Railfan.net - Dan Syrcher's Remnants of the Niagara Falls Gorge Railway

Dan Syrcher's Remnants of the Niagara Falls Gorge Railway
Also see more of Dan's Railfan Photos Here and
West Shore Dismantlement page and
Buffalo Central Terminal Aerial Photos

It has been a number of years since I found out about the Gorge Railway that once operated along the lower Niagara River. I've read short stories in books and have seen a few websites from people that have hiked the gorge. But I have never seen anything significant about what remains of the Gorge Railway. So that's why I decided to hike the former Right-of-Way and to photograph what I found, which is surprisingly a lot. The view of the gorge along the way is inspiring.

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All photos © Dan Syrcher unless otherwise noted.
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1/49	From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net Date: Tue Nov 7 21:34:36 2006 Subject: This photo is an I beam. This is viewed from the lower path starting at Art Park in Lewiston. image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit) 47-I_Beam.jpg 475879 bytes

2/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Tue Sep 19 16:06:47 2006
Subject: While doing this hike I really didn’t expect to see anything left of the Railway. So I was excited to see some rails still around. This set of rails is part of the washout that put the railway out of business. This is the end of the path from Niagara Falls. I had to enter the Whirlpool State Park and explore from the other side of this rock fall. This rockfall was much to steep for me to attempt to cross.
image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit)
10-Gorge_Railway_remains.jpg 466688 bytes

3/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Tue Nov 7 22:10:37 2006
Subject: This is another photo looking further up the washout. There is a rail buring in the brush. This view is not even half way to the top of the gorge. Another photo further down the list will be from the top of the washout with a great view. That view will be from the upper path.
image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit)
50-washout.jpg 446467 bytes

4/49	From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net Date: Wed Nov 8 11:17:05 2006 Subject: This photo is from the lower trail as I walked back to the beginning of the trail and to begin hiking the upper path. image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit) 59-rockface.jpg 445012 bytes

5/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Tue Nov 7 21:53:15 2006
Subject: This is a big wash out that sits up river beyond the official path. This photo shows one rail in view and I am actually looking down. The river is at the top of the page. There are more rails in this wash out above and behind me. I have to climb down this wash out in order to climb back up.

The lower path stops here. Official or otherwise.
image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit)
48-bottom_of_washout.jpg 431660 bytes

6/49	From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net Date: Thu Sep 28 11:28:22 2006 Subject: One of many rock falls along the entire row from Niagara Falls all the way to Lewiston. image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit) 28-rockfall.jpg 408233 bytes

7/49	From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net Date: Tue Sep 19 15:35:54 2006 Subject: Same position as above but looking down the row [North] image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit) 06-ROW-cliff_face.jpg 383176 bytes

8/49	From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net Date: Tue Sep 19 15:29:30 2006 Subject: This is the row along the rock face looking back up towards Niagara Falls. [South] image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit) 05-row-cliff_face.jpg 368737 bytes

9/49	From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net Date: Tue Sep 19 15:52:00 2006 Subject: Remains of the original Suspension Bridge image/jpeg, 1280x960 (24bit) 07-abutment_remains1.jpg 359371 bytes

10/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Tue Sep 19 16:18:07 2006
Subject: These are the steps at the Whirlpool State Park looking down. Going down is easy. The steps enter the railways row a little more than halfway between Suspension bridge and the power vista. To explore the line you’ll have to hike in both directions. Both directions offer something to see.
image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit)
13-Whirlpool_stairs-down.jpg 355634 bytes

11/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Wed Nov 8 11:05:03 2006
Subject: Climbing further up the washout and looking straight up. Still can't see the top of the gorge.
image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit)
54-washout-up.jpg 352084 bytes

12/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Tue Sep 19 17:20:41 2006
Subject: This photo was taken while standing on a stone block wall looking straight down about 50 feet. Notice how the wall is stepped. There is stenciling in several areas along the row that indicate work was done to these walls around 1918.
image/jpeg, 1280x960 (24bit)
16-stoneblock_wall.jpg 345567 bytes

13/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Wed Nov 8 11:24:35 2006
Subject: This is the remains of a concrete drainage pipe. It too lost to Mother Nature.
image/jpeg, 1280x960 (24bit)
60-remains.jpg 344014 bytes

14/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Thu Sep 28 10:52:46 2006
Subject: An I Beam that didn’t survive the rock fall. There are several I Beams along the row. All of them bent in some way.
image/jpeg, 1280x960 (24bit)
19-I_Beam.jpg 337288 bytes

15/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Wed Nov 8 11:49:48 2006
Subject: Standing a little closer to the edge of the washout from the upper path. It's a long way down.
image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit)
63-washout-above.jpg 335435 bytes

16/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Wed Nov 8 11:32:06 2006
Subject: This is the upper path. A large section of overhanging rock. I didn't waste any time walking past this area. The ROW is just to the right of the path. The washout is still ahead.
image/jpeg, 1280x960 (24bit)
61-rock_overhang-row.jpg 328791 bytes

17/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Thu Sep 28 12:06:31 2006
Subject: A wide view of the same retaining wall in the next picture.
image/jpeg, 1280x960 (24bit)
35-stoneblock_wall.jpg 327185 bytes

18/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Tue Sep 19 17:11:42 2006
Subject: This is the large rock fall near the Whirlpool. It actually seem larger than the fall at Suspension bridges.
image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit)
45-rockslide.jpg 325141 bytes

19/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Thu Sep 28 12:30:20 2006
Subject: A stone block wall being reinforced but a single rail.
image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit)
39-block_wall.jpg 322773 bytes

20/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Tue Sep 19 17:27:15 2006
Subject: This is a larger section of a stone block retaining wall further up river. This is the area where the 1918 stenciling is. This is located between the Whirlpool and Suspension Bridges.
image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit)
36-stoneblock_wall.jpg 320513 bytes

21/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Thu Sep 28 13:17:05 2006
Subject: I'm not looking forward to climbing the Whirlpool steps back to the top after a long day of exploring the route. The following pictures were taken a month later and are from the Power Vista to Lewiston both on the upper and lower paths.
image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit)
46-whirlpool_stairs-up.jpg 320387 bytes

22/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Thu Sep 28 12:53:41 2006
Subject: This is what’s left of the Rapids Station observation stop. The retaining wall can be seen to the left of the picture.
image/jpeg, 1280x960 (24bit)
42-trolley_station.jpg 318856 bytes

23/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Thu Sep 28 12:00:05 2006
Subject: Overhanging rock face along the row. There are many of these along the entire route. Always pay attention.
image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit)
34-rock_overhang.jpg 316526 bytes

24/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Thu Sep 28 12:42:12 2006
Subject: Overhanging railing along the stone wall that preceeds the Rapids Station stop along the route.
image/jpeg, 1280x960 (24bit)
41-trolley_station.jpg 310622 bytes

25/49

From: "Dan Syrcher" sst703 -AT- verizon -DOT- net
Date: Thu Sep 28 11:06:28 2006
Subject: This is Giant Rock. I have seen many historical photos of this rock and I was watching for it along the way. In the historical photos there is no overgrowth at all. I almost walked past it. It is located to the north of the Whirlpool steps and before the Power Vista.
image/jpeg, 960x1280 (24bit)
22-giant_rock.jpg 310250 bytes

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