Swimming Hole


 

Video of a bridge jump
https://youtu.be/yPNhUTMJH5M


The trestle. That’s what we called it. Built in 1883, this train bridge (trestle) connected the Southtowns to the city of Buffalo. 

By the time I started going to the trestle, it connected kids who liked to smoke weed and drink beer while swimming. 

There  was a rope tied just above the middle concrete pillar to pull yourself up. From there you had two options. Jump into the creek 15 feet below. Or climb the steel girders to a rope another 15 feet above that and jump into the creek. 

There was also fun to be had from the top of the trestle. One of my favorite things to do with friends when I was young, was to collect leftover items from a local flea market and throw it off the bridge. We would try to find the most unusual or unique junk, then we’d haul it up the train tracks to the bridge. It was a real life “Stand By Me” experience. You had to watch out for a crazy old hillbilly who used a hand pump near the tracks for water. He didn’t like kids fooling around up there. But we reminded him he didn’t own the tracks. And the fat town cops weren’t hiking up there to arrest us. Plus the bridge was unsafe. No railing, and the wooden beams weren’t spaced for foot traffic. You could slip between them if you weren’t careful. But that didn’t stop us from dragging pink toilets and steamer trunks up there to toss off. And YES! Eventually we realized that it wasn’t the best idea to pollute the creek, especially where you swim. 

In 2010 the trestle was purchased along with an 80 mile stretch of train tracks with the plan to rehab it into a bike and foot trail. Here’s an artist’s rendition of the trestle, that would be the centerpiece destination


 

Did you have a childhood swimming hole? Or a congregation spot for the youth? 

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