Coal Train and Freighters on East Erie Bayfront

Unloading coal at Erie, PA. Photo by John E. Baker. Used with permission of the photographer.

Here's a shot from the bluff on Front Street in Erie, PA looking north toward the Perry Monument on Presque Isle State Park. John E. Baker captured this great shot showing boxcars full of coal and logs on the lower East Side. The buildings shown in this picture have since been demolished, and most of the railroad tracks are gone. There are still huge piles of sand and gravel at the site on the right. This shot was taken between German and Parade Streets.

The ship on the right appears to be the Sparrows Point, a 616' Great Lakes freighter owned by Bethlehem Steel. I can't see enough of the pilot house for the ship on the right, but, judging by the mark on the stack, it might be another Bethlehem freighter. They used to haul coal, iron ore, limestone and stone material between different ports on the Great Lakes. A number of these freighters were tied up each season for a winter lay-up in the bay. 

Here is a shot of the Grain Elevator, which was slightly west of the photo shown above: http://oldtimeerie.blogspot.com/2012/07/grain-elevator-erie-pa-bayfront-prr.html