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The Wabash & Erie Canal opened between Toledo and Lafayette, Indiana, May 8, 1843. The Miami Extension Canal was completed to Junction, Ohio, on July 4, 1845, linking the Wabash & Erie Canal with Cincinnati and resulting in changing the canals name to the Miami and Erie Canal. Prosperity reigned until the 1850s when railroad competition caused a slow decline in commerce. The canal branch to Indiana was in disuse by 1858 and totally abandoned in 1888. The canal system was revived from 1906-1909 with much reconstruction and improvement only to be badly damaged by severe statewide flooding in 1913. The canal was maintained from here to Maumee for generating hydro-electric power until it was drained in 1929. Twelve miles of canal and the Maumee Side Cut Canal have been leased to the Toledo Area Metroparks since 1932.
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Tags:
miami
and
erie
canal
ohio
history
historic
marker
providence
maumee
river
wabash
ludwig
mill
metroparks
toledo
Added: 30th September 2007
Views: 108
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Posted By: HistoryMarkerGuy |
 
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The Lima and Toledo Traction Company Bridge was construted in 1907 by the National Bridge Company of Indianapolis, and it was considered to be a revolutionary type of bridge construction. The Old Electric Bridge, as it was called, was built of steel reinforced concrete and filled with earth. In fact, for this period some considered the bridge to be the longest such railroad bridge in the world. Twelve spans of Roman aqueduct architectural design anchor the 1220-foot bridge in solid river bedrock. The bridge linked Lucas and Wood counties and connected a busy Toledo with points south by means of an electric trolley. This Interurban Bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
VISIT: www.youtube.com/historymarkerguy
Tags:
train
electric
interurban
ohio
marker
history
historic
maumee
river
bridge
arch
roche
de
bout
bouf
waterville
metroparks
Added: 1st October 2007
Views: 134
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Posted By: HistoryMarkerGuy |
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The BL&R Trolley - 1908-1931
Electricity had made its debut; and light-rail lines like the BL&R began to spring up to challenge the dominance of steam railroads. Electric powered trolleys provided a cleaner and quicker ride than steam trains; but the price of a ticket was about the same either way. The BL&R ran its 54 mile high-speed line from Lockport to Rochester. The trolleys were equipped with 75hp at first, and later with 125hp motors on each "truck" (four trucks per car). The cars came geared for speeds up to 80mph; but 60mph was the practical limit. In places where the BL&R and NYCRR tracks ran next to each other, races between the two competitors were not unheard of. (Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo R.R., Wm R. Gordon, 1963)
The years before WWI were the glory days for electric interurban trolleys: In 1915 the BL&R logged 1,474,750 miles carrying 2,033,749 passengers. A Sunday excursion to Niagara Falls from Rochester cost $1.60, and to Toronto cost $2.75 plus the boat fare (see below). After the war America began a massive program of highway expansion, which eventualy spelled the end of the interurban railroads.
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A Beginning and an End
The Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester Railway opened on September 2, 1908 at Albion, NY (Albion was midway on the 54 mile run from Rochester to Lockport). The Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester Railway (1908-1919) was reorganized to become the Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad Corp (April 1919 - April 30, 1931) The Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad Corp. sent its last car down the tracks - the local from Rochester to Albion - on April 30, 1931.
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Toronto Specials
A brisk tourist industry developed on the back of the BL&R and its cohort the International Railway (seen here). International owned the tracks from Lockport to three destinations: Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Olcott on Lake Ontario to the north. Steam excursion boats met passengers at Olcott and carried them across the Great Lake to Toronto. Passengers who caught the early morning BL&R at Rochester could go to Toronto and be back in Rochester that same evening.
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AC vs DC
DC was all that was available when trollies were new; but DC was expensive and not practical to transmit over long distances. Early trollies were therefore limited to use in urban areas near to their generating stations. High-voltage AC could be transmitted long distances, but it was dangerous to use near people - especially where motors and connections could become wet with rain (eg. in trolley cars). By placing a series of substations in which "rotary converters" like the one shown here changed AC to DC, interurban trollies like the BL&R became practical.
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Freight Cars
The BL&R was able to supplement its passenger income with both local and express freight business, as well. The rates were in line with those charged by the competing NYCRR; and from the first, the BL&R did a considerable business hauling the fruit, vegetables and milk for which the region had become famous. Freight traffic was generally scheduled for nights, when regular passenger service did not run.
