THEN & NOW Railroad Photos ~ Niagara Falls Canada ~ 1970s 1980s 1990s to 2022 ~ Look at the Changes!

[@wabash4095]

I too like the "before" and "after" pictures, even if the "after" makes me sad. Keep it up. You are doing a great job!

[@littletoysforbigkids429]

Thank you - I'll make a second one (in a few weeks....working on some new content right now)

[@WilliamHBaird-eq2hp]

Terrific Tammy ... Thanks for posting on our CRO FB page too! I was lucky to ride the cab (CP 8921)from Buffalo SK Yard, then alongside Clifton Road through Niagara Falls ON and on to Toronto Agincourt Yard back in 1993. A great experience Cheers!

[@littletoysforbigkids429]

Thank you very much for takin the time to watch and to reply!

[@Henrik227]

Cool video.....but i'm weeping😭 Back in the "old" days we had trains and LOTS of them. Today the are almost gone, all of them, sadly. Picture is the same here in Europe (Denmark) where i'm from. It's sad to ser all the old and abandoned tracks everywere. Thanks for sharing and bringing back good memories. Best wishes Henrik 😎

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

Thank you very much for the comment! I'm really sorry to hear that though, I know railroads have greatly disappeared in canada, maybe even more North America but I didn't know it was like that in denmark, or other parts of Europe as well. I was amazed at the Netherlands passenger railroad service, I'm sorry to hear this is a worldwide problem. I will make a part two and I will try to make one of these for other cities if I can, thank you very much!

[@DCHWTR]

Niagara was wonderful in the 70 and 80 era.......loved going there.

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

@@DCHWTR thank you! I agree - in many ways Niagara Falls in the 70s and 80s was a great place to both live and visit! Thanks for watching & commenting

[@DCHWTR]

@@traveling_ladyrailfan not a problem, thank you for posting.........brought me back to some wonderful times.

[@9005067]

Howdy ,i really enjoyed that

[@tammyf5837]

Hi there thank you very much for taking the time to tell me that you enjoyed this! I believe I will make a part two, then.

[@anthonyeveler4820]

Amazing on how much change their is over the years progress does a lot from the past to future thanks for the trip back in time to now.

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

Yeah it really is something isn't it? Some areas I had the "then" photos for but I wasn't able to take the "now" photos for because it's just too difficult to take a photo in the same place when none of the landmarks are there. So many places the tracks of completely disappeared from Niagara Falls. It's quite remarkable. But I'm really glad you enjoyed this video (especially considering it was one of my earlier attempts at making a video), and thank you for taking the time to comment!

[@9005067]

okay ,thats a fascinating line I was in Hagersville and i saw a Norfolk and Western Loco an American line ansd in Waterford i saw a Pen Central unit outside the hotel That linewas a interesting Hot Bed

[@9005067]

Yes and yes i would, you did a great job on this Did you know that the Canada Southern came into Niagra Falls and Buffalo from St Thomas Ontario another line to think about its now gone

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

CASO? Yeah, I think I could do a video featuring that RR....

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

Next year (2023) would be the 150th anniversary of the founding of the CSR. But I probably won't wait until 2023

[@ThomasC-Crazy4NiagaraFalls]

Great video! I have been visiting Niagara Falls yearly for over 50 years and I love seeing "then and now" pictures. My dad took thousands of pics of the area throughout the years and I have scanned many of them to my computer. I especially enjoyed your pics of the Clifton Hill area. I have great memories of eating at the original Mama Mia's location on Victoria Ave right near the top of Clifton Hill. We would eat there every year and request a table near the window so I could see a train go by as we ate. Do you have any idea if there were also tracks a little further down Clifton Hill, perhaps where Oneida Lane is? In 1978, traffic was backed up on Clifton Hill and we got stuck right on the tracks with a train coming. Trains went slow through that area so the train was able to stop for us to clear the tracks. I still remember a guy standing on the front of the engine waving and smiling at my family, scared to death in our car. Memories can be a little fuzzy, so in my mind, we were further down Clifton Hill and not right at the top where your video shows the train tracks. I've looked at my dad's pics from the 60's, 70's, & 80's and also looked at old pics online and can never see tracks further down Clifton Hill, so I am thinking my memory is just wrong and we were at the top of the Hill. Thanks, I enjoyed your video!

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

@@ThomasC-Crazy4NiagaraFalls hi there! thank you so much for sharing your recollections. To my knowledge there were no tracks going down Clifton Hill (way too steep a grade) but there is a spur down by the loretto Christian academy (you can see the Falls from here) which leads to Chippawa"s industrial area through marineland. And there were also tracks that went along pass the skylon Tower and the Minolta Tower as you might have seen in the pictures, if that helps?

[@23youwatch]

thanks for this video!

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

@@23youwatch You're welcome! I'm really glad that you enjoyed it. It's a popular video. I Love then and now type comparisons, but seeing as how this is my hometown, means a little more :-)

[@glendodwell7745]

Great video

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

Thank you very much, I'm really glad that you enjoyed it... And it was kind of you to take the time to tell me, as well. I am working on a "part two"

[@glendodwell7745]

@@traveling_ladyrailfan I’m looking forward to part two.

