New York, Vermont & Northern Rwy. (HOn3 coal line + HOn30 Quarry Line)

[Bernd]

I left off by saying I was going to get into the limestone quarry, well that's getting a little ahead of the quarry story. I'll begin with how much of the line I'm actually going to model.

So we are going to start to the west of Rochester Junction and work our way east to Rochester Junction and then down the Rochester branch to the Rochester Lehigh Valley station in downtown Rochester.

Since I'm using the BR&P line up from the southern states and LV line east to Rochester Junction my starting point of the layout will be the Pittsburg & Lehigh Junction area. This is where to BR&P (B&O) crossed the Lehigh Valley. At this point is where the NY,V&N Rwy. goes from the BR&P line to the LV line and follows the LV east to Rochester Jct.



As you can see there several railroads at this point. This crossing is between the towns of Leroy to the west and Caledonia to the east. You also have the NYC Peanut line that ran from Canandaigua to Niagara Falls New York. That line ran past my parent's house. The Erie also ran into Rochester. Also note the Genesee & Wyoming RR came from Retsof to the Junction. This gives me an excuse to run salt trains to the north to salt the roads.

Here are some pictures of the buildings at the P&L Jct. crossing.

First the station that was there. The station was moved to Genesee Valley Museum.



Opposite of the station was the tower that controlled the crossing.



East we go and wind up at Rochester Junction. This portion I plan to model pretty much the way the prototype looked back in the steam to diesel era. First a map of how the prototype fit into this area of the state.



The blue line is the east/west Lehigh Valley main line. The red line is the Hemlock branch that ran all the way, at one time, right up to the north shore of Hemlock Lake. The green line is the Rochester branch that ran into Rochester and ended almost in the center of the city on the east side of the Genesee River. The unmarked line running west to east through Honeoye Falls New York is the Peanut line. I believe that was abandoned in the 30's in this part of the country.

This is what the junction looked like in the late 1890's. The first station was single story.



This is how it looked later. I don't have a date for this picture, but figure it looks like it could be from the 1920's to 30's from the looks of the boxcars.



You are looking west. Note the two double slip turnouts. No idea of date this picture was taken.



Again looking west. The Rochester branch leads off to the right of the picture. The track diverging to the left at the bottom of the picture is the west leg of a wye with tracks heading south to Hemlock Lake. Judging from the car in the right of the picture it was taken  around the late 1920's or early 1930's. Also note the two double slip turnout have been replaced with simple turnouts. Makes track work much easier for the modeler.




This picture looks like it was taken from the control tower. Note that the station platform toward the east of the station has been removed. Also I've been trying to find out what the building to the extreme right was used for. It was still standing at the time I used to go down to the junction in hopes of catching a train.



In the next couple of views is the way I remember the Junction in the 1970's. This view is from the Rochester Branch side tracks looking south east.



This is what I would call the front of the station. The main line is in front. The partially shown building in the left of the picture was a sort of freight house I believe.



A south east view of the station.



A larger south east view showing the mystery building in the background and the full platform covers.



A south west view showing what could have been a freight house at some time. Also there are only three tracks as opposed to five tracks in early pictures.



And a view no railfan or modeler likes to see. The station burnt to the ground on Thanksgiving Day 1973. The main line has been abandoned. Conrail still ran freight to Lima, New York to the insulator plant. In the last few years the Rochester branch's rail had been removed and became a trail. The whole area has become a park dedicated to the Lehigh Valley. If your interested in a little more, and I mean little, here's a link to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester_Junction_station



Okay, let's take a fast passenger train to Rochester. You'll arrive at this Station in downtown Rochester.



There's lot's going on in this post card picture. Way to the right is the Erie line that ran into Rochester. That lasted into the 1970's I believe. The subway has been added. Those are the tracks to the left in the picture, they are running on the former Barge Canal. In the background where the canal building is where the Lehigh Valley Rochester yard was. It had a turn table and a two stall engine house. The LV station was built over the top of a mill race. Rochester is called the "flour city" because of the wheat that was grown here and milled with water power along the river.



This is an aerial view of the same area that the previous post card picture depicted. Note the canal to the left of the station.



Another view later in history.



An early 1960's aerial view of downtown Rochester. The Erie tracks are on the west side of the river. The Erie warehouse is split in half by the four lane highway bridge. As of this writing that area now has a housing tract on it. To the right is the Lehigh Valley. Directly behind the station, the large square building is the Rochester Library. The bridge behind the library is a double deck bridge. It carried the barge canal across the river. A top portion was added when the canal was drained to make way for the rapid transit line and a roadway was built over the top. This is where I will carry my fictitious railroad back over to the BR&P line that ran all the way to the north shore of Lake Ontario.