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Tags:
BL&R
trolley
Buffalo
Lockport
Rochester
railroad
albion
Erie
Canal
trr
Added: 10th November 2007
Views: 830
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Posted By: railclick07 |
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Enlarged Erie Canal Lock 23 in Rotterdam, NY
History: Enlarged Double Lock No. 23, "Alexander's Lock", was constructed to replace nearby Lock 26, one of 83 "first generation" locks originally built as part of Clinton's Ditch. The overnight success of the Erie Canal proved a mixed blessing. By the end of the first decade of operation the heavy volume of canal traffic was taxing the original system beyond its designed capacity. Single chamber locks quickly proved inadequate as lines of boats waiting to pass formed in both directions. Beginning in 1836 the Canal Commissioners of the State of New York initiated a comprehensive program of system improvements, carried out in stages between 1836 and 1862, which reduced the number of lock from 83 to 72 and doubled their capacity by adding a second chamber at each site in order to allow two-way traffic.
Lock No. 23 was constructed in a double-chamber configuration during this period of the First Enlargement in 1840-1841 and opening to traffic in 1842. Rather than expand the existing Lock 26, as was done at several other locations, a completely new double-chambered lock was built immediately adjacent to the original lock and right-of-way. Lock chambers were built wider and longer, at 18 feet wide by 110 feet in length. Previously they were 15 feet wide by 90 feet long.
Built entirely of large cut limestone blocks laid in a regular ashlar pattern and mortared using hydraulic cement, Lock No.23 raised or lowered boats by 7.89 feet; from a level of 231 feet at the south end to 239 feet at the north end. This lock was of importance to the Erie Canal, and Schenectady, N.Y. in particular, because it was the first lock west of Schenectady, a.k.a., "Gateway to the West", a major transfer point at the west end of the 17-mile portage from Albany around the Cohoes Falls. Many passengers left the Erie Canal to travel overland between Albany and Schenectady; goods stayed on barges for the trip which could take more than a day. During its busiest seasons, the lock was operating with a lockage every 5 minutes. (Approximately 47,000 lockages per season).
By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the Canal Commissioners recognized that the Erie Canal would require substantial further modification if it was to remain competitive with expanding rail transportation. During the early 1880s steam motive power introduced on the Eric Canal led to the introduction of larger vessels that could be towed or pushed in combination along the waterway. To accommodate this traffic, a program to lengthen the locks was begun in 1884. Lock No 23 was one of six locks lengthened during 1889. The southwest chamber was extended south to a total of 220 feet along the berm side; the width of the added portion of the lock chamber was 20 feet. With its southwest chamber nearly doubled in size, Lock No. 23 could raise or lower "double-header" vessels towed by steam barges without interrupting though traffic.
With the opening of the current Barge Canal the Enlarged Canal was abandoned in 1918, and this section of the canal was purchased by the General Electric Company (GE). GE kept water in the canal from their main plant in Schenectady to Lock 23 until the late 1950's. It functioned as a test bed for GE products including the Electric Mules used to pull ships through the locks in the Panama Canal. In the 1950s the lock property was donated to the Town of Rotterdam which was in the midst of building its new water pumping station on the nearby well field; the town ran its new main directly through the lock chambers. Portions of the limestone walls were partially collapsed to make way for the pipe. In the north chamber the pipe was covered with debris and dirt blocking off that chamber. In the south chamber the cement replaced the removed limestone blocks and a concrete walkway was installed above the waterway crossing the chamber, however the water main is no longer in use.
After a long period of neglect the lock had become completely overgrown. Beginning in 1999, students and staff of the Department of Civil Engineering at Union College had undertaken an effort to keep the lock free from small trees and brush and at one time had an ambitious plan to rehabilitate the lock and bring it back to working condition. Between 2000 and 2003 they built a replica board-and-batten Lock Tender's Hut and a Wooden Pier. Volunteers from Union College History Department were joined by volunteers from the Schenectady County Historical Society, the Rotterdam Sunrise Rotary Club and Friends of the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail in subsequent years to maintain the lock and continue promoting its preservation and sought official recognition as a historic site.
On December 28, 2007 the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation listed the Lock No. 23 property on New York’s registry as an important engineering landmark in Schenectady County. On March 6, 2008 Lock No. 23 had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Plans are in the works to apply for grant monies and the installation of permanent interpretive signs about the lock.
Lock No. 23 remains the focus of continuing preservation efforts and a distinguished example of masonry engineering design and construction associated with the transportation history of the Old Erie Canal.
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Lock 23 in 1941
Lock 23 in 1941 showing the east end of the south chamber. In this photo the water is still in the canal as it is being used by Schenectady's General Electric for testing. The wooden pier is still quite evident in the water at the foot of the lock.
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Lock 23 in 2007
Same view as first photo; East end of South lock chamber which had been lengthened.
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Lock 23 in 2007
Detail of the locks stonework under a blanket of fresh snow.
