Birdseye Views, Part One

Bill Hecht sent along the early "birdseye" looking west along the Enlarged Erie. It should be called a "hillseye" as the photographer is standing on the hill to the east of the village, a favorite spot for many photographers. The newer birdseye, looks west along the new Rochester, Syracuse and Eastern Interurban line.

 

After I posted the top two, Bill sent along this version of the birdseye. You will notice it is a tad different then the other trolley version. 

Trolley Powerhouse

This brick building still stands on the west side of the village. It was built as the Rochester, Syracuse, and Eastern Railroad, a fast service interurban that carried passengers between the two cities from 1909 to 1931.

The term powerhouse is a bit misleading. All the power was created at a large power-plant in Lyons, NY and distributed to these powerhouses by way of large AC lines. The alternating current was run through a transformer and came out as Direct Current, which the trolleys ran on. Since DC power can only be transmitted about five miles, these powerhouses were located every ten miles along the route.

Another one of these can be seen at the Auburn City line, on Rt 38.