History of the Rochester Branch, Pennsylvania Railroad
Rochester station, West Main Street, demolished 1968. This was originally a private residence.
By Richard F. Palmer
This line was opened as the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad in 1882 from Rochester to Hinsdale, near Olean, where it connected to the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railway. Much of the right of way was on the old Genesee Valley Canal, abandoned in 1878. The canal right of way from Hinsdale to Olean was not used as it closely paralleled the BNY&P. The Genesee Valley Canal Railroad was immediately leased to the BNY&P.
Also, the old 12-mile branch of the canal from Mt. Morris to Dansville was not used by the railroad, as these places were already served by the Erie and Genesee Valley Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.
Previously, the Rochester, Nunda and Pennsylvania Railroad had built a line roughly parallel to the canal between Mount Morris and Nunda, turning southeast to Swain's. In 1881 the part north of Nunda was abandoned, and on July 11 of that year, the company was consolidated into the Rochester, New York and Pennsylvania Railroad.
That company opened a new line in 1882 from Nunda northeast to the new Genesee Valley Canal Railroad at Nunda Junction, and the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railway leased it that year.
At the north end, the Genesee Valley Terminal Railroad was incorporated August 14, 1882, and in 1883 opened a branch from the Genesee Valley Railroad southwest of Rochester north to a junction with the New York Central Railroad main line at Lincoln Park, near
the city limits.
On September 1887 the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway acquired the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railroad and with it the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad. In 1900 the Pennsylvania Railroad leased the WNY&P. A short branch from Scottsville west to Garbutt on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Rochester and State Line Railroad opened on September 16, 1907.
On November 15, 1912 the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad and Genesee Valley Terminal Railroad merged to form the Pennsylvania and Rochester Railroad. That company was absorbed on February 28, 1916 into the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway, still leased by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Passenger service between Rochester and Olean was discontinued in 1941. The line between Wadsworth Junction, south of Rochester, to Hinsdale, a distance of 84 miles; and between Nunda and Nunda Junction, was abandoned in 1963, but it was some years before the rails were all removed. An earlier portion of the line which had been three-foot narrow gauge was abandoned between Nunda and Swains, a distance of 11 miles, in 1910. A three-mile branch from Scottsville to Garbut was abandoned in 1944.
Other abandonments on the connecting Allegany branch:
Olean-Allegany, 3 miles, 1972
Allegany - West Salamanca, 20 miles, 1975
West Salamanca - Struthers, Pa., 37 miles, 1962
Cuylerville
Mount Morris
Livingston County Historian
Depot at Nunda - "Where the trains backed into town."
Portageville
Further Notes
Cuba Patriot, Friday, June 11, 1882
Genesee Valley Canal Railroad
From the Rochester Express we clip the following: "A construction train is now running on the Genesee Valley Canal. from this city to Fowlerville, or Spencer's Basin. within 10 miles of Mt. Morris. Between Mt. Morris and Fowlerville the grading is completed for the distance of six miles, and the iron will be laid as fast as possible.
" The remaining four miles is very heavy work, and will require a few weeks to grade. The ballasting is nearly finished between here and Fowlerville. The bridge at Ross crossing over the Erie road will be completed within about 10 days. Another postponement is necessary relative to running of trains to Swains and Mt. Morris, owing to some delay on the Allegany Central. There are now six construction trains on the line of the G.V.C. R.R., and eight new locomotives have been ordered by the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia road, which is to operate the line."
Cuba Evening Review, June 24, 1882
The people of Belfast were quite excited when the smoking engine on the Genesee Valley railroad arrived in their town for the first time. The Press says: "There was no little anxiety among our people as the tracklaying approached the Hughes street crossing followed closely by the engine.
"The weather was not favorable but the work went on . Norm. Holden took couple of kegs of lager to the track layers in order to counteract the moisture outside with internal moisture. People watched and counted the rails, and when the work was finally done, the men marched into Main street, where powder was burned, and three hearty cheers were given.
"The ladies had prepared a bountiful supper to be served in the park, but the rain prevented; and it was served in the large room of the Renwick store. It was well served and well relished by the goodly number who partook of it. Mr. Daily of the Exchange, also gave a dinner to a number of railroad friends and invited guests, which passed off pleasantly."
