The Lehigh Valley Railroad Shops in Cortland
By Richard Palmer
This 1896 birdseye view of Cortland shows railroad facilities originally established by the Utica, Ithaca & Elmira between Owego and South Main streets. E. C. & N. depot at far right.
The Utica, Ithaca & Elmira Railroad had scarcely opened between Ithaca and Cortland on Feb. 1, 1872 when the the decision was made to locate the company repair shops in Cortland. The U.I.& E. was commonly referred to as the “Shoo Fly’’ Railroad.
The Cortland Standard reported on Sept. 10, 1872:
“There is to be a repair shop built in this village for the Ithaca & Cortland division of the U.I.& E.R.R. Co. We trust it may grow into a car~building shop in time. There is no reason why cars cannot be manufactured here as cheaply as elsewhere. '’
In the beginning the railroad established servicing facilities near Cornell University in Ithaca that same year. An entry in the board of directors minute book for August, 1872 noted it had been “resolve to construct a machine shop, engine house and depot if the proper authority can be obtained from the authorities of the university.”
On Nov. 27, 1872 the Ithaca Leader noted that a turntable had just been completed just east of the station, on the Cornell University campus. “This advance will enable the locomotive to be run ahead both ways of the road, as there is a table at Cortland.’’ The New York & Oswego Midland established a turntable just west of Pendleton Street on June 2, 1872. The U.I.& E. built their own turntable near the depot on South Main Street.
The engine house at Ithaca was in service only a short time when it burned down on December 21, 1872. By the time the night watchman discovered the blaze, it was out of control. Fortunately, the new locomotive Cornell University was still steamed up and the watchman was able to move it out of harm’s way before it was damaged. The facility was located approximately at the site of the Campus Road traffic booth off Route 366.
After the U.I. & E. was completed through to Elmira in 1876 the spur to the Cornell campus was no longer needed. The depot and other facilities and tracks were removed. Ezra Cornell, the university's founder, had originally intended to have the line continue down the steep Cascadilla Gorge as a cog railway, but he died in 1874 before the project was completed.
The railroad company continued to operate its shop facilities in Cortland. The Cortland Standard of October 26, 1875 noted: ‘‘The repair shops (off South Main Street) of the U. I. & E. Railroad are adding to their facilities. A new forge was erected last week, and this will be only a temporary relief, for when the connection is completed through (to Elmira), the entire repairs are to be done in Cortland. The shops are in charge of Mr. Frank Adams, who is a first class mechanic. ’’ On February 8, 1876 the Cortland Standard reported “last week lumber was got out for an addition to their present shop, of 70 feet by 40. A short time since a large lathe was set up in the nail works repair shop; it has a 3 1/2 feet swing, and will take in any driving wheel.”
After operating here for a time it was decided to move to relocate the shops to Breesport, the home of Joseph Rodbourn, a director, major stockholder, vice president, later president, and superintendent. Particularly distressing was the fact the shops had recently been enlarged. Formal action to establish the shops in Breesport was made by the board of directors on June 27, 1876, as a “temporary measure.” Horace P. Goodrich of Cortland, a director, and superintendent of the Ithaca & Cortland division, objected to the move a petition was circulated in the community protesting the proposal. It was noted in the Cortland Standard that ‘‘every exertion will be made to prevent what would certainly prove to be a misfortune to the road as well as to Cortland.’’ During the summer of 1876, new facilities were being rapidly built at Breesport. The facility went into operation in October, employing about 30 mechanics. Several new homes were built there by Mr. Rodbourn to house railroad employees. Rodbourn also operated large lumber mills both there and in nearby Erin. The was also a hotel in Breesport called the Rodbourn House.
In a letter to the editor published in the Watkins Democrat on September 26, 1877, a visitor noted:
“Breesport seen by daylight is manifestly a bright and prosperous town. The whirr of her steam mills wakes you to life early in the morning, and gives an air of business to the street. You notice among many comfortable and neat buildings the pleasant residence of Joseph Rodbourn, a man of well known enterprise, to whom the railroad that has given the place new life, owes in a great degree its existence, and whose healthful financial condition is due much to his capable management.”
Early in 1883 rumors began to circulate that the railroad proposed to relocate the shops back to Cortland. They were running out of space in Breesport, and Cortland was more centrally located. The Cortland Standard of August 10, 1883 noted: “The shops were once located here and removed to Breesport to further the interests of an officer of the Road.” They were referring to Joseph Rodbourn Other communities vied for the shops including Canastota, Cazenovia, DeRuyter and Elmira.By now the U. I. & E. had absorbed the Cazenovia, Canastota and DeRuyter Railway. But Cortland was deemed the most practical.
