2/1/2018

Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg (New York Central) [Conrail]
Rochester, New York
April 21, 1976




One of the obstacles faced by the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg was that by running along Lake Ontario it encountered almost no towns (i.e. revenue sources) along the way. It did manage to enter downtown Rochester by following the Genesee River south from its mouth at Charlotte, New York to just north of Rochester, where it crossed the deep Genesee River gorge on a spindly trestle north of the Genesee River Falls and established a small yard on the west side of the river. Unfortunately it connected with absolutely nothing else. One result was that even after integration into the New York Central, delivering freight to downtown Rochester (in this case coal to Rochester, Gas & Electric's BeeBe power station) meant running trains north off the NYC mainline along the west side of the river to Charlotte, across the mouth of the Genesee River on a drawbridge, and down the east side of the river and finally crossing it again to reach this small yard.

Incidentally, the building in the background is the Eastman Kodak headquarters building.




This page posted 2/1/2018. Text and photo ©2018 Lamont Downs.