Cuba Evening Review, Tues., Oct. 31, 1882
Rochester Division, B., N.Y. & P.
According to announcement the Rochester Division of the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia road, heretofore known as the Genesee Valley Canal railroad, was opened yesterday. The time-table gives the schedule time for two trains, of the second class, which run northward Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and southward Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The trains are local freight and passenger.
The time of the northward train at the most important stations is as follows: Cuba 7:25 a.m.; Black Creek 8:01; Belfast 9:00; Fillmore 10:18; Nunda 12:40 p.m.; Mt. Morris 2:38; Rochester 7:05 p.m.
The southward trains are as follows: Rochester 6:15 a.m.; Mt. Morris 11:05; Nunda 12:40 p.m.; Fillmore 2:55; Belfast 4:20; Black Creek 5:21; Cuba 6:00 p.m.
The time is necessarily slow at first, especially with local traffic. Fast trains will undoubtedly be put on soon. The telegraph line along the route is fast nearing completion.
Cuba Patriot, Feb.. 9, 1883
Along the Line.
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The Livingston Republican of last week contained an interesting article on the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad, by a writer who signs himself "Robert Morris," of Mt. Morris, in which various towns along the route taken by the recent press excursion are taken note of. A few of the historical points of some of the towns named are copied, as follows:
Caneadea. - This town, in Allegany county, is famous as the spot where the Seneca Indians had their council house, now removed to Glen Iris. Here Mary Jemison settled after a journey of 600 miles on foot with her papoose on her way from Fort Duquesne, now Pittsburgh, to Little Beardstown.
This place, history says, was the spot where Captain Horatio Jones was taken prisoner by the Indians, and successfully ran the gauntlet. The town was first settled in 1803 by parties from Pennsylvania. Widow Brady kept the first inn in 1810. James Hoyt built the first saw mill in 1816.
Angelica. - This old township is widely known as the home of the Church family, so intimately connected with the early settlement of Allegany county. The ancestral residence of this family is about two miles from town.
The first settlement was made here in 1802 by Philip Church. He erected the first saw and grist mill in 1803. Joseph Taylor kept the pioneer inn in 1804. Angelica took its name from the wife of John B. Church and daughter of General Philip Schuyler.
Angelica was formed from the town of Leicester, then in Genesee county, in 1805. Before 1805 the residents of that town had to travel to old Leicester to attend town meeting, and at that early period Angelica had her mail from Bath, forty miles distant, and only once a month. At that time Angelica paid $2.50 bounty for every wolf caught in the town. This place has an ancient court house built in 1818.
Belfast - This town was formed in 1824, but there were early settlements on the river in 1803, by three brothers, Chamberlain, from Pennsylvania. Joseph and Raymond opened the first hotel, David Sanford the first saw and gristmill in 1809. The first religious meeting was held at the residence of N. Reynolds.
Friendship. - This is a flourishing lumber town. Its early settlers came in 1806 and 1807. The first child born in the town was Sherman Haskins, in a sugar camp; S. Gates had the first inn; James Sanford and Sally Harrison, the pioneer married couple, in 1809; Pelatiah Morgan, the pioneer schoolmaster, in 1810.
Cuba. - The Indian oil creek reservation is in this town. The Oil Creek Reservoir, built by the State for the Genesee Valley Canal, costing about $150,000 and covering 1,500 acres, is also in this town. Th first settlers in Cuba came i n 1817 from Connecticut, viz: Abbott, Hall, Frier, Bennett, Cole, Hawley. S. Cole was the pioneer inn keeper in 1814. David Row taught the early school in 1822.
Olean. - Around the town are about 200 oil tanks, and also some manufacturing interests, and has a population of about 6,000. The first settlers of this town came about 1804. The road to this place from Angelica was surveyed by Major Moses VanCampen, of Revolutionary War memory. The first lumber rafted down the Allegany river was by Dr. Bradley, Follett and Jedediah Strong in 1807. Sylvanus Russell kept the first tavern in 1808, Levi Gregory the pioneer store in 1814.
