Hojack in the Lewiston/Niagara Falls area

Thank you very much!

So, it looks like the area I'm referring to--from the Hilton cold storage to where Merton Williams Middle School is about a
.052% gradient uphill. Certainly enough to need some "oomph" to start pulling a few loaded cars out of an industry.

Charlie

Thanks again CTClark1.......it even has the "LV Estate" trackage. From around Gilbert, NY
all the way to Buffalo. Needless to say, I'll be spending some time eye-balling this!

Charlie

I agree Charlie, it took me at least an extra 15 minutes to find the Ontario Sec in there because I kept getting sidetracked with other lines to investigate on the way. There are lines in there that I had been assuming were long gone by '78 - Lehigh from Buff to Batavia, old West Shore out to Oakfield, all sorts of fun stuff to review.

Cool! Amazing what is out there just waiting to be found! I guessed it would take a lot more digging, but I'm happy to have been wrong.

Wow guys thank you for all of this! Theres something special about railroad history.....although I'd prefer that it wasnt history at all!

I'll be honest I was surprised I found it, I wasn't thinking the stuff on MMW went back that far, but I've used the site for other research of more recent items, figured I'd give it a shot to see if it was there.

Thanks much from me as well. I'll be "lost" in that document for quite some time now.

As an aside, and still somewhat off-topic, a site I discovered yesterday is well worth viewing. Shorpy.com. Many historic photos in high resolution, including some in and around Despatch that I'd never seen before. Well worth the time if you've not seen the site before. With thanks to the comment from someone on Rochestersubway.com, accusing the owner of "stealing" a picture from Shorpy (not true, but it did show me a site I wasn't familiar with).


Scott K.

If you're looking to get lost in that site, start here.

I don't know who put this site together, but whoever they are I'd like to thank them for putting my unemployed time this winter to good waste.

Here is a shot I took of the still extant bridge over 18-Mile Creek in Burt, NY. Burt Station
was located geographically South of Olcott on Rte.78 and 18-Mile Creek ran parallel to the left
of this highway. Photo was taken during Summer of 2010--looking South.

Charlie

Very cool shot. I wonder how long many of the abandoned bridges on the hojack will be allowed to stand for? Now, I know us "west siders" in Monroe county arent as sophisticated and progressive as the "east siders" are :p......but with the whole 'rail trail' movement im suprised the hojack from Hilton to where the ROW crosses I-390 hasnt been considered for a rail trail. It could link with the trail that currently parallels 390 at that point. If this were to happen one could essentially ride a bike (or walk) from Hilton all the way to Charlottle on trails, and then beyond that to Sea Breeze.

At a guess, I'd say a full trail along the Hojack on the west side isn't possible anymore. I had a homeowner in Walker years ago tell me that she was basically "forced" to buy the ROW through her property. Apparently if she hadn't, someone else would have, and it would have divided her land in two. Don't know the reasons or legal details, but it seems legitimate. There are many blocked off sections, with no trespassing signs, from Collamer Road, all the way out to Morton. Some of the trail in Hamlin gets opened for the local snowmobile club (when there's actually enough snow), and there is a section from Rte 19 east a ways, that is a town walking trail. Th only other part I know of out this way thats "legal", is the short section between Brick Schoolhouse and Redman. It used to be open beyond there, but was closed off a few years ago. Someone must have done something to anger the property owner through there...


Scott K.

Yeah anything west of Hilton seems out of question, but from Hilton and into Greece there is an existing trail that many people (legally or illegally, I'm not sure) ride bikes/ dirtbikes and ATVs down. Its not very wide from Hilton east to Manitou Rd. but then gets much wider between Manitou Rd. east to North Greece Rd. I believe the utility company uses the old ROW to get maintenance vehicles down there. East of North Greece road the path varies in width from about one car wide to just a bicycle wide. Seems like it would be a good candidate for a trail. Just my opinion....not sure how it would all work out with the utility company.

There are some neat artifacts that I have spotted while going down that trail. First off, tons of spikes buried in the embankments of the ROW. The milepost for what I believe was mile P102 or maybe mile P103 is still off in the weeds probably a half mile east of the Salmon River bridge. Just a few feet east of that same bridge, to the north side of the ROW, there is the old footings of some type of structure. Looks like it was a signal bridge or possibly a water tower? Im just making wild guesses.

Anyways, I'm just rambling here

I found this gem:

http://photo.libraryweb.org/rochimag/rpm/rpm00068.htm

You can see there is a round object at the point just north of the ROW east of the bridge.

Anyone who hasn't explored the Monroe County Library's Online image directory is missing out. I've spent hours looking at pictures. Lots of good railroading pictures too!

Hey.......very nice find!

And yes, Monroe County's library system has great content. I need to make more time to spend
looking at their treasures.

I'm going to take a stab at what what the rectangular and round "items" are just immediately east
of the bridge over the creek: I'll bet the round thing may have been a stand-pipe or a small water tower
and perhaps the rectangular item may have been a pump-house to raise the water from the creek.

Or I could be completely wrong!

Charlie

The remains next to the trestle in Hilton are those from a water tower and pump house, just like what was next to Brick Schoolhouse Rd and Sandy Creek in Hamlin. The pump house foundation is still visible from the road in someone's backyard there. Don't know if the tower footings are still back there.

Excellent map, railfan87. Is there any way to download the whole thing as a large image? Seems to me I did poke around that site years ago, I have bits saved somewhere of similar maps of Spencerport and Brockport.


Scott K.