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Clean Up Day at Lock 23
Professor Andrew Morris of the Union College Department of History organized the Clean Up Day on May 27, 2006. Here we see Union College students as well as other volenteers cutting back brush and removing debries from the lock. At this location the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail is built on the old tow path and passes right beside the lock, on the left, in this view.
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Lock 23 After Clean Up
After clean up Saturday, May 12, 2007.
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Lock Tender's Hut
Closer view of the Lock Tender's Hut which sits on the pier between the two lock chambers on April 2, 2005
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Lock 23 in 2007
Winter Time Again, February 17, 2007.
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Lock 23 in 2008 - Interpretive Sign Added!
This interpretive sign was installed on the side of the Locktender's hut in the late spring of 2008. The text on the sign points out that the Lock 23 site
has been recognized by its listing on the New York State and National Historic Registers in 2008.
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Old Lock 23 is located beside the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail, near the intersection of Rice Road and Schermerhorn Road in Rotterdam, New York.
Google Maps Satellite image of Lock 23, Here.
(Other Old Erie Canal Lock Photos Here)
Tags:
Erie
Canal
Lock
23
Locktender
Pier
Rotterdam
GE
Added: 9th December 2007
Views: 850
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Posted By: Ohlhous |
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The Holland Land Company consisted of a group of Dutch bankers who purchased the 3.3 million acre tract that today is Western New York State from investor Robert Morris in 1797. Morris, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, also became known as "the financier of the American Revolution". The HLC hoped to sell the tract all in one piece for a quick profit; but that failed, and they instead became long-term developers and managers of the settlement of this region from 1798 until the mid 1840s when the last parcel was finally sold. See HLC Video
The Erie Canal was the best thing that could have happened to the Holland Land Company. Joseph Ellicott, the resident general agent of the HLC holdings here, was appointed to be one of the canal commissioners. His job with the HLC was to maximize the profits to his employer whenever he could. He sent his subagent William Peacock with instructions to survey a route that was more to the liking of the HLC (see above map) than the northern route surveyed previously by James Geddes. Three reasons for Ellicott's route were 1) Batavia was his headquarters, and a nearby canal would greatly benefit that city, 2) The southern route went through swamp land that otherwise was almost impossible to sell, and 3) The northern route was too far away from the extreme southern HLC lands to have much effect on selling prices there.
The choice of the northern route is sometimes questioned because of the immense challenge presented by the seven-mile long "deep cut" southwest of Lockport that had to be chiseled out by hand in order for Lake Erie water to flow by gravity to Lockport. The alternative that Ellicott envisioned would have avoided that obstacle, but was his proposal a better one?
This topographical map shows a section of this region that is typical of the topography between Rochester and Buffalo. By clicking it to full-size, its elevation details can be seen. The numbers inside the three large red circles on the left side of the map are the elevations of those three spots expressed in feet above sea level, and they - along with the other elevation markings like them on this map - show that this terrain slopes generally northward toward Lake Ontario. Compare those numbers with the level of Lake Erie, which is 572 feet above sea level.
The answer to why the designers rejected Ellicott's plan in favor of the northern route is found in those numbers. Ellicott's plan called for a canal that would have been over a hundred feet higher than the level of Lake Erie, which means that the only sources available to fill his canal were Tonawanda Creek (see the topo map near Batavia), along with a few lesser streams that also cross this higher ground to the south.
The decision-makers decided that the canal between Buffalo and Rochester needed to be built at a level that was below that of Lake Erie. They gambled that the deep cut could be done, and their prize for being right, was that the Erie Canal in this western section would enjoy a supply of water throughout its history from Lake Erie itself that could never fail the canal's needs here - no matter how dry the summers or how high the traffic flow at peak periods through any of it's locks. The flow was so abundant in fact, that its drop at Lockport was harnessed to provide power there: First to turn machinery directly, and later to generate electric power. See Southern Route Video
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erie
canal
deep
cut
southern
route
ellicott
peacock
geddes
Added: 20th February 2008
Views: 216
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Posted By: Lowbridge |
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This early docu-drama begins in the years just after the Civil War. Enos Barton is a Western Union telegraph operator in Rochester, NY. He moved to Cleveland where he partnered with Elisha Gray to form Gray & Barton, which later became the Western Electric Company.
In it we learn that telephone operators would have been men, but that their "fingers arent educated to this sort of thing."
Tags:
western
electric
ticker
tape
rochester
Added: 11th April 2008
Views: 96
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Posted By: Admin |
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A ten-minute animated film produced by Western Electric that is an early attempt to mate sound with moving pictures. Forty years after this film was produced, men would be walking on the moon.
Tags:
goldman
fleischer
western
electric
finding
his
voice
Added: 13th April 2008
Views: 56
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Posted By: Admin |
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