Lockport Falls Road engine house build date?

[t-croz]

Does anyone know the date that the current blue steel engine house was built in Lockport Yard?

I know that the original(?) NYC terminal was partially destroyed by fire in 1959. According to the US&J article, about half of the 400 foot terminal was destroyed.

Did they continue to use the remaining parts or did they rebuild?

It seems the current building is not 46 years old. It looks newer than that.

Anybody know the dates?

Thanks,
t-croz

[nessman]

I think it went up when GVT took over... figure late 1996 - early 1997.

[t-croz]

OK, if that one was built in the mid 1990's, what did Penn Central and Conrail use in the interim?

Did they continue to use the remaining 200 foot section of the old terminal?

Was there another building in the current location prior to the existing one?

Sorry, but I didn't move to the area til mid 1997 and wasn't infected by this Ferroequinology Virus until about a year later, so this is before my time.
But I have yet to find a decent picture of the original terminal building (except from the air thanks to a 1956 photo taken by the airforce for the government for wetland and farm data - but from too far up), so I can't believe the Terminal was used into the 1990's.

Was there another building or did the yard not need an engine house for 30 years?

Inquiring minds....
Thanks,
t-croz

[med-train]

I don't believe that they needed to store engines in Lockport.
Wouldn't ConRail serve the whole line from Buffalo? or Rochester?

[WANF-11--->Chaser]

Found this post, I see it is quite old but I do have the answer.

The old NYC/PC freight house was taken down between 1980 and 1982. You can still see the foundation next to track 4 and the former Multifoods lead.
Conrail used a garage attached to the Image Collision building to the east of the yard for their "yard office".

I cant imagine there was much more than a desk or table, a coffee maker, and a phone and bathroom.
But the few times I tried to peer in, I couldnt see anything.

A local engine was usually assigned to they Falls Road Secondary and idled on the lead to Multifoods on nights and weekends.
Local power was usually a B23 or GP38. On rare occasions a GP10 or GP15. Once I even saw a GP35 and a GP40 on separate weeks, around 1992.

As for the current blue enginehouse, that went up just after GVT bought the line, within a year. So whenever that was, within that year.

[Matt Langworthy]

I don't believe that they needed to store engines in Lockport.
Wouldn't ConRail serve the whole line from Buffalo? or Rochester?

I was a student a SUNY Brockport from 1987 to 1991, so I can answer your question. CR served the Falls Raod from Lockport, with the local working eastward several days per week. I call the turns being M-W-F but they could occur on other days of the week. The train would work east of Brockport on occasion before 1989. Most trips were a run into Brockport in the afternoon for some switching, departing in the early evening. Power was usually a single Geep but I did see a B23-7 make the trip a few times.

[WANF-11--->Chaser]

"I was a student a SUNY Brockport from 1987 to 1991, so I can answer your question"

I don't see why where and how long someone went to a college or lived somewhere is important - but anyway I lived in Lockport from 1976 to 1998 - and I visit there regularly to this day.
Funny how I resurrect the topic after 3+years and then someone else can "answer the question" LOL. A little acknowledgment would have been nice.

WANF-11 was the local's assigned number - gee where have I seen that? It worked out of Lockport daily - if I hadn't clarified that with my references to the "east end of the yard", Multifoods lead, or Image Collision and that the thread topic refers to Lockport. Switching in the yard occurred every morning between about 9am to 12pm and then switching the rest of the day out on the rest of the line. The crew was usually back by 5 or 6pm, sometimes later during the summer - so that matches up with Matt's answer. Apparentlly they didn't go all the way out to the other "port" every day - or was that just days there were classes? LOL

Transfer runs would come in from Niagara Falls occasionally Sunday afternoons, dropping cars on the old main and picking up empties to go out. Otherwise WANF-11 would get a form D to pass CP-59 to drop cars out at the Harrison plant siding for WANF-12 to take back to the Falls or make a trip up to the Falls themselves. They also switched VanDeMark up on the Somerset Secondary as needed.

Although I don't know their last names...the regular crew from 1990-1996 at least, the engineer's name was Bob (drove a tan ford pickup with a white truck cap), Conductor Ted, and Trainman Louie - in case anyone wanted to know that too.

[Matt Langworthy]

"I was a student a SUNY Brockport from 1987 to 1991, so I can answer your question"

I don't see why where and how long someone went to a college or lived somewhere is important - but anyway I lived in Lockport from 1976 to 1998 - and I visit there regularly to this day.

The reason I mentioned being a student was to paint the picture of where and when I saw CR local. Operations on the Falls Road changed quite a bit from between C-Day and 1996, so I was just explaining things as I saw them.

Funny how I resurrect the topic after 3+years and then someone else can "answer the question" LOL. A little acknowledgment would have been nice.

Why? I wasn't trying to contradict you.

WANF-11 was the local's assigned number - gee where have I seen that? It worked out of Lockport daily - if I hadn't clarified that with my references to the "east end of the yard", Multifoods lead, or Image Collision and that the thread topic refers to Lockport. Switching in the yard occurred every morning between about 9am to 12pm and then switching the rest of the day out on the rest of the line. The crew was usually back by 5 or 6pm, sometimes later during the summer - so that matches up with Matt's answer. Apparentlly they didn't go all the way out to the other "port" every day - or was that just days there were classes? LOL

Hey, he wanted to know what operations were like on the Falls Road, so I answered. I appreciate your input, too.

And, yes, it was easy to tell when WANF-11 came into or departed Brockport because I could hear the train horn, even when indoors. It was also easy to tell WANF-11 only operated east of Brockport prior to 1989, given the quick time interval between the time the train arrived and the time it left on most days (! hour or less). Also, the rails east of Brockport rarely had that polish associated with the passage of a train before 1989 and never had it again between 1989 and 1991. What customers did CR have in Spencerport?

[ERIE 360]

Matt,
You did nothing wrong. Some egos need vigorous stroking from time to time.