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Caption: About 8 years ago I posted a shot of this train beginning to cross the Steel Arch bridge from Canada to the USA. I shot it from over the border, standing on the curb of the Robert Moses Parkway. Well, finally; here is another image. Having shot the first photo; I ran like blazes (I'm a slow moving blaze) to get another angle.
And this is it. D&H 7309, CP 5529, SOO 6612, 6601 and 780. Crossing over.
This was heralded as the First International (CP) Grain Train; with three SOO representing the West; the CP 5529 representing the run thru Ontario, and at the NF Montrose Yard D&H 7309 arrived to lead the train over to New York State and the eventual run up the D&H line to Albany.
The weather was drizzling and gloomy. I was rather hot and bothered. Unfortunately, so were the New York State police, the city police and the border patrol. But it all worked out in the end, and they let me go........ It is illegal to walk on the elevated part of the parkway, and weird railfan activity just had to be investigated.
It has been 20 years since anything rolled over the Steel Arch bridge. Cost of demolition too high...so it just sits there. The only active rail left there now is the CN. Station visible on the far right.........
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We see so many shots from the Canadian side, but two things are rare in this photo: shot from the USA and the D&H! Great photo Arnold…although, can we really call the Grimsby Sub. as active??? Lol….I know it is….just not what it used to be!
Thanks, Todd. Yeah, just thinking…if it wasn’t for the almost nocturnal GO train there would be nary a thing moving on the track visible in this photo. No Amtrak, no VIA; not much of anything. But then, Bridge St (the street by the station) is almost devoid of businesses these days, reduced to mostly decay.
The train must have been stopped on the bridge. Was it for an official publicity photo? If so, wasn’t there other photographers around?
Arnold…it is spectacular…I am overwhelmed with the thoughts of “what if”…and by that I mean “what if no one was willing to risk a night in the tank to get this shot”…your contributions to the preservation of Canadian railroading in the Golden Era are immense, but I particularly appreciate your Niagara Falls images, CP, CHESSIE, CONRAIL, etc on the Michigan Central / Canada Southern / Niagara Falls Route…Merry Christmas and thanks for sharing
It didn’t stop, Mr. Smith. If there was anyone else anywhere; I was not aware of it. There MIGHT have been a helicopter perhaps, but I would not have seen it. The train was moving at about 5 MPH. My guess.
Mr. Klaucker: Thank you for the rather excessive compliment. I do agree with you, however, that it was our “Golden Era”.
Merry Christmas !!!!
I totally agree with all of Klaukers comments, another wonderful picture of Niagara Falls railroad activity and a very good view of the railway bridge. Well done Mr. Mooney, well done ! How did you ever get the timing correct ? It’s not like you can park on Moses Parkway bridge for hours waiting for a train to come. Did you get out of your car ? Brave man indeed ! If you tried a similar stunt today, Homeland Security would pick you up in a second. And agree, not many pictures from the NY State side looking at the west side of the gorge, shows the CN station and yard tracks in front thereof very nicely. In 20 years, 9 months later, no Parkway road bridge, no trains on the old CASO bridge, no NYC tracks, and only one yard track in front of what is today the NF VIA/GO train station. The times I drove over this road bridge, I would slow down but never had the courage to stop and take a picture. Merry Christmas, John
Merry Christmas to you as well, John. I parked well away; about 1/2 mile down behind some businesses..and even that didn’t sit well with me, knowing the neighbourhood. And yes, the law was all over me. But just checking me out. Walked up on the overpass and took my chances. I didn’t even know the parkway bridge was gone!!!