The Erie Canal is a canal in New York that is part of the east-west, cross-state route of the New York State Canal System (After a later conversion, became known as the New York State Barge Canal). Originally, it ran about 363 miles (584 km) from Albany, on the Hudson River, to Buffalo, at Lake Erie. It was built to create a navigable water route from New York City and the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. In a time when bulk goods were limited to pack animals (an eighth-ton [250 pounds (113 kg)] maximum), and there were no railways, water was the most cost-effective way to ship bulk goods.