[@patentexperts1675]

The before pictures are very familiar - thanks for memories.

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

I'm really glad that you enjoyed it. I'd love to do one more before and after of Niagara Falls, I have a few more before photos, but they're extremely difficult to match up to the after photos of today. The track is completely disappeared, you can't even tell there was railroad there... So I'm not really sure that it would make a great before and after video however, I suppose I could just put some photos of Niagara Falls "before"... which could be enjoyable. I'm very grateful to AW Mooney for providing the photographs to me and all of his help with this video project... And I'm extremely happy to hear from you, as well. Makes me feel good to know people are enjoying these.

[@patentexperts1675]

I lived in Niagara Falls as a kid and would cross the international bridges on my bicycle and explore both sides of Niagara back in the 60s and 70s - crossing the border was not a big deal back then, we actually would play on the bridges. It was a great rail center at that time especially on the USA side many large rail yards and tracks that would crisscross each other. And to have two international railroad bridges right next to each other and the rail line that went over the New York State Niagara Power Plant was awesome. I'll check to see if I know of any old photos. Thanks again.

[@4everdc302]

Aug 21 is my birthday😋 I remember the end of the CASO at the top of the hill. Great shots👍🚂🇨🇦🙋

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

it's a little bit early, but "Happy Birthday"

[@4everdc302]

@@traveling_ladyrailfan lol thank you😁

[@cnhaltonsub]

Crazy to see what things used to look like. Never even knew tracks ran through Clifton Hill! Excellent video

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

I'm really glad that you enjoyed the video! Yeah, the trains at the top of the hill used to make for fantastically long traffic snarls in summer with all the cars...but somehow it was fun

[@fredfosdick4093]

Damn, that must make me old remembering them. And yeah, the traffic jams were legendary.

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

@@fredfosdick4093 nah, doesn't make you old! You're lucky to be able to have experienced this, I think... So many people never did and never will see this stuff. I was actually at Clifton Hill this evening! Tons of tourists, plenty of cars (no trains)

[@fredfosdick4093]

@@traveling_ladyrailfan Do you remember there used to be tracks down the middle of Welland Ave in St. Catharines? Back in the late 70's I used to ride my bicycle along to the path beside them to work on Ontario st. When they took them out they turned it into a bicycle trail, fitting.

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

@@fredfosdick4093 yes :) A lot of the rail in Niagara is pulled out or paved over now. It's sad (if you knew where it all was) to see nothing. We had a lot of industry in Niagara at one time, and it relied on rail

[@MikeG42]

Wow, amazing video Lady Railfan. I can't believe how much the city of Niagara Falls has changed. No more CSX through downtown anymore but that was a great shot from 1980. These photographs really give a good perspective of the old days and now the modern. I like the picture from the late 70's at the corner of Zimmerman and Park showing the rough looking neighborhood. Well done , you should do more of these before and after videos.😊👍

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

Thank you very much, yes I not only enjoyed making this video but also an awful lot of people enjoyed watching it as well... I would like to make more like this, I just don't have any photographs from the '70s and '80s and '90s of trains going through Niagara Falls of my own personal collection, and I don't like to use strangers photos, that's why I'm very happy that AW Mooney has been a rail fan in the Niagara area since 1970s and has graciously allowed me use of all of his photos. I was all set to make a third part of this series and realized that although I had the "then" photos, it was almost impossible to line up a "now" version because in the areas, the tracks are completely taken out, and in some cases the streets have been redone, the skyline 100% changed, it makes it very difficult to line up a then and now shot that anyone can even recognize as being the same area. But I do plan to Make a part 3. Thank you very much for your feedback, I'm really glad to hear how much people enjoyed this video

[@MikeG42]

@@traveling_ladyrailfan You're welcome

[@MikeG42]

@@traveling_ladyrailfan I went to Niagara Falls for a school field trip in 1989 and my dad took a few pictures of a CSX freight running southbound past the Minolta tower.

[@MikeG42]

@@traveling_ladyrailfan What about other places in Ontario with abandoned lines. The CASO sub would be a good one. I wish for a before and after on the now abandoned CN Forest Sub but photographs are very hard to find.

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

@@MikeG42 Oh yes, personally I love then and now type photos If they're well done and you can really see the difference but also really see that it's taken at the exact same spot, But I do have to go with images that I have permission to use, and whether or not the shot can even be duplicated today. I will talk to Mooney, and we will look at his photos and see what areas we might be able to do a then and now with

[@frankjankovich3512]

Everyone forgets the spur line at Clifton hill to the shredded wheat plant

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

@@frankjankovich3512 I love Shreddies!

