagara Falls bound traffic. Solid yellow over solid red. I knew traffic was coming. I looked south along the track but didn’t see anything but eventually I caught the reflection of the loco’s bright lights off the rails. He came into sight. I waited at the Robinson Rd crossing. Just a single unit with nothing in tow. It was #7241. The gates had come down but he didn’t cross. Then the gates came back up. I thought he was going to switch out Smurfit but then he started moving again, the gates came down and then he stopped right on the road. The guy jumped off and threw the switch, got back on and off they went. The crossed over too the “mainline.” I thought maybe he was going to head back to the Falls but he stopped again, threw another switch and then took off towards Frontier I assume. Pretty cool watching him even though it was only a single unit.
The other day I came across an old Readers Digest that had the story about the Amtrak derail caused by the trucker who crossed the gates while they were down. Terrible thing. But since I read it I was watching what everyone was doing. No one crossed the gates. But, after he took off to go back to Frontier, the road one block away, someone jumped the gate after 7241 passed by. The guy only had to wait 10 more seconds. What if? After that I went back to the car and headed home.
Today, I went flying. On my way out to Akron I took Ransom Rd to check on the WS bike path. There is indeed a new bridge connecting the paths on either side. The bridge is currently blocked on either side. It must have just gone up recently. It’s not even painted yet. Surface rust. There is corrugated steel for the deck but I assume they haven’t laid any concrete yet. Very impressive looking. Clarence has got it right. Now all we need to do is get the Amherst cry babies out of the way so the Peanut can expand westward. It would be nice to ride from Akron to the Seaway trail uninterrupted.
I departed Akron without knowing where I wanted to go. Even as the wheels left the runway I didn’t know where I wanted to go. Left or right. Passing 1800 feet I decided to turn left and do my usual tour of Buffalo.
I picked up the Erie Canal at Pendelton and followed it in to N. Tonawanda. Eventually I picked up the Lockport Branches of the former rr’s. So glad I turned left instead of right. A single unit CSX was pulling about 20 boxcars through the NYC Lockport rails. I saw him coming right through the middle of town. It was so impressive to see this. I have never seen any activity on the line. Bad timing. Good timing today. He was going not more the 5 mph. The tracks are terrible. I ended up circling for maybe 15 minutes just watching him make his way along. He eventually came to the big intersection where Niagara Falls Blvd crosses the line. I noticed that there were no gates here. The train came to a stop and eventually all the autos had come to a stop. Then the train continued across the street. I was waiting for someone to jump the signals but nobody moved even after the train had passed. Of course with me circling for 15 minutes maybe they all saw me and assumed I was watching them. I wanted to hang out and watch him switch the business he was going to but I had more to check out.
I’ve noticed that the rails on the Erie under the Youngman Expressway [290] have been pulled up. Yesterday I drove over the line on my way to biking and noticed it from a grounded view. It looks like all the rails have been pulled and trees trimmed. Bike path coming? Even the row on both sides of the trestle crossing Ellicott Creek look like its being groomed. Hope so. It will be nice. I flew over it up to the 290 but it didn’t add any better perspective.
Then I headed south along the Niagara River. I caught NS coming off the Belt Line headed for the International Bridge into Fort Erie Canada. He stopped just short of the Black Rock Canal bridge. There were cars over in Fort Erie but I didn’t see any locomotives hooked up.
After that I headed down to “Bethlehem Steel” and then the Ford Plant. As I turned back north I caught a BNSF train heading south. A tiny switcher at the NS Thoroughbred site with half a boxcar sticking out. New warehouse or business near the B&S site but no trackage to the building. I then circled around CP Draw and Concrete Central and then headed east to the PRR at Ebenezer. No traffic on the Buffalo line although I did see MOW vehicles running up and down the line in East Aurora. My dad said there use to be an amusement park back in the late 1800’s somewhere near where the 400, 16 and the row cross each other. I flew over the area but saw nothing. Didn’t expect to either but what the heck.
After that I headed north back to Akron and caught up with a CSX train coming out of Frontier headed east. I tagged along with him for a couple of miles. I was doing 50 kts idicated airspeed but he still couldn’t keep up. After that I head back to Akron and called it a day.
So glad I turned left instead of right.
Last night I headed up to N. Tonawanda to ride my bike around before the weather really makes a change. I couldn’t have picked a better evening and time.
I got up there just after sunset and stopped to grab a bite to eat and then dragged out the bike for the final ride. I was going to ride along the river but decided to take the short bike trail along the canal on the north side along Sweeney St. I rode underneath the rr bridge hoping to catch an Amtraker but to no avail. I headed to the end of the path and turn around. Again I stopped at the trestle. Out of the corner of my eye was a blinding bright light. I looked across the canal and there was CSX holding short of the bridge. I would guess he had just completed servicing Exolon [sp] on the Peanut. I waited a few minutes and could make out someone walking with a flashlight. Then he started moving across the bridge and I assume went to Niagara Falls. He had about 20 boxcars in tow. He was using a single unit #7241. After he disappeared from sight I continued on my way. I headed up Oliver St.
