Railroad Forums 

  • Outlaw speeders from 40 years ago

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New York State.
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New York State.

Moderator: Otto Vondrak

 #1395213  by BR&P
 
Back in the 1970's, long before NARCOA, there was a very informal group of motor car enthusiasts in western New York. They chose the name American Speeder Society, with a smirk at the initials thus produced, and for several years they visited various abandoned or dormant (and occasionally not-so-dormant) segments of the state's rail system. In those simpler times such details as ownership of the rail lines and permission for their use were inconsequential. :wink: It was simply a case of finding an out-of-the-way rural crossing, un-trailering the machine or machines, and cranking her up.

Some excursions consisted of one speeder and a couple guys. At the other end of the spectrum were the trips on the then-dormant Adirondack line, which saw almost a dozen speeders and about 40 people, spending weekends based at the lodge at Beaver River. Fairmonts, Northwesterns, Fairbanks Morse cars - you name it. And I guess that after this many years it can be said that not only did the A.S....well, anyway, the group did not have a rulebook and CERTAINLY did not have a "Rule G", at least on that line. Coolers were stocked before departure, and empty on return. Through a combination of common sense and good luck, there was never an injury or wreck.

Over a span or perhaps 8 or 10 years, the A.S.S. guys explored many miles of railroad, most of it now long-removed. Among the expeditions, in addition to the 118 miles of the Adirondack, was the West Hojack, the EL River Line from River Junction to Cuba, the LV from Rochester Junction to Lima, the LV from Rush to just east of Buffalo, the East Hojack, and probably a few more that will come to mind.

Eventually the dormant lines were - for the most part - torn up, a few came back to life. Today's world of national security, liability and litigation has put an end to such activities, and probably it's for the better. But the pics taken in those days not only document the activities themself, but also give some glimpses of infrastructure we'll never see again. From time to time I'll scan a few and post them on here.

The first bunch are of a single-car trip out the West Hojack, from Hilton to Model City. The Waterport Trestle was always worth a stop. And one shot shows the extreme end of track - the line from there to Niagara Falls had been removed some years before.
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 #1395224  by BR&P
 
A couple more from the same trip, the first looking forward, the second one is looking back at the haze from the oil/gas mixture. Exact location unknown, just somewhere on the West Hojack.
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 #1395225  by Otto Vondrak
 
BR&P wrote:Back in the 1970's, long before NARCOA, there was a very informal group of motor car enthusiasts in western New York.... the LV from Rush to just east of Buffalo...
That one trip from Rush to Buffalo is one of my favorite stories.

-otto-
 #1395282  by TB Diamond
 
Another trip was accomplished on 20 August 1977: Burdett-Kendaia-MP 305-Burdett on the old Lehigh Valley Railroad Seneca Freight Bypass. They wanted to go further east but encountered a Montel Metals crew taking down the C&S lines at MP 305. Rode with the gang Burdett-MP 305-Burdett. Made for some neat photos.
 #1395317  by charlie6017
 
Great photos Don, that view of the Waterport trestle brings back some of my earliest memories of my mom and
I watching a westbound train creeping past us on the trestle and the old Clark's Mills Rd. at the west end of the bridge. :-D

Charlie
 #1395322  by BR&P
 
One of the remaining active customers when the line was shut down was Growers Cold Storage at Waterport. They received an occasional mechanical reefer but I don't know what the commodity was.

Waterport was also the location of a terrible wreck in ballpark 1900 or so. Without looking it up, I seem to recall a boxcar was blown by the wind from a siding onto the main, where it was struck by a fast passenger train in the middle of the night. Many fatalities resulted. :(
 #1395402  by BR&P
 
A couple more, this time from the Adirondack line. First is unloading at Thendara from the Speeder Transport Vehicle "Goliath". :wink:

Second is an unpleasant surprise on 10-10-76. Those things do NOT travel through 3 inches of wet heavy snow!
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 #1395899  by BR&P
 
South of Rochester Junction, on the Lehigh Valley Lima Branch bridge over Honeoye Creek. Summer 1977
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 #1396108  by med-train
 
BR&P wrote:One of the remaining active customers when the line was shut down was Growers Cold Storage at Waterport. They received an occasional mechanical reefer but I don't know what the commodity was.

Waterport was also the location of a terrible wreck in ballpark 1900 or so. Without looking it up, I seem to recall a boxcar was blown by the wind from a siding onto the main, where it was struck by a fast passenger train in the middle of the night. Many fatalities resulted. :(
The cold storage handled a lot of butter back then. Sour craute (sp?) was being processed from cabbage next door and may have been shipped out. Truckers worked the site for many years after.

The disastrous train wreck was on July 28, 1883, west of Waterport in the hamlet of Carlyon, now known as Ashwood. It had 2 engines pulling 8 passenger sleepers, one coach, one smoking car and one baggage car. The lead engine's crew survived. The second engines crew did not.
 #1397554  by BR&P
 
OK, here's one from a different location. Anybody know where we are? (Somewhere I have more shots of this line and will post them when they turn up)
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