Railroads

Railroads. Transportation Crossroads. Charlotte was a transportation crossroads through which people and goods were moved. The area was served by three railroads: the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh, the New York Central, and the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburgh [Ogdensburg]. , The Lake Shore Railroad proposed a swing bridge across the Genesee River. When the company went bankrupt, the bridge was built by its successor, the R.W.&O, in 1874-75. This line carried freight from eastern New York State westward to Lewiston. , When locomotives became heavier, a replacement bridge was needed. Charlotte's second bridge was built in 1905 by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio. Many people remember the "Hojack Line" that ran across this bridge. The uniqueness of a swing bridge is that it can close as a train approaches and then pivot into an open position to allow ships to pass. , The B.R.&P. brought coal from the Pennsylvania mines to Charlotte, where it was used at the blast furnace or loaded in ships bound for Canada and other Lake Ontario Ports. , When the first rail arrived in Charlotte in 1853, the New York Central built a depot on River Street, just south of Latta Road. Today's station is the second depot, built in 1902, and located 20 feet south of the original. , Pleasure steamers, sidewheelers and ferries docked near the depot, picked up passengers arriving by train, and took them for a cruise out on the lake or to other destinations.