Another of "The Kenan Pages" at
The
Lockport Home Page: www.Lockport-NY.com
THE PICTURE OF LOCKPORT
William Rand Kenan Jr. would be proud of the annual event put on at his Lockport estate each year in late April. Although educated as a chemist, Kenan's connection with railway tycoon Henry Flagler eventually put him in charge of the Florida East Coast Railway up until the middle of the the 20th century. The weekend railway show at Kenan Arena, off Beattie Avenue in Lockport draws railway buffs from a good portion of the northeast USA. Our Lockport Page photographer visited the 15th annual event the weekend of April 28-29th presented by the Niagara Frontier Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. So, too, did a couple thousand other boys, Dads, railway enthusiasts, and those who remember "the romance of the rails!"
There is a good mix between model railway trains, parts, accessories, and memorabilia---and---operating model railway systems...some running nearly the length of the exhibit display areas. Most anything connected with railroading from the hobby and model stuff to the real thing (such as Amtrak and commercial representatives) is at the event that costs a $4 admission. The Kenan campus has plenty of parking for the hundreds who are on site throughout the two-day event.
For
those Lockportians who remember going down to the old Union Station and watching the local
telegraph operators handle Western Union telegraph traffic, the Telegraph Office display
was of special interest. Some of those telegraph wires are still up today along the
rail lines east and west out of Lockport.
The telegraph and Lockport have a historic early connection. In 1845 the first commercial telegraph line in the entire United States was completed and put into operation between Lockport and Buffalo! We have further details in our Lockport Points Of Pride section.
At the telegraph display visitors could learn and experience the difference between the International Morse Code and the American or "Railroad" Morse Code. Morse Code was the first means of digitally encoding intelligence...almost 100 years before the first digital computer was built! We could call it, "The Victorian Internet!"
Today, Lockport still has rail service but no more railway telegraph. The rail service is year around freight but during the warm weather months some of the railway historic groups organize passenger rail day trips from Lockport east and, sometimes, west.
Please Don't Ask Us To Apologize
For Our Love Affair With Lockport!
The
Lockport Home Page: www.Lockport-NY.com
THE PICTURE OF LOCKPORT