Two Belt Line Bike Tours are being conducted during the month of June – one on the 10th, and one on the 24th. The tours are being led by preservationists and rail enthusiasts Chris Hawley and Derik Kane.
Buffalo’s Belt Line is essentially a series of rail tracks that encompass downtown, connecting key components that include Larkin District, Central Terminal, Fougeron Center, Northland/Chelsea, Highland Park, Great Arrow, Black Rock Yards, and the Niagara Industrial Corridor (see below).
Completed by the New York Central Railroad in 1883, the Belt Line is 15 miles long rail line that loops Buffalo’s downtown as well as the city’s prominent industrial loft clusters that it helped to create, including the It served passengers from 1883 until the end of World War I.
If the Belt Line was to be reused for commuter rail, this city’s long-stifled transportation efforts would be re-energized. The 15 mile stretch of track would help to link vital destinations of the city that are currently disconnected from one another. The Belt Line would drive new life into these re-emerging districts.
The bike tours are being hosted by Buffalo’s Young Preservationists
Visit this Facebook event page to learn more about the June 10 tour. 11am – 2pm
Visit this Facebook event page to learn more about the June 24 tour. 11am – 2pm
The tours will embark from 1680 Elmwood Avenue
Lead image: A belt line car: www.buffaloah.com and The History Museum
