The Falls Road Railroad can trace its origins to the Lockport & Niagara Falls Railroad, some 20 miles in length, chartered on April 24, 1834. It was completed in 1838. The Rochester & Lockport Railroad was chartered on May 15, 1837, but little was done except for some grading and bridge construction. A reorganized company, the Rochester, Lockport & Niagara Falls Railroad was granted a state charter in 1850 and the nearly 76 mile long railroad between Niagara Falls and Rochester by way of Lockport was opened to traffic in 1852.
One by one, railroads were incorporated, built and opened westward from Albany to Buffalo. By 1841 it was possible to travel by train between Albany & Buffalo in 25 hours (lightning speed compared to the packet boats on the Erie Canal). By 1851, the trip took a little over 12 hours. In 1853 the line became part of the New York Central. The area served by the RL&NF, better known as the Falls Branch, was mainly rural and agricultural in nature along with various industries located in the towns along the right-of-way. During the railroad's heyday, as many as six passenger trains a day plied the route in both directions with commuter service pairing Lockport with Niagara Falls and Rochester with Albion. Passenger service ended around 1957.
The line was conveyed from the Penn Central to Conrail in 1976. Line from Brockport to Rochester abandoned and salvaged in 1994. Conrail, no longer interested in operating this line, was ready to file for abandonment until GVT stepped up to purchase the property from Brockport to Lockport. The transaction was consummated in October 1996 and the Falls Road Railroad subsidiary of GVT was formed.
Тип: Карта