Although I had visited this spot last winter (see
The Mohawk River Trolley Bridge Ruins), this time I invited along both local railroad history expert
Gino Di Carlo, as well as good friend from High School
Gary Cunningham, who has accompanied me on quite a few other treks.
Gino is an expert on local railroad "archeology". He grew up in Aqueduct and explored everything train-related nearby as a kid. He was an encyclopedia of knowledge and shared quite a few interesting historical tidbits. He was great company!
We met at the Boat House parking lot and---much to my surprise--found a wide groomed path along the river at the end of the driveway.
We trekked in and saw large piles of stones--rubble from the canal lining ages ago.
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| Our Trek to the Trolley Bridge |
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| Stone Canal Rubble |
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| Lots of Rubble! |
Once at the piers, Gary suggested taking a photo of Gino and I to show just how massive these piers are. We looked like pipsqueaks!
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| A short walk in the muck provided this view |
We hiked up the hill where a photo of the abutment was taken.
We then walked up the hill, following the gas line clearing, to the spot where the trolley once crossed the railroad, (see
Mystery Ruins). For a short while, Gino seemed lost in contemplation of how it was yesteryear...
On the northwest side of the abandoned crossing, Gary encouraged a second photo op:
We next explored the long forgotten railroad spur nearby - it has a
fascinating history >
It seems like you had a great time exploring around, looking for historical remains of structures. It's really fun doing this because you'll be able to trace and imagine what happened in the past. I hope there'll be more places like these where they preserve the remains of structures from years before. Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Rich! :)
ReplyDeleteDaniel Roberson @ Mark Bentley PA
Thanks for bringing us a long on this excursion into the past. The "Stone Canal Rubble" are stones that came from the Rexford Aqueduct when it was disassembled. Still owned by The State, which paid for it initially, they have been set aside in piles in the former canal bed, for potential future use. - H. Charles Ohlhous
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