Now a bit of history on the station itself. This picture looks like it's from the late 1890's since I don't see any type of automobile in the picture.



Looking south we see the LV station in the center. The Erie warehouse is to the right. The river is to the left. Next over toward the left is the mill race and next to the left are the subway and rapid transit tracks. They are curving to cross the bridge over the river. From the automobiles I'd have to say it's in the 1920's.



The station in the 1940's perhaps. Not too good at judging the years of the cars.



This is the way the building looked for many years. Notice too that the platform coverings are gone out over the tracks.



A shot from the middle of the river. You are looking north with the library in the background.



A view from across the river. You are looking east.



Looking directly north on a bridge over the rapid transit tracks. The two tracks to the extreme right that went under the library and across the double-decker bridge have been removed. Interstate 490 now occupies the spot of where the tracks are.



So what happened to the station? It became the home of the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. It also looks like they added buildings to the left in matching brick work.



So that wraps up a major portion of the fictitious NY,V&N Rwy. Next will be the portion from the Lehigh Valley yard in Rochester to the north shore of Lake Ontario and the rail to boat loading coal facility. As I build my railroad I'll delve into more detail at each location. After I finish up with the last stretch of railroad I'll start on the quarry line.

Until the next post.

Bernd

[Bernd]

In my post about the Rochester station I mentioned that brick building was added to the left of the station proper, it wasn't added. It was there all along. It shows in all the photo's I posted of the station.

Bernd

[deemery]

Nice set of inspirational photos.  Love the slip switches in the one junction picture!


dave

[PRR Modeler]

Great historical photos. A lot of inspiration there.

[Mark Dalrymple]

Terrific, Bernd!

Looks like you have some great structures to build in your future.  Those two railway stations are humdingers!

Cheers, Mark.

[postalkarl]

Hey Bernd:

What A great bunch of historical photos. Loved looking at all of them.

Karl

[Janbouli]

What a project , that's going to be so much fun to build and for us to follow.

[Zephyrus52246]

Some really great looking stations in those pictures.

Jeff

[Bernd]

Many thanks for the kind words Dave, Curt, Mark, Karl, Janbouli, & Jeff.

It's quite an ambitious project. This will be my first layout and next month I turn 70. Makes me wonder how far I will get. I'm still working on projects to finish the house so my time will be divided up between modeling and house projects.

Yes those stations are rather unique. The Rochester Junction station was drawn up in Model Railroader by Harold Russell. I can't remember the date. I got to meet Harold when I joined the Kodak City Model Railroad Club back in the mid 70's. That first station that was at the junction was disassemble and moved to Lima, New York, just a few miles west of me. I have pictures of it in the 80's. The Rochester station will be the most difficult to build since nobody ever measured it or drew up plans. I'm going to attempt to build that. That is one of the reasons I joined this forum. With the many modelers here that build kits and scratch-build I figured I could learn the techniques that are used to build such a structure. I just hope that some of my techniques I use to do certain projects will help modelers here.

So I have one more post to finish up the portion of the line that will get modeled from the Rochester station to the coal dock which will be located on the Genesee River further north from the center of the city. I first need to get some picture together to finish that section. Problem with some of the pictures is that they are in books with copy right terms.

So until the next post in this thread.

Bernd

[Jim Donovan]

Just finished catching up on your adventure Bernd. Wow you brought back memories. I grew up in Scottsville and went to school at Wheatland-Chili.  Looking forward to watching a part of western NY come to life. Love the background story.

Jim D

[GPdemayo]

This is going to fun to watch you build Bernd.....we were in Rochester for a family wedding about 12 years ago and got to explore the area from there, thru the Finger Lakes, the wineries and to Buffalo and Niagara Falls. We even rented a Piper and flew over the western part of New York for a couple of hours.....beautiful part of the country. 

[Keep It Rusty]

Amazing photos. Thanks for sharing

[Jerry]

Great photos thanks for sharing. 


This should be a fun project to follow with.
Looking forward to your progress!


Jerry

[tom.boyd.125]

Frank,
The house you scratch built in 1997 looks great. That is not an easy task !
Looks like the ranch home has plenty of basement for your hobby.
Love the collection of old photos you posted too. Keep sharing your journey.
Tommy

[S&S RR]

Bernd


Wow, what a fantastic start to a layout thread.  All the historical pictures with hundreds of modeling ideas. It going to be fun to see what you decide to include on your layout. I agree that the depots in your pictures are wonderful. I will be following along and hope for lots of pictures.