A steamlocomotive.info recently reported an abandoned locomotive in the Niagara Gorge, presumably in New York State. We have almost no information about it, other than that it had Westinghouse Airbrakes. We've added the locomotive to steamlocomotive.info at the following url: https://www.steamlocomotive.info/vlocomotive.cfm?display=29616

There is both a primary photo and a photo album for this one. Any help in identifying it or refining the location would be greatly appreciated.

How sure are you that this is along the Niagara River?

Given the rapid flow and narrow river in the background, this would have to be in the rapids area south of the whirlpool. The problem is that there are many trees and vegetation all along the river, and no evidence of any in these pictures. The rocks don't seem correct for Niagara either... and lastly, the photos say "Summer 2021" but there is snow amongst the rocks? This is either not summer 2021, or not Niagara (or both).

Well, maybe I was wrong... Looks like maybe it's just north of the Whirlpool... Seems to be on the Canadian side.

https://rockwatching.wordpress.com/2013 ... gara-glen/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BXC3tf16lA

See this video about 10 minutes in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BXC3tf16lA

With the surroundings seen in the video, and being able to compare those things to aerial imagery, I'd put the location of this boiler at a point roughly 450-550 feet north of the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, on the Canadian side.

Also, some of the features on the boiler seem interesting, including the shape of the smokebox end. With the very limited knowledge I have on early locomotives and boilers, I might guess that this has some British influence—perhaps an early Canadian locomotive?

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It’s somewhere along the White Water Walk. I wouldn’t think it floated over from the Niagara Gorge Railroad. That was a trolley line.

Yup, definitely on the Canadian side about 1/4 - 1/2 mile North of the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge. Near the end of the video they pan the camera upstream and you see the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge (Gray, Double Decker, trains on top, roadway one deck below) and behind it is the rusting old Michigan Central RR (part of the NYCRR) bridge (trains only, long out of service, ran to Detroit).

The Niagara Gorge Railway was only on the US side in that area. It was an interurban and only crossed to the Canadian side down at Lewiston (outside of the gorge on a ""low level bridge").

On the Canadian side the RR freight yards and passenger station are only about 1/4 mile west of this location. The yards were much larger and there may have been some tracks that headed in that direction, Most likely a runaway that headed East and got to the edge of the gorge where it changed direction of travel from East to Down...

My Pop's freight train was waiting on a signal on the East side of that Whirlpool bridge (NYCRR crews ran into the Yards on the Canadian side and vice versa). When an unmanned CN train came East across the bridge and smacked right into the middle of Dad's train. Lucky he was stopped where he was. After about 10 minutes a Canadian Taxi Cab came roaring up and the Trainmaster (or maybe the Head End Brakeman, this was back in the 1970's) got out and was wondering why the train was where it was. Apparently the crew was onboard but overcome by exhaust fumes and were passed out (it was a diesel).

Interesting that in the Satellite Photo there are two dark lines across the river just up from the bridges. Those are the shadows of the bridge down at water level, Gives you some idea how high those bridges are.

For a long time on the US side down at the whirlpool was an upside down smashed 1950's convertible, maybe someone had too many drinks and ran over the edge ? I have not been down in that area since the 1970's, maybe someone has cut it up and packed the remains up out of the gorge ? It's a pretty steep trail, no way that convertible was coming up whole, somebody would have to backpack a portable cutting torch down there and bring it up in chunks....

Cheers, Kevin.

I have several original folders showing the park railways. On the Ontario side was the Niagara Falls Park & River Ry. It ran from Chippewa. above the falls to Queenston. It is shown as a double tracked line.
That line connected with the electric line on the U.S. side via the arch bridge just below the Falls and via the northern suspension bridge connecting Queenston and Lewiston. The U.S. side is also shown as double tracked. This combination was referred to in another folder as The Niagara Belt Line.
Not sure if the image will show -- I had to reduce it to post here. It is the centre section of the fold out map. One can see the former Great Western Ry. Suspension Bridge and the Michigan Central R.R. bridge to the south.
I remember in the CNR 6060 regularly scheduled service to Niagara Falls, we would roll out on the Suspension Bridge and pause for a while so passengers could see the river. Then we would carry on to Toronto. I don't recall seeing that old boiler.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BXC3tf16lA

At 11:46 minutes into the video they pan around to the existing bridges. Whirlpool Rapids bridge in gray, double deck bridge, trains on top (where today's Amtrak trains cross from NY to Ontario) and a automobile roadway below (have used that personally myself).

Behind that (South) is the old rusting (even shows up as "rust" colored in the Satellite Photo) Michigan Central railroad only bridge.

The park railway on the Canadian side only ran along the top of the gorge, and I believe it was an electric interurban (quite the rage a while back). That locomotive boiler might be something that "escaped" the nearby yards of the CNRR (Great Western) and ran off the edge.

Seems the boiler is quite close to the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, maybe 500 feet ?

Maybe someone was just discarding some "trash". No signs of any axles or running gear. Maybe a factory owner just shoved an old boiler "over the edge" to get rid of it ? The Niagara River was a fantastic place to dump your garbage before folks realized it was not such a good idea. The mud at the bottom of Lake Ontario is still full of nasty chemicals dumped into the Niagara River in the "old days".

Cheers, Kevin.

The general size, lack of waist sheets, and that strange flanged pipe coming off the dome lead me to suspect it is a portable power boiler of the type used to run rock crushing mills and concrete plants on large construction projects in the days before internal combustion engines. Very likely it just got away while being positioned, went over the edge, and was abandoned.

I somewhat agree with Dennis, though my confusion stems from the presence of a Westinghouse Air Brake compressor amidst the pieces.

Would the compressor be used to power auxillary devices and not brakes?

Wesley

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