[@frankjankovich3512]

@@traveling_ladyrailfan yes a good friend of mine had a summer job there in the 80’s putting the prize in each shreddies box. I had the fun job at Nortons as a furnace operator that made that good smells as you drove by on the way to Chippewa. Thanks for the memories 👻

[@1233pooh]

Usually before pictures are the ugly ones but in your video I think it is just the oposite. Nice video! :)

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

Thank you very much! I will make a "part 2" of Niagara Falls and try to make a video with other cities, if possible. Thanks for watching!

[@stickynorth]

Very cool video! I was looking for a before and after of Niagara Falls to see how much has changed or not... Too bad most of the ROW through the tourist section has been built over because it would be great to have kept for an LRT project for the city... Lord knows it needs it! Especially with all the future density and developments planned!

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

Happy to have been able to help/entertain you today! I feel that Niagara Falls has changed a lot over the past 30 years in particular (when the first casino was coming in) as that changed NF tourism from "Victoria Day to Labour Day" to a "were open 24-7-365" mentality. Remaining industry opportunities pulled out when employment in tourism became year round...

[@kieranbricker3278]

I was born in 01 when the Clifton hill track was still laying there covered in weeds. I wish I was born a lot earlier to experience these times

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

I know what you mean. If I was born a earlier, I would have owned my own camera and maybe had a car and been able to drive around and get photos of cool things that happened around here in the 80s/90s. At least kids/teens today have the ability to photograph/video things they see, to save for future generations. Thanks for watching this video and taking the time to leave a comment!

[@davidbrown4823]

Wow.

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

Yeah, quite a difference, isn't it

[@TCSNR_Productions]

I feel kind of sad now because all the railroads that were here in the past years or now gone, like if I was born in like 1980 or 1990 I would have been able to see all these beautiful railroads before they were taken down but now everything's changed. ALTHOUGH I DO WANT TO SAY IS THAT I DID TALK WITH SOME CN WORKERS AND THEY DID SAY THAT THEY WERE GOING TO REBUILD THE LINES... BUT DIFFERENT!

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

I figure, you can't "go back" but you can enjoy the past through videos, photos and personal recollections. There's so much I wish I could have seen or experienced, too. That's why I like to document what's here today (for future generations) and learn from those older than I. :) Can't go back, but maybe we can make a better tomorrow....

[@ljones121]

Great trip down memory lane I'm just old enough to remember the tail end of all this, and the same is happening though slower in Niagara Falls on the US side as the chemical industry closes and moves out.

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

Im glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks for taking the time to write

[@ljones121]

@Traveling_LadyRailFan anytime, growing up in western NY I was a frequent flyer to the Niagara region

[@diesel71]

Before the closed in auto rack there was a lot more vandalism and transit damage to new cars and trucks.

[@Trains4Fun]

Recently move into Niagara area and I was told I'm about 40 years too late to railfan in the area and this video is showing me what I've missed. 🤢🤮

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

Yes that is true, 40 years ago there was a lot more going on in this area, heck even only 20 years ago a lot of the interesting Niagara falls rail was pulled out, I'm talking stuff around the Skylon, Clifton hill, the yard over on Victoria avenue, Street running down town, all that kind of stuff. It is unfortunate but it is not unique to Niagara falls. Or the Niagara region. It's sad to say that people have forgotten that this continent was built because of the railway. At one time the railway was the most important thing, and then cars came along and now people see trains as not much more than a nuisance that holds them up at crossings. Which is too bad. Hey, if you're new to the Niagara area and you want to learn more about Niagara trains, may I humbly suggest checking out the crha Niagara division, which is returning to in-person meetings starting in September at the Lock 3 museum (st Catharines by Welland canal)... until then, there are online meetings. It is the last Wednesday of the month, and discussion is about railroading in niagara, Canada, and North America, and members share photographs as "slide"shows and a bunch of other stuff as well. You can find them at www.crhniagara.com if you'd like to find more information

[@RNP69]

SAD ! ☹What has happened !

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

Loss of industry. Complaints about "holding up tourist traffic" (spending dollars) in the area of Clifton. The city and the railroads not able to come to a mutual agreement... I was actually just driving Clifton Hill area and some of the areas that used to have railroads, just today and I was just thinking how different it feels without any tracks

[@RNP69]

@@traveling_ladyrailfan I thinking having a industry base would be much better off than trying to chase the tourist dollars.... Just my 2 cents !

[@kieranbricker3278]

Can you do St. Thomas Ontario then and now

[@traveling_ladyrailfan]

St Thomas is an amazing place, historically, for railroads and would be great to do a "then and now" but most of the infrastructure/tracks/buildings etc that were present during the boom times are completely gone now. Someone would really have to be familiar where exactly all of these locations in historical photographs were, to be able to get the "now" shot (I'm not familiar with the area). I usually only get to st.thomas every few years. But it's definitely a good idea, thanks!

[@kieranbricker3278]

@@traveling_ladyrailfango on google and type in St. Thomas Central Railway it’s a tourist railroad that operated in St. Thomas in the early 2000’s and went abandoned in 2005 and the rail line went abandoned in 2006. It was a steam engine and a few passenger cars. The train is in Waterloo now and being there since 2007