(erielack) Trip Report (sort of): Hornell - Corry

[FRANKGARON_@_aol.com]

Actually not so much a trip report as a commentary. We had that wedding up in 
Findlay Lake, NY this past weekend, so I made sure we went via the Erie at 
least one way.

This line is very interesting to follow - it's like looking at a ghost in a 
lot of ways. You still have signals standing, mileposts up, crossbucks in, 
control points like CP Cuba fully intact, but when you look at the rails it 
is rust city and grass is growing up between the rails in spots. 

It ws kind of a cloudy, rainy weekend up there in spots, so the weather was 
fitting. On Rt17/I86, you parallel the tracks for miles and miles. And you 
wonder - what happened to all the trains? What happened to the guy who used 
to be the Hornell Dispatcher? What happened to the signal maintainer and the 
road crews and the MOW guys? Where did all the traffic go, and all the 
industry go? All that money spent to build a railroad like that, all the 
prosperity it bought to that part of the country, and now nothing. Weird, and 
sad. 

200+ miles of RR - all dried up overnight. The only difference between this 
part of the line and the rest of the Erie west of Hornell is that all the 
tracks are still here. You can still see and feel what the line looked like, 
and not just look at a strip of gravel where the tracks used to be. 

In Corry, the 2 FPA4's were sitting right at the grade crossing. Last time I 
was there in 1988, MS Tower was still open, and it was still a mainline 
(albiet one train a day). Weird to see 2 engines just sitting there, turned 
off, right on the Erie mainline. I remember shooting OIEL (think that was the 
symbol) back in 1988 coming right through downtown Jamestown. A lot has 
changed in 13 years.

Anyway, I wish these new guys well and hope they make a go of it. Who knows, 
maybe someday we can ride a fantrip from Hornell clear through to Meadville!

Frank Garon

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End of ErieLack Digest V3 #244
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