Trip North - Sidney, NY - Steamtown National Historic Site

Caleb came with us to Sidney.  He finds out that Steamtown Historic National Site is in Scranton, PA about 1.5 hours away.   Guess where we went.

 Steamtown takes up close to 40 acres of the Scranton railroad yard of the Delaware, Lackawana and Western Railroad.  It is an operating railroad site so moving trains can go by.

 Union Pacific 4012 is one of the world's largest steam locomotives and is one of eight preserved Union Pacific "Big Boy" locomotives.

 The wheels are taller than Caleb

Caleb gets a video of one of the trains passing through.

 There are lots of old trains in the yard

 We continue on to the actual Museum

 Behind the Visitor's Center is the Turntable and 1902 Roundhouse Section

 The turntable is 90' long and was used for turning 

engines toward the roundhouse

 We enter the Roundhouse where they work on the trains.

 The Nickel Plate #759.  The Nickel Plate Road offered the shortest, fasted route between Buffalo and Chicago.  It is believed to be the most powerful locomotive ever built. 

There is a History Museum and a Technology Museum.\

We got to walk through and old Mail Train. 

 

 See a Locomotive Engine cut away to see the inner workings.

 And a  Business Car

 Caleb wanted to take the behind the scenes tour of the Locomotive Repair Shop.  We let him go and Gary and  I found a seat in the shade.  I wandered out and got a few more outdoor shots.  

There was a Trolley Museum which we didn't visit.

We spent a good 5 hours here.  On the way out we passed this old Train Station.

Trip North - Rochester - Week 4

We brought Gary's grandson Caleb for a visit from Albany on Amtrak.

 He is a Train fanatic so this week's theme is Trains, Trains and More Trains.

We got him a good camera for giving up Soda for a year.  He got a lot of use out of it this week.

We started at the Tree Farm down the road that has a petting zoo.  My friends and her daughter always bring food and feed them.  We tagged along.  

Caleb getting a shot of the Zebu and a goat.

 Hey!  What am I - Chopped Liver?

You don't ignore this Camel very long.  She loves men.

a new addition my friends daughter got to hold - a baby Wallaby

My friend was able to hook up Caleb with a boy in town the same age as him that is as into trains as he is.  We drove them to some tracks and they took pictures and videos for 3.5 hours   They saw 16 trains - more than Caleb gets to see in a week back home.  They even caught a Union Pacific.

We have a really nice day so we head back to Letchworth.  Caleb is hoping to catch a train going over the Bridge.  He and Tucson scope out the river.

 Caleb waited 2.5 hours for a train and we finally made the call to leave.  Of course as we got about 2 minutes away - a train crossed over.

 We take Caleb downtown to see the High Falls district. 

 He gets a shot of the Falls and a Train going over!

Caleb and I walked over to an area at the top of the Falls closer to the Tracks while Gary waited in a shaded comfy chair in Brown's Race.  I decided to give him 20 minutes there.  18 Minutes later a train crossed over and it had some rare caboose on it - so he was happy.

We head up to Ontario Beach for lunch and find that the 

Santa Maria replica is in port.

 Caleb and I walk out to the end of the Pier

 On the way back there were a few Minks playing in the rocks.  This one had a fish of some sort.

 They are so darn cute!

 Had to stop and see the Carousel

Tomorrow we head to Sidney, NY to house-sit for the month.

Trip North - Rochester - week 3

Work is progressing on the entryway

 I take Gary to the American Hotel for lunch - they have over 200 homemade soups - but only feature 6 on any given day and they have the best Liverwurst sandwich on Rye.

We have been here over two weeks dry camping so we need to dump and fill.  Rather then go through all the hassle of battening down just to go up the road - we go to Letchworth Park for the night.

We get a nice hike in from Hogsback to the Mt. Morris Dam

 I've been called a Tree Hugger - but here are Hugging Trees

 A view back to the Bend - the truck is just above that bald spot 

all the way to the left.

 The Mt. Morris Dam

 Then we drive down the the Falls - Here is the Upper Falls 

and the new Train Bridge.

 Middle Falls is just down the trail.

I catch a rainbow across the base of Middle Falls 

 Last year when we were here we went to check out the Mary Jemison site and longhouse but it was under repair - we check it out again and the work was done.

 Mary Jemison - White woman of the Genesee.   Born during a voyage from Ireland to the US - she was captured during the French and Indian war around the age of 15 and adopted into the Seneca Nation and decided to stay. 

 I snuck in a bike ride with my friend and her daughter in Genesee Valley Park.  Her daughters first time on the bike and first time with hand brakes - she did great by the end of the ride.

Here is a view of the Genesee River which runs right to left and the Erie Canal which crosses under the bridge.  The water is so high it is hard to discern one from the other.

 

 

 meanwhile, the construction continues