Page 62 - Demo

60A Rochester Depots we entered Rochester, John said, %u201cI%u2019ve heard about a concrete water-tower base. It%u2019s supposed to be along one of the railroads, somewhere here in town.%u201dNot knowing which track, we started following the first set we came across. We passed landmarks we%u2019d photographed on previous excursions%u2014the old feed store, the closed-up creamery%u2014but saw no water-tower base. As we continued along the rails, I suddenly blurted, %u201cLook!%u201d Just up ahead was a depot we hadn%u2019t heard about. It was medium-sized, clapboard-covered, and constructed in the classic railroadstation style. It appeared abandoned. Remarkably, it%u2019s original doors and windows had not been boarded over. Across the street, sat the concrete water-tower base we%u2019d been searching for. Oddly, it was stranded in the backyard of a house%u2014impressively tall and massive, with an unusual diagonally planked entry door. We decided to check out the intriguing depot first.A Someone had installed a corrugated-metal roof and also given the outer walls a coat of pale-yellow and pearlgray paint. Otherwise, it appeared that nothing had been cleaned up, repaired, or altered in any way. A %u201cRochester%u201d sign still hung on one end of the building, and a rambling section for handling freight was attached to the other. An exuberance of weeds grew in the cracked pavement.Surprisingly, the entry door was ajar, so I pushed it open. Why hadn%u2019t this old building been secured? From among the uneven mass of discolored detritus and debris on the floor, a small piece of white paper caught my eye%u2014a blank Lackawanna Railroad Inspection Sheet from the early %u201870s. Was that when the station was last inspected? Or, when it was shut down?The wood-trimmed ticket counter was still there%u2014cluttered and badly deteriorated. A heavy, cast-iron heater was firmly planted in the lobby. As I stood, taking it all in, I could imagine early-morning passengers gratefully huddling around the radiator, in this cozy, public space.I proceeded gingerly through the rest rooms, a station manager%u2019s room and, in the rear, the freight-handling area. Back there, I spotted a weighty, mechanical contrivance in a half-opened, pine shipping crate. What was it? Why was it still here? Had the station closed before it could be shipped, or had it arrived and gone unclaimed? One thing was for certain%u2014this was a place of more questions than answers. Passenger/Freight Depot (Erie Railroad, 1892)%u2014Rochester, Fulton Co. (864.07)Water Tower Base (Erie Railroad)%u2014Rochester, Fulton Co. (864.10)