In General
Getting Here
Map
Sites
Signals
Bridges
Floobydust
Acknowledgements: From the east (Rochester etc) via I-90, exit 49 for
Transit Ave, head south. From downtown Buffalo, you could take Broadway if
you're not in a rush, plenty to see along the way. From the west via I-90, take exit 52W, and head east on
Walden Ave, hang a right onto either Union Rd or Dick Rd to Broadway.
If you take Union Rd to Broadway, you have to be careful to take the exit
for Broadway, it's an unusual interchange (below).
Amtrak Station - Station Code: BUF
EB 430.8? Signal Bridge EB 433.1 Signal Bridge - along Broadway Rd
1
2
3
4
The dashed line is the former right-of-way for the New
York Central's Gardenville Branch. The same for bridge pictures 5 and
8. Thanks Sal!
5
6
7
8
2
Forks Fire Company The Fire Training Academy
(and the Central Police Garage at the top of the picture) The Police HQ
along Union Road 1904 USGS Quadrangle Map These two maps are sections of the 1904 Depew
Quadrangle Map.... 4 railroads plus a trolley line... ahhh, the good ole
days :-)
Disclaimers: I love trains, and I love signals. I am not an
expert. My webpages reflect what I find on the topic of the page.
This is something I have fun with while trying to help others. Please Note:
Since the main focus of my two websites is railroad signals, the railfan guides
are oriented towards the signal fan being able to locate them. For those
of you into the modeling aspect of our hobby, my
indexa page has a list of
almost everything railroad oriented I can think of to provide you with at least a few pictures to
help you detail your pike. If this is a railfan page, every effort has
been made to make sure that the information contained on this map and in this
railfan guide is correct. Once in a while, an error may creep in
:-) :-)
My philosophy: Pictures and maps are worth a
thousand words, especially for railfanning. Text descriptions only
get you so far, especially if you get lost or disoriented. Take
along good maps.... a GPS is OK to get somewhere, but maps are still
better if you get lost! I belong to AAA, which allows you to get
local maps for free when you visit the local branches. ADC puts
out a nice series of county maps for the Washington DC area, but their
state maps do not have the railroads on them. If you can find em,
I like the National Geographic map book of the U.S..... good, clear, and
concise graphics, and they do a really good job of showing you where
tourist type attractions are, although they too lack the railroads.
Other notes about specific areas will show up on that page if known. Beware: If used as a source, ANYTHING from Wikipedia must be treated as
being possibly being inaccurate, wrong, or not true.
RAILFAN GUIDES HOME
NEW 03/29/2012
Thanks to Sal Peragine for contributing additional info for this page.
Thanks to Scott H. for contributing excellent pictures of the signals.
Thanks to Scott H. and
Joel C. for information about
the CSX/NYC signal replacement
Additional Information to check out:
http://www.marjum.com/niagjct/
A comprehensive page by Jeff Forys on what is left around the Lehigh Valley's Niagara Junction
area.
http://www.marjum.com/lvrr/ Another page by Jeff - an index page of
drawings and other printed material that he has collected over the years... both pages are Great!
The above map in PDF
format is here
GPS Coordinates: 42.907098, -78.726547
Niagara Hobby Store
GPS Coordinates: 42.905488,
-78.755188
Great hobby store. Also a great spot to take pictures from in the rear of the store where you have un-interrupted sight lines in both directions,
with a signal bridge just off to your right.
Cheektowaga Historical Museum
GPS Coordinates: 42.903510, -78.751933
GPS Coordinates: 42.908018,
-78.720812
A set of WB signals makes for nice framing of EB (headed for NYC) trains,
having just left the Depew station.
To the left, a branchline that
heads north joins the mainline with a 3 head searchlight signal.
WB 431.2 Signal Bridge
GPS Coordinates: 42.904338, -78.751792
A set of EB signals makes for nice framing of WB trains.
You can also see the WB signal bridge in the background, along with the
colorlight signal on the left where the branchline comes in.
The NYC era
searchlight signals are supposed to be replaced over the summer of 2016
according to Scott H and the signal maintenance guys he talked to.
These 4 pictures are courtesy Scott H, from March 2016
WB 432.8 Signal Bridge - Ellicott Rd, kinda behind the Forks Fire Department
GPS Coordinates: 42.904338, -78.751792
These 3 pictures are courtesy Scott H, from June 2012
GPS Coordinates: 42.9039.73, -78.755731
These 2 pictures are courtesy Scott H, from June 2012
Unknown date, photo by Ben Wild, from the Buffalo & Western NY Abandoned
Rails FB group
Salvatore's Italian Gardens, gets my award for gaudy, it's on Transit Road south of Genesee St
I wonder what he is putting on his sign now that prices are headed over 4 bucks a gallon, this was in 2006
GPS Coordinates: 42.903966, -78.752499
Nice place to watch trains from, behind
the station house.
By the way, floobydust is
a term I picked up 30-40 years ago from a National Semiconductor data
book, and means miscellaneous and/or other stuff.
Pictures and additional information is always needed if anyone feels
inclined to take 'em, send 'em, and share 'em, or if you have
something to add or correct.... credit is always given! BE NICE!!! Contact info
is here
RAILROAD SIGNALS HOME
Last Modified
06-May-2017