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From: "Joe Stoltz" wb2iid AT frontiernet DOT net
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:11:50 -0500
Subject: E-L Property Pictures
"River_Junction_2.jpg" - image/jpeg, 1799x1219 (24bit)

Attached are a few pictures I've taken of former Erie Lackawanna territory
in upstate New York. All were taken around 1980, well after the Conrail
takeover; but I don't think these locations had been altered much from the
E-L days.



River Junction 1 shows a view looking west at River Junction near Washington
Hunt. NT Tower is on the right; the River Line continues straight ahead
while the main line to Buffalo curves off to the right in the distance. The
crossover allowed westbound trains to head down the River Line from the
westward track. Just out of sight around the curve is West NT, where a
switch on the eastbound track led to a wye that connected with the River
Line. Westbound trains BM-7 and BM-9 used this wye connection when they
were re-routed off the B&SW division. Beyond the interlocking a dragging
equipment detector was located to prevent derailments on the Portage
Viaduct, which was around the curve and about 2 miles further west. Just
before the viaduct was the end of double track at a spring switch.



River Junction 2 is a view looking east at "NT" which was the telegraph call
for River Junction. I was standing in the middle of the River Line when the
picture was taken. Eastbound trains off the RL made a straight line move
onto the E/B main, while eastward traffic from Buffalo had to negotiate the
30 MPH turnout. Just to the east of the interlocking was the location of a
hotbox detector, which if I'm not mistaken was the first to be installed on
the Erie system.



DH_portage shows a Buffalo-bound D&H train passing over Portage Viaduct. By
the time this picture was taken around 1980 there was a 10 MPH speed
restriction and the trains literally crept across the span. It was an
experience to be out in the middle of the bridge with a coal train passing
over it. I don't advocate anyone trying this out for themselves today; it
was a different world (and a different owner) back then. This photo was
taken at the eastward home signal for the spring switch at the other end of
the bridge.



A few years after these photos were taken the Portage-Hornell double track
was reduced to single track with a siding at Swain, and virtually all traces
of NT tower were removed. The River Line was pulled up and its two massive
viaducts, Rush Creek (Fillmore) and Genesee (Belfast) were cut into scrap.



X Tower was located in Olean and protected the crossing of the E-L main line
and PRR's Harrisburg-Buffalo line. X Tower 1 shows a view looking south
along the ex-PRR main. X Tower 2 looks eastward along the E-L. I believe
the passenger station is in the distance to the south of the main tracks.



Finally, Signal 411E shows my favorite style of signal in a much more recent
picture taken in July 2004. The stretch of line between Buffalo and River
Junction had these intermixed with the more common searchlight style. The
original main line between Cuba and Hornell used this style of signal almost
exclusively. In this photo (411E was just east of the Erie Avenue
crossing in Lancaster) we see a stop indication since to the Norfolk
Southern local from Silver Springs is bound for Buffalo and is somewhere
around Alden. This was double track territory until sometime in the 1950s
when single track with passing sidings and TCS was adopted. Old friend
Signal 411E protected this location for well over fifty years before it was
removed from service a couple of years ago during a signal system upgrade by
NS.



River_Junction_2.jpg

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