Erie Canal Village
The Erie Canal Village is located in Rome, New York. The village owns many historic buildings and has created a complete functioning 19th century village. The village is located on an original section of the Erie canal and is actually the spot where ground was broken to dig the canal. The railroad had been using a C.P. Huntington park train, but recently restored an 0-4-0t and began operations with the locomotive in 2004. The locomotive was built by davenport and was originally used in a mine operation in Idaho.
I visited the Erie Canal Village in July 2004, not long after their steam locomotive made its debut. The trip is used to show the competition between the canal boats and the railroad. The canal boat trip is on a horse drawn barge, this was a very interesting trip. The boat turns around at the point where ground was originally broken for the Erie canal. The train trip is a single track mainline with a loop at each end. The trip starts at a historic train station and travels through the village just like railroads did in the 19th century. I was here during a bluegrass festival. I am a guitar player, and was interested in their playing, but I had that country pickin' and banjo playing stuck in my head for a week after and could NOT get it to stop!
Erie Canal Village official web site