LVRR-Tift St Yard New stuff I found.

I recently went down to the Tift Street Nature Preserve to xc ski. But there wasn't enough snow to do it so I walked instead. Of course I headed towards the mainline track. While standing at the Tillman St overpass, I decided not to cross the frozen water and instead walked the track near the water tower. Glad I did because I discovered a concrete platform that I never saw before. Due to the small depth of snow, the snow provided a highlighted view of it. It stood out. While walking along the active track on my left, I suspected there was a track bed to my right. It was elevated along with rails. But the rails were spiked into anything so I though maybe they were scrape rail. The rails to my left are welded. I kept walking and soon came the platform.

The location of this platform is in between two tracks leading to the Child st yard for ADM and GM. Just west of the water tower. The rails are still connected to the platform. It is not very long. Had to be very short railcars for this. I was thinking maybe a retarder? Here are some crazy pics.....not certain how they will lay out here.

This is the platform looking north. The water tower [ex-round house] is in the distance. Just beyond the rails are 6 ties still in the ground. Then about 1 foot after that the ground it suddenly drops about a foot and then continues a small grad down.

Further along the same trackage I found some more rail in the ground. Could be from the platform. Thick with brush so not really certain. I did manage to get pics of the time stamp. 1900? The "A" in the second picture is the end of Lackawanna.

Due to the high lighting of the light snow, I came across this large platform. Maybe 160 feet long or so. One ramp at each end. I may have seen this before but it was at least 20 years ago that I "found" it. There is also a fire hydrant in that brush somewhere too. The platform is about 5 feet tall.

I continued down the active rail and turned towards the mainline at the light tower. There were random piles of RR ties. Some in good shape, others not. Didn't catch any traffic and all signals facing east were red. MOW was on the main line. I don't know what he was doing but I could smell him cooking something. Not food. An east bounder stopped for a crew change but I was to far east to bother going back. Cold and windy. I'll head back in the spring before the leaves grow and try and get a better look at things.

The other interesting thing is that I wasn't the only one back there. Along the walk, another pair of shoes showed up. They cut straight threw the heavy brush and ended up near the signals so he got a good view of the crew change.

Can you explain better just where you were? The Tillman Nature Preserve seems to be near the quarry on the West Shore near Clarence? Yet you are talking about Child Street, near Burrows Lot Yard? Do you mean Tifft Street instead of Tillman? I am not from Buffalo but have worked there, but I can't figure out where you were.

This shows the location of the platform with rails on it.

My mistake...again. Tift Street.

SST wrote:My mistake...again. Tift Street.

Do you mean Tifft Street instead of Tift Street?

That was a scale. See page 68 of Koenig's "Lost railroads Of Western New York".

That place has almost fully returned to nature, some 45 years after LV closed up shop. Wonder if CSX is still using the old 17 track still? I believe that was the yard lead into the TIfft Terminal area.

BR&P wrote: ↑Tue Feb 02, 2021 6:59 pm That was a scale. See page 68 of Koenig's "Lost railroads Of Western New York".

Thanks. I think I have that book around here somewhere.