We are thinking of making our annual summer steam sojourn this time to the Arcade and Attica Rail Road in Arcade, New York {Upstate kitty-corner and catty-wampus equidistant-ish to Buffalo and Rochester}
We were wondering if anyone has been there? What were your impressions? The good bad and the ugly?
I know they have worked diligently and very hard to have a steam locomotive as their attraction.
It can be a {long} day trip for us, but My Other Half also wants to see the Buffalo Botanical Conservatory, so we may make it an overnighter. ANy ideas where to stay near there?
Hello I have been to Arcade.But is was 15 years ago Its a nice small town. I have friends that live in Holland next town over even smaller town. I have never been to that museum I didn’t even know it was there so can’t help with that. As for a place to stay no big hotels just small no tell motell or you my find a B/B . The closer you get to Buffalo you will see hotels chains.
The countyside is beautiful take your camera hope this helps have fun Frank
No we did not make the trip there this year. The summer faded away quickly, In fact, our only train fix this year will be to go to Steamtown, in Scranton, PA {about 1.5 hours away} for the Labor Day Rail Fest 2012, and we are frequent visitors who get in free with my ALL PARKS pass{for seniors and those on Social Security disability}.
Next year we can plan better to include Arcade AND Essex, Connecticut steam train rides.
Despite you not being able to make it out this year I thought I would comment. DISCLAIMER: I am heavily involved with the railroad and am biased in my opinions! Not only have I been riding it since I was a child (25+ years) but I am a member of their volunteer organization, a stockholder, an avid fan, and a moderator for the A&A forum on another website (http://railroad.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=142)
That being said, I think there is a lot to like about the Railroad. Up until a few years ago we were the only railroad to have a steam locomotive running in New York State. We have another, #14 (our 4-6-0) that is currently OOS and probably will not be brought to operational condition for many years. Our working steamer is #18, a 2-8-0, which returned to service in 2008. Our equipment features old DL&W “Boonton” coaches with open vestibules and a covered gondola. Our run is about 90 minutes and is pulled engine first going north and pulled tender first going south. As such, you can ride the gondola on the return trip and be only inches from the front of the steam locomotive. Coal smoke and loud whistles on the house!
Our ride goes through rural New York farmlands and in the fall is beautiful. We used to run two trips a day, allowing for railfans to ride one and photograph the other, but this year we are running one trip a day. Our website (linked to above) has more information on that. Special trips may be run more frequently and may feature one our of GE 44 or 65 ton diesels. I love the diesels too and own four models of them in various scales. (http://www.railroad.net/articles/modelrailroading/ara44tonners/index.php)
If you want to see a real steam engine in NY, then this is a great attraction. It is NOT Strausburg, or Steamtown, but it is very quaint and inexpensive. We have theme trips for the kids, historical Civil War
Heavily involved or not, that was the type of info I was looking for.
We didn’t expecta Strasburg or Steamtown {who barely has only one steamer runnign on a tight schedule too}, but a Steamride it must be.
We hope to get there next year, but with only one trip a day running, and Diesels for fill ins, I do believe we will “call ahead” to be sure steam is running before making the trip.! It IS a shame we can;t watch one while riding the first! but oh, well, I wouldn’t be surprised if all steam runs stopped within my lifetime {except maybe the Steamtown National Historic Park service}. It does seem they are getting to be far and few between.
We live not far from there in East Aurora, NY. My train crazy son instists that we go once a summer. The steamer has been running for each of the last 3 years, but I would still call ahead.
Just to make a small correction, Arcade (where you board the train) is southeast of Buffalo and is considerably further from Rochester than Buffalo.
Another nice trip not far from Arcade is Letchworth State park with a very high trestle over the Genesee River (I’m not sure that NS is still using it though). It has an Inn (the Glenn Iris) than you could spend the night in. It’s then an hour to Buffalo and abouth the same to Rochester.
Alternately, you could come to East Aurora and spend a night in the Roycroft Inn. There is an old Depot that has been converted into a Bar/Restaurant.
I also think that the Attica-Arcade does runs throughout the fall, and that they have a Christmas train run. If your wife still wants to do the Botanical Gardens in Buffalo, it’s very nice there in the winter when the temperatures get colder - it’s very warm in there in the summer. They also set up a G-Scale layout in the Gardens at Christmas time.
If you do make it up to Buffalo, try to go to K-Val hobbies (I suppose Niagara Craft Mart as well) - it’s really a nice little shop.