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From: "J DOT Henry Priebe Jr DOT " root AT bluemoon DOT net
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:48:18 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: (erielack) So-called "Portageville" Viaduct
"EL_Portage_Bridge_USGS.jpg" - image/jpeg, 616x464 (24bit)

On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 Wdburt1@aol.com wrote:

>
> Portageville was a station at MP 57.7 on the PRR Rochester Secondary Track
> (Northern Region Timetable No. 8, eff. April 29, 1962).
>
> The nearby Erie Railroad bridge over the Genesee River, 818 feet long and
> 234 feet high, and variously referred to as a bridge or viaduct in company
> documents, is at Portage, Buffalo Division MP 361.66. There was a station
> by that name located near the east end of the bridge, along with PB Tower
> also located at the east end.
>
> Historically, Portage was a little hamlet clustered around the Erie station
> and the Cascade House hotel high above the Upper Falls of the Genesee. It
> was always distinct from Portageville, a larger community on the river a
> couple of miles away. All that remains of Portage is a pair of houses.
> Once host to hordes of thirsty excursion train sightseers, the long-closed
> hotel burned in the 1950s.
>
> Topo maps show two separate places, Portage and Portageville.
>
> The bad habit of referring to the Erie bridge as the "Portageville" Viaduct
> seems to have gotten started in the early days of Norfolk Southern's
> acquisition of this part of the railroad. It now appears ineradicable.

I have to agree with Mike on this one. We should do our best to keep the
proper Erie/EL name, Portage Bridge, alive.

The attached snippet of a USGS map shows both Portage and Portageville. The
Erie bridge is approximately .92 miles up the river from the road bridge at
Portageville.

Back in July of 1997 I scattered my dad's ashes off the middle of the Portage
Bridge so it is a special place for me.

Henry

J. Henry Priebe Jr. Blue Moon Internet Corp Network Administrator
www.bluemoon.net Internet Access & Web Hosting
www.railfan.net Railfan Network Services


EL_Portage_Bridge_USGS.jpg

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