I really like exploring N. Tonawanda. There is so much to see if you know where to look. The first thing I noticed headed up Oliver was the freight house. They had the usual cabooses lined up and two switchers. But this time they had a Conrail boxcar on the track that goes behind the freight house. I liked it. It added some reality to there museum. Across the street, the property that the switching tower is on is either up for sale or lease. I don’t remember. I hope that doesn’t spell trouble for the tower. I’d hate to see some jerk developer tear it down.
I cruised up past where Robinson Steel was and then turned around. I crossed over the NYC Lockport track that’s still feeds several business and then weaved around the neighborhoods checking out xmas displays. Then I came upon Robinson Rd at Smurfit Corp and decided to check out the trackage. For the first time ever, I arrived when the signal tower was lit for Niagara Falls bound traffic. Solid yellow over solid red. I knew traffic was coming. I looked south along the track but didn’t see anything but eventually I caught the reflection of the loco’s bright lights off the rails. He came into sight. I waited at the Robinson Rd crossing. Just a single unit with nothing in tow. It was #7241. The gates had come down but he didn’t cross. Then the gates came back up. I thought he was going to switch out Smurfit but then he started moving again, the gates came down and then he stopped right on the road. The guy jumped off and threw the switch, got back on and off they went. The crossed over too the “mainline.” I thought maybe he was going to head back to the Falls but he stopped again, threw another switch and then took off towards Frontier I assume. Pretty cool watching him even though it was only a single unit.
The other day I came across an old Readers Digest that had the story about the Amtrak derail caused by the trucker who crossed the gates while they were down. Terrible thing. But since I read it I was watching what everyone was doing. No one crossed the gates. But, after he took off to go back to Frontier, the road one block away, someone jumped the gate after 7241 passed by. The guy only had to wait 10 more seconds. What if? After that I went back to the car and headed home.
Today, I went flying. On my way out to Akron I took Ransom Rd to check on the WS bike path. There is indeed a new bridge connecting the paths on either side. The bridge is currently blocked on either side. It must have just gone up recently. It’s not even painted yet. Surface rust. There is corrugated steel for the deck but I assume they haven’t laid any concrete yet. Very impressive looking. Clarence has got it right. Now all we need to do is get the Amherst cry babies out of the way so the Peanut can expand westward. It would be nice to ride from Akron to the Seaway trail uninterrupted.
I departed Akron without knowing where I wanted to go. Even as the wheels left the runway I didn’t know where I wanted to go. Left or right. Passing 1800 feet I decided to turn left and do my usual tour of Buffalo.
I picked up the Erie Canal at Pendelton and followed it in to N. Tonawanda. Eventually I picked up the Lockport Branches of the former rr’s. So glad I turned left instead of right. A single unit CSX was pulling about 20 boxcars through the NYC Lockport rails. I saw him coming right through the middle of town. It was so impressive to see this. I have never seen any activity on the line. Bad timing. Good timing today. He was going not more the 5 mph. The tracks are terrible. I ended up circling for maybe 15 minutes just watching him make his way along. He eventually came to the big intersection where Niagara Falls Blvd crosses the line. I noticed that there were no gates here. The train came to a stop and eventually all the autos had come to a stop. Then the train continued across the street. I was waiting for someone to jump the signals but nobody moved even after the train had passed. Of course with me circling for 15 minutes maybe they all saw me and assumed I was watching them. I wanted to hang out and watch him switch the business he was going to but I had more to check out.
I’ve noticed that the rails on the Erie under the Youngman Expressway [290] have been pulled up. Yesterday I drove over the line on my way to biking and noticed it from a grounded view. It looks like all the rails have been pulled and trees trimmed. Bike path coming? Even the row on both sides of the trestle crossing Ellicott Creek look like its being groomed. Hope so. It will be nice. I flew over it up to the 290 but it didn’t add any better perspective.
Then I headed south along the Niagara River. I caught NS coming off the Belt Line headed for the International Bridge into Fort Erie Canada. He stopped just short of the Black Rock Canal bridge. There were cars over in Fort Erie but I didn’t see any locomotives hooked up.
After that I headed down to “Bethlehem Steel” and then the Ford Plant. As I turned back north I caught a BNSF train heading south. A tiny switcher at the NS Thoroughbred site with half a boxcar sticking out. New warehouse or business near the B&S site but no trackage to the building. I then circled around CP Draw and Concrete Central and then headed east to the PRR at Ebenezer. No traffic on the Buffalo line although I did see MOW vehicles running up and down the line in East Aurora. My dad said there use to be an amusement park back in the late 1800’s somewhere near where the 400, 16 and the row cross each other. I flew over the area but saw nothing. Didn’t expect to either but what the heck.
After that I headed north back to Akron and caught up with a CSX train coming out of Frontier headed east. I tagged along with him for a couple of miles. I was doing 50 kts idicated airspeed but he still couldn’t keep up. After that I head back to Akron and called it a day.
So glad I turned left instead of right.
Last edited by SST on Fri Dec 10, 2004 4:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
