High Falls Railroad Bridge

Railroads in the 1850s transformed America the way the internet has revolutionized our lives in the last several decades. The railway shattered distance in previously unimaginable ways, transporting goods and people at speeds that astonished people. For Rochester, a city whose growth was linked to the building of the Erie Canal, the railroads offered both peril and promise. They threatened the viability of the waterway that was the pillar of the Rochester economy but they also offered dramatically faster traffic and, in some cases, lower costs. They were clearly the future.

Railroad traffic in upstate New York grew out of a series of local initiatives beginning in the 1830s. Entrepreneurs in different communities, recognizing the money-making potential and the benefits of railroads, started regional lines. Rochester was connected to the west by the Tonawanda line (heading towards Batavia) and to the east by the Rochester & Auburn. In 1853, the six primary upstate lines combined to form the New York Central Railroad, which became the dominant means of transportation from Albany to Buffalo.

In 1865 a massive flood swept away the railroad bridge that had been built on this location. It’s not clear to me if the existing bridge is the replacement to that bridge or is a later structure, but of perhaps more lasting importance was the acquisition of the New York Central by Commodore Vanderbilt in 1867. The New York Central became part of a much larger railroad network that Vanderbilt controlled stretching to Chicago. Today, the railway line is owned by the successor to the New York Central, CSX, and it’s still a busy line, especially for freight, though the passenger train terminal is also nearby in roughly the same location it is on the map below from 1888.

1888 map of Rochester showing railway bridge

The location is certainly spectacular, spanning High Falls just before the water rushes over the cataract. On the other side of the railroad bridge a bridge carries automotive traffic over the inner loop (the subject of my next blog).

I visited the bridge on Father’s Day in 2021 (I’ve fallen way behind in writing these blogs since I’m posting this at the end of September) with Ursula and Abigail. We crossed across the Pont de Rennes bridge to the Genesee Brew House. Nearby is an overlook where you can get a good view of High Falls.

Abigail and Ursula at the overlook

The floor of the overlook has a painted mural.

Abigail and I then clambered up to the tracks, skirting an area that looked like a homeless encampment, though we passed on the opportunity to actually cross the bridge on foot. I figured getting run over by a train would not be a happy ending to Father’s Day!

We went under the bridge as well, but while it was interesting to see the water rushing towards the edge, there weren’t many good views of the area from underneath, so we wrapped up a lovely day by crossing back over to the east side of the river and returning home.