As fate would have it, a fire of unknown own origin destroyed the Breesport shops on the night of October 9, 1883. The loss totaled $40,000 and three locomotives were heavily damaged. At the time 30 to 40 men worked there.
The buildings of the Cortland Horse Nail Company, which had gone out of business, were purchased and converted into railroad shops and by mid-December, 1883 the move was completed. New machinery was augmented by that which was not destroyed in the Breesport fire. The work was supervised by Master Mechanic C. J. Howell, and his assistant, Thomas R. Bower.
Early in 1884 James Dixon became master mechanic. The U. I. & E. was reorganized became the Elmira, Cortland & Northern on March 7, 1884 and new management took over. By July the shops employed 141 men and the monthly payroll totaled near $7,000. On May 17, 1885 fire destroyed the old engine house. A short time later a new eight-stall brick engine house was erected just west of Owego Street which still stands, although completely sheathed over.
After the Lehigh Valley took over the E. C. & N. in 1893 it was feared the shops would be closed. They were for a time, but on Saturday, May 2, 1896 the Syracuse Herald reported:
“Railroad Shops to Open - Good news comes to Cortland people, particularly former employees of the old Elmira, Cortland & Northern railroad, in the announcement that the Lehigh Valley Railroad company, commencing on Monday will again start up the repair shops here, full time, sixty hours a week. All employees’ families will be entitled to a special half a cent a mile transportation rate. Engineers, firemen and conductors will be given quarterly passes, and minor employees will be entitled to trip passes on application.”
The work at the shops was moved to Sayre, Pa. and the old shops along what was then called Railway Avenue were demolished to make way for a new station and freight house.. A new shop for repairing cars was built as an extension to the roundhouse on Owego Street. Tis was used primarily to service locomotives and cars used on the Elmira and Cortland branch. This continued to exist until the early 1930s when it along with four stalls of the engine house were demolished.
Although the line was dieselize in 1949 the railroad continued to use the roundhouse until the early 1960s when it was abandoned altogether as a servicing facility. It was sold and has since been used for a variety of uses. A large house adjacent to the engine e house was originally Walsh’s Hotel which primarily catered to Lehigh Valley men.
A publication called “Industrial Opportunities Along the Line of the Lehigh Valley Railroad” published in 1926 shows practically any sizable business in town shipped and received by rail, including Wickwire Brothers, Brewer-Titchener, several lumber and coal companies, Crescent and Newstyle Corset companies, Brockway Motor Truck Co., Cortland Fish Line Co., F. H. Cobb Co. wholesale groceries, several cement companies, Cooper Brothers Foundry, five petroleum companies, and Champion Sheet Metal Co., and two farm implement companies.
Over the next two decades business slowly eroded away. What businesses that didn’t shutter their doors were lured away from the railroad by trucks. “The shops were once located here and removed to Breesport to further the interests of an officer of the Road.”
The Lehigh Valley railroad station was constructed in 1910–1911, with a formal opening on April 4, 1911. The two-story brick building measures 155 by 50 feet. The space was sufficient to contain a waiting room, baggage room, a "women's retiring room," a smoking room, and a ticket office. The second floor served as company offices.
Traffic on the Elmira and Cortland Branch continued to decline in the 1940s and 1950s. The last scheduled passenger service ended on April 25, 1948. Limited service remained in the form of mixed trains. Even these ended south of Cortland on April 30, 1950, leaving a roundtrip between Cortland and Canastota. This was was withdrawn after 1954. The Lehigh Valley abandoned the branch north to Canastota in 1967. Most of the branch south of Cortland was out of service by the mid-1970s. Conrail, successor to the Lehigh Valley, abandoned all but three miles in the vicinity of Cortland. This line is now owned by the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway.
The NYS&W revived considerable rail service to Cortland with construction of a new internal facility on the former site of Wickwire Brothers off South Main Street the needs of off-line industries. It’s largest customer is Suit-Kote , a paving company which receives large amounts of tar almost daily for the production of asphalt. Other local customers are Bestway Lumber, Marietta, and Natrium Products. Local railroad offices are in the former Lackawanna station. The Lehigh Valley station is currently unused.
