I drove to Waterford, north of Albany, to see the Erie Canal. There was also a good exhibit about it at the New York State Museum. In the early 1800s the Erie Canal was a technological challenge, a financial gamble, and a subject of heated political debate. When it was completed, it opened the west to expanded settlement, funneled trade to New York City and made it the predominant commercial center of the country, and gave rise to a thriving belt of technologically innovative cities across upstate New York.
However, after a few years of dominating freight and passenger traffic, the canal was succeeded by the railroads as the dominant means of transportation, although it continued to operate. The scale of operations eventually attained by the railroads is illustrated by several buildings in Albany, the former Union Station, which once served 100 trains per day, and the huge former headquarters of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad, a Gothic style building which now houses another massive organization, the State University of New York System.
The Lake Shore Limited to Chicago parallels the Mohawk River and the Erie Canal after leaving Albany. It also parallels I-90, so several different eras of transportation can be seen next to each other.
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| The Erie Canal at Waterford |
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| Early railroad which competed with the Erie Canal (exhibit at New York State Museum) |
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| Former Union Station, Albany |
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| Former headquarters of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad, Albany |
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