The Niagara Gorge Railroad (forming part of the

Great Gorge Route The Great Gorge Route or Niagara Belt Line was an interurban trolley belt line encompassing the Niagara Gorge, operated by the International Railway and Niagara Gorge Railroad. Many dignitaries rode this line and they used to use a flat car w ...

) was an interurban railway which ran at the bottom of the

Niagara Gorge Niagara Gorge is an long canyon carved by the Niagara River along the Canada–United States border, between the U.S. state of New York and the Canadian province of Ontario. It begins at the base of Niagara Falls and ends downriver at the ed ...

(at water level) from Niagara Falls, New York to

Lewiston, New York Lewiston is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 15,944 at the 2020 census. The town and its contained village are named after Morgan Lewis, a governor of New York. The Town of Lewiston is on the western bord ...

. Stations were at International Railway Terminal, Great Gorge Route Ticket Office, New York Central Depot, Schoellkopf Station, Rapids View, Whirlpool Rapids, Whirlpool Point, Ongiara Park, Giant Rock, Devil's Hole, Lewiston-Queenston Bridge and Lewiston Dock. In Niagara Falls the GGR made connections with the International Railway Company (IRC), New York Central,

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Er ...

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN ...

and

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...

. In Lewiston Dock connections were made with New York Central, IRC, the Lewiston & Youngstown Frontier and Canada Steamship Lines steamers to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

History

The GGR was organized in 1895 as the Niagara Falls & Lewiston. It was reorganized and became the Niagara Gorge Railroad and operated until a rock slide on September 17, 1935. The Great Gorge Route was part of the "Niagara Gorge Belt Line". This service was jointly with the IRC "Canadian Scenic Route" on the Canadian side of the River from

Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the 2016 census. It is part of the St. Catharines - Niagara Census M ...

Queenston, Ontario Queenston is a compact rural community and unincorporated place north of Niagara Falls in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered by Highway 405 to the south and the Niagara River to the east; its location at the epony ...

. Crossings were made on the Honeymoon Bridge in Niagara Falls and the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge. The IRC in Niagara Falls interchanged with the Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway (NS&T), Canadian National,

Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway The Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway was a railway based in Hamilton that ran in Southern Ontario from 1892 to 1987. It never reached the other two cities in its name, although it did have branch lines extending to Dunnville and Port Maitl ...

Pere Marquette Railway The Pere Marquette Railway operated in the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and the Canadian province of Ontario. Its primary connections in ...

, and New York Central subsidiary Michigan Central Railroad.

Gallery

File:The street railway review (1891) (14574719767).jpg, 1891 Niagara Gorge Railroad - upper end of gorge (1900).jpg, 1900 Niagara Gorge Railroad (1900).jpg, 1900 Niagara Gorge Railroad - loading area and long view (1900).jpg, 1900 File:Whirlpool from Canadian side, Niagara Falls, Ontario (1911).jpg, View of

Niagara Whirlpool The Niagara Whirlpool is a natural whirlpool within the Niagara River located along the Canada–U.S. border between New York and Ontario. The whirlpool is in the Niagara Gorge, downstream from Niagara Falls. The whirlpool's greatest depth i ...

from Canadian side with Niagara Gorge Railroad visible in bottom right, 1911 Niagara Gorge Railroad (1913).jpg, 1913 Postcard Giant Rock Niagara Gorge Ontario.jpg, Postcard

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niagara Gorge Railroad Defunct New York (state) railroads Interurban railways in New York (state) Transportation in Niagara Falls, New York Transport in Niagara Falls, Ontario