QW 361.45

Modern life ties us together in a great web of networks and infrastructure, whose ongoing functioning is maintained in ways that we’re barely aware of. Consider your cell phone. Do you have any idea how the towers are maintained, the spectrum divvied up, and the data transmitted? I know I don’t. Most of the time I become aware of these things only when they’re not working, whether that’s with our cell phones, internet connections, or other aspects of modern life.

Railroads were the network that originally made possible our modern, interconnected lives. This is not to say they were the first network. Roads have long linked humanity together, and canals greatly cheapened the cost of ferrying goods. But in the 19th-century, railroads introduced networks at a scale that connected us permanently with other people. Ever since the locomotive, we have been inextricably linked with one another, tied together in interwoven relationships that make the functioning of our everyday lives possible, even comfortable, but whose actual operations are largely invisible to us.

These reflections were prompted by the mysterious code “QW 361.45” written on the railroad bridge that crosses the Genesee River just a little south and west of Genesee Valley Park and north of Jefferson Road.

This is an example of what Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt call, in their book The 99% Invisible City, “official graffiti,” markings made for some purpose to assist with the maintenance of this piece of infrastructure. Of course, in this case, on one side of the bridge this official graffiti was paired with some unofficial graffiti, made no doubt to mark territory by someone not employed in any official capacity (does that vertical writing say “BUGMAN?”).

Trying to decipher what QW361.45 meant led me into a warren of websites that ranged from the official CSX homepage to pages maintained by Rochester railroad enthusiasts to official government safety reports (like this disaster readiness plan in case of hazardous spills in the Lake Ontario basin). As best as I can decipher, 361.45 is the mile post marker for the CSX train system, and QW signifies that this is part of the former West Shore Railroad, a network that was battled over by the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads and nineteenth century tycoons J.P. Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt (http://nyc.railfan.net/westshore.html). But I readily admit that my detective work could be in error — understanding the intricacies and lingo of a railroad network is not in my wheelhouse and I didn’t want to spend too much time on it — so if you read this and I got something wrong, let me know.

CSX system map

The history of the bridge is more easily read by a crumbling plaque that declares that it was built in 1905 by the Riter Conley Mfg. Co. of Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh construction of the structure is appropriate, considering that the bridge is right next to McGinny’s on the River (a pub and sports bar where I parked my car), that is the home of the Rochester-area Pittsburgh Steelers Fan Club. I wonder if that’s pure coincidence?

I suppose these are enough digressions for one blog post (though I was tempted to include some interesting history on the Riter Conley Mfg. Co.). I’ll end with some more shots I took of the bridge, scattered detritus such as old railroad spikes, and the deer peacefully crossing the tracks on a quiet early morning.