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Railroads of Allegany County, NY

 

 

ALLEGANY COUNTY - RAILROADS ca. 1887

From: "New Railroad, County and Township Map of New York State" published by
Rand-McNally, 1887


INDIVIDUAL RAILROAD SECTIONS

B.E.&C. RR (Bradford, Eldred & Cuba Railroad - "Wellsville's Narrow Gauge"):

TV&C RR (Tonawanda Valley & Cuba Railroad):

PS&NRR: (The Shawmut)

KLIPKNOCKIE RAILROAD

WAG RR:

The "PENNSY"

The ERIE RAILROAD (Including  Previous Names):

Loaned & Shared by Dick Palmer

ca.1910

 
 
  • Miscl. Railroad (click) (Or, New Material, Unsorted) If I don't know, or have time to figure out where to put it, I will throw it here!!!  Material related to Railroad, in or bordering  Allegany County...........Perhaps of interest to someone, myself if nobody else!  Smile, I don't have time to sort everything!!!  Ron
  •  

 

The Oil Echo,   Richburg, N.Y., Thurs., Jan. 20, 1883   

 

     The narrow gauge railroad has its abiding place in the oil regions. Here it thrives and lines the pockets of its stockholders. Its influence has always been a civilized one in the towns through which its passes, and its benefits are incalculable in the regions of rocky hills and forests. Clearing pathways up dizzy elevations and through dense woods, leaping across ravines and descending into valleys, it is an exemplification of man's ingenuity in overcoming the obstacles that nature has thrown in the way of commercial progression.

     Narrow gauge routes are a godsend in a country where the expense necessary to the construction of a standard gauge route would  be too great to warrant such an enterprise even being undertaken. The little roads have done wonders towards facilitating oil operations, and we look upon them always as the prime factor in building up the flourishing oil towns of Allegany county. They have proved to be safer than the broad gauge roads. Who has heard of a passenger losing his life by accident while traveling on a narrow gauge railway in the oil country - either in New York or Pennsylvania?

Researched and Submitted by Richard F. Palmer

 

 

 

MISCL. SUMMARY HISTORIES:

 Arcade & Attica Railroad:

Steam Lives Again!!

The Arcade & Attica Railroad's steam locomotive No. 18, a 2-8-0, has returned to service, much to the delight of railfans and excursionists. It is shown here at Curriers. It was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1918 and was purchased from the Boyne City Railroad in 1962 when the A&A went into the excursion business. The A&A hopes to restore its other steamer, #14, a 4-6-0, in the near future, it purchased from the Escanaba & Lake Superior in 1963. Photo by Richard Palmer.

 

  (This railroad, "just over the border" from Allegany County, is shown here due to it's relationship to the former Tonawanda Valley & Cuba Railroad.  NOTES:  (Information below is from official website of the A&A RR website)

"The Arcade & Attica Railroad is actually, at least, the third company to operate trains between the villages of Arcade & Attica. Previous to the A&A were the Tonawanda Valley & Cuba*, and the Buffalo, Attica, & Arcade railroads.....

(  *The TV&C was the name of the railroad formed by the consolidation of three other lines: the Tonawanda Valley Railroad, the Tonawanda Valley Extension Railroad, and the Tonawanda Valley & Cuba Railroad, which were consolidated in August of 1881.)"

  • Current corporation was chartered on May 23rd, 1917.
  • Formed to keep a railroad in place after bankruptcy of BA&A RR.
  • Still hauls freight 15 miles and runs a 7 1/2 mile excursion business, seasonally.
  • Since 1917 has scrapped 7 steam engines, purchased 3 diesels & 2 steam engines and assorted rolling stock.
Above photos are scanned from original slides taken by Richard Palmer on 8/16/1964 and are shared with us here.

 "The photo of the two locomotives is at the engine house. The other is crossing the bridge over the creek in Arcade. The line's engines, #18, at left, a 2-8-0, and #14, a 4-6-0, are no longer in service. No. 14, built in 1917, came from the Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad in 1963. No. 18, a 2-8-0 built in 1920, came from the Boyne City Railroad in 1962, the year the A&A became a tourist railroad. Trains are now pulled by the 44-ton General Electric diesel." rp.

More information is available on this railroad by going to the following website: http://wnyrails.org/railroads/aa/aa_home.htm

 


 

 References:           www.wnyrails.org

 (Erie Railroad Company, April 25, 1948. Western District Timetable 40. New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company. October 1884. Public timetable.)


Interesting Web Pages for Railroad Info:

BOOKS for Referencing History of Railroads of Allegany County, NY

  • Buffalo & Susquehanna Railway by Paul Pietrak (n.d. c. 1965)  146 pages
  • Stories of the Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern Railroad by Lee Cory (1993) 208 pages
  • Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern by Paul Pietrak (1969) 178 pages
  • Coudersport & Port Allegany-New York & Pennsylvania by Paul Pietrak (1972) 182 pages
  • Western New York & Pennsylvania Railway by Paul Pietrak, Joseph Streamer, and James Van Brocklin (2000) 271 pages
  • Men of Erie by Edward Hungerford (1936) 346 pages
  • Western New York & Pennsylvania Traction by Benson W. Rohrbeck (1991) 96 pages
  • The Story of Erie by Edward H. Mott, 1899, 1901, and 1907, New York, 524 pages
  • Erie Lackawanna: Death of an American Railroad 1938-1992, 1994, Stanford CA, 284 pages

     

Persons interested in the principal railroads of Allegany County should consider membership in:

  • Erie Lackawanna Historical Society
  • Pennsylvania Railroad Historical & Technical Association
  • Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern Railroad Historical Society

    Mailing addresses, etc. are on the web via Google

     

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