Tracing the NYC in Niagara Falls by bike

The other day I went riding my bike up to Niagara Falls. I was looking for the bike path that runs along the Robert Moses Pkwy. I missed the entrance and ended up riding Buffalo Ave all the way into the Falls.

The road is strictly industrial and pretty rough. Not very comfortable riding a 10 speed on. Anyway, I didn't mind that much because I was kinda tracing the former NYC line all the way in. Not much to see actually except for a creek crossing where the abutments and stone work are still in place.

Eventually I came to the end of the line at Nabisco. Sad to see the plant shut down. I walked up to where the rails ended. There are three sets of rails. One of them is nearly buried in overgrowth and trees. That's the set of rails I checked out. The last section of rails is dated: Lackawanna 1912.

Across from that is the ex-water park and the new casino where the original NYC depot was. A lot has changed since the good old days.

There is an interesting item at the exit from the Robert Moses. I think it's 8th street. There is a very old stone chimney from a barracks or something from 1750. The building was torched by the British and then rebuilt and torched again. There is a plaque on the chimney that is dedicated to this site. The date on the plaque was 1915.

There is a plaque, not a plague. Well maybe there was. Edited.

You know, SST, whether you are flying or biking, you do the BEST exploring. Keep it up, and keep the stories coming

MarkT:

After a crappy day at the airport I appreciate your compliment. I'll keep it coming.

SST,
Is Buffalo Road, the road that parallels the Robert Moses Pkwy. on the other side of the chemical plants? My map shows it as Rt. 364.
We travel Robert Moses several times a year and will be there again for the Casino Niagara International Marathon next month. We could take a detour along the road for some photo opportunities!
thanks,
uticajack

Yes. It IS Buffalo Road and it goes right through the heart of the chemical plants. It is route 384 though, not 364, at least according to Mapquest

MarkT.....Thanks for the correction. It is Rt. 384, not 364.

Today I went back to Niagara Falls and did some further exploration. While riding up River Rd before it turned to Buffalo Ave I checked out the existing CSX/NYC line a little more closely.

While I knew that the line eventually turned north toward Niagara Falls Airport I didn't know precisley where. I turned up Liberty Ave/St where I think Wheatfield sewer treatment plan is. You can see the rails from River Rd so I thought that these were the current rails. Far from it. As I approached the tracks I saw that a rubber mat was in the road. All the rails were in place. As I stopped on the mat I looked down the line and I was stunned. The whole line is overgrown. There's no way any train can come down this line. I realized at that point the line headed north before this crossing.

It must have been left to service the treatment plant because the line has two sidings into the plant. The time stamp on the rails is 1975 so obviously it was used for a while. Just as I was getting on my bike, I looked up and there was a CSX single locomotive without any cars headed south on the current line. I would guess I was only about 500 feet west of the new branch based on how close the CSX locomotive was to where I was standing. I was going to explore that area but I didn't leave myself enough time. Something to do next time.

I road down to Williams st where the Lasalle Expressway begins to see if any rails existed. I road into the wooded area perhaps a thousand feet but I didn't see any rails. So the rails were probably pulled up near the plant from above.

After that I headed into the Falls and went further north than the last time. I came upon some plaques discussing the Great Gorge Railroad. I didn't realize that there are still some remnants of the trolley line below. I found the entrance to the trolley line near the geology museum where the pedestiran bridge crosses over to the aquarium. I started down the line and eventually it was blocked off. Probably for repairs or something. A fence was blocking the path and a sign said closed. So I had to turn around and took the upper path along Robert Moses to the Whirlpool bridges. I looked around and I could see a train parked at VIA in Canada. Great view. However, don't do anything stupid because you can see all the security cameras all over the place from the Falls all the way north. Behave!

Here is a website that provides a short story, a couple of pictures and a map about the Great Gorge Railroad. If you look at the map and see where the trolley starts down the gorge near the Falls, that's where I started down as well. http://www.iaw.com/~falls/greatgorge.html

About two years ago my friend and I road along the upper gorge in Canada so we could look across the gorge to see if we could see anything left over from the Trolley line but I didn't see anything obvious. But I definitely plan to hike this path before the snow flies. If not, there is always next year.

I have hiked most of this route little bits at a time probably around 5 years ago. Starting in Lewiston by Artpark, you can hike up to the power project, or at least prior to modern security you could. Then you can descend into the gorge at Devils hole state park and Whirlpool state park.
From the south side of the power project up to the actual whirlpool is pretty easy hiking on the old row. Once you get to the Whirlpool have your good sneakers or boots on. It is basically a huge rock slide that requires climbing and crawling your way around the bend in the river. Once you get around the corner it is flat rock and the row is in ok shape for probably about a 1/8 mile. Thier is remnants of an old station around here. Alot of foundation and hand railings and such remain. I don't remember any actual walls standing. If your in the area you will know right away however. It is pretty neat. Non rail related. This section of river is known as the lower rapids which is prohibited from raft rides and jet boat rides because of the current and degree of rapids. At the conclusion of the rapids is a very narrow section of river that drops over 20 feet into the whirlpool. Thier are no railings or sidewalks or people for the most part. You can put your feet in the water if you want. I think this is a better experience than the falls. The drawback is its about 225 feet down into the gorge and a 3 mile hike to get to. I can only imagine how cool it must have been to ride a trolley through there.

After I posted the above I had found another site with pictures of a group of guys who hiked the line. Not quite so sure I'll actually hike it.

Markt, where is the tunnel? Is it closer to the Falls or closer to Lewiston? I think the only entry point now is Lewiston.