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Rossburg
 |
Pennsylvania RR depot, Houghton |
Caneadea Station
Allegany County Historical Society
Oramel Station
Allegany County Historical Society
Joe Murphy, Center; George Williams, right.
Cuba
Allegany County Historical Society
Hinsdale
Douglas Brown collection
Olean
Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
Friday, May 13, 1927
Recalls Busy Days on Railroads Near Here
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To the Editor:
Sir: The article in Thursday’s issue of the Democrat and Chronicle in regard to the first train out of Rochester on the West Shore railroad over the tracks of the B., N.Y. & P. Railroad (now the Pennsylvania Railroad) brings back names of many of the men in charge of trains on the B., N.Y. & P. out of Rochester.
The West Shore Railroad Company under a trackage agreement ran a stub train to connect with all east and westbound passenger trains at Genesee Junction out of Rochester and in those days in 1882 and ’83 there were many passenger trains operated over the West Shore Railroad.
James O. Spellman, now the Internal Revenue Collector in the Government building, was a a conductor and Frank Mosser was the engineer of this train, and in those days stretch of track between Rochester and Genesee Junction of the B., N.Y. & P. Railroad was said to be the busiest place of railroad track in the United States, over one hundred trains being operated daily between these two points in connection with the B., ,N.Y. & P. trains.
The conductors on the B., N.Y.& P were as follows: William Ayers Vansickel, the late Peter Keefe and William Godfrey who ran the Nunda passenger train. A special D.L. & W.coach was operated between Elmira and Rochester, and a Pullman sleeper between New York City and Rochester, via. the D., L. & .W. Railroad at Mount Morris.
The freight conductors on th line were the late Frank Carl, Daniel Wing, father of engineer William Wing, now of the B., R.& P. Railway; James Kelly, now conductor of Lehigh Valley passenger train 7 and 8 between Buffalo and Easton, Pa., known as the Philadelphian; Dennis Mahoney and the late Frank Bump and Conductor DeWitt on the “Globe Line,” fast freight line.
The engineers were George Taylorson, John A. Hamilton, William Clark, Engineer Sykes, now on the New York Central; Henry Tuller, A. J. Lattimore, Al Gould and others whim the writer has forgotten.
The first superintendent was R. M. Patterson, he being succeeded by Superintendent J. W. Watson; chief train dispatcher, Frank J. Martin, and the dispatchers were George R. Ireland and F. B. Lincoln. The chief engineer of the road was Edwin A. Fisher, afterward chief engineer for the city of Rochester. The master mechanic was ex-Mayor of Olean Charles E. Turner, who was once upon a time a Lake Shore engineer, and afterwards superintendent of motive power of the B., R. & P. railroad. The supervisor of tracks was Patrick Bracken of Cuba, N.Y.,
The fast freight train known as the Globe Line used to leave Olean early in the evening and also in the morning, running the tracks of the B., N.Y. & P. railroad to Belfast Junction, thence over the tracks of the Lackawanna and Pittsburgh railroad, now known as the Pittsburgh, Shawmut & Northern railroad to Angelica; thence to Nunda Junction, early in the morning and in the afternoon where a West Shore crew would be waiting to take the train east to Weehawken or west to Buffalo.
Conductor DeWitt of this train was killed a few years ago while working in the yards in this city, near the Erie roundhouse on Exchange street after years of service as a railroad man.
Conductor Frank Bump and William Doyle also worked for years on the Erie out of Rochester. Very few of these men are living today, except one that I know of, Mr. F. A. Fisher of this city and Engineer Lattimore, and their places have been taken by younger and later generations of railroad men once held by them.
JUST ONE OF THOSE OLD TIMERS OF ’84 AND ’85
Rochester, May 5, 1927
Belfast Blaze, May 22, 1952
If You Look Younger With Your Hat On, You May Remember Some of These Old-Timers
1882-1890
By J. L. Murphy
The Rochester Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad (old Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia Railroad) was built on the towpath of the Genesee Valley Canal wherever possible. Much of the ballast taken from the gravel pit on the old Doherty farm at the west end of the Erie Railroad's bridge north of Belfast and stone for culverts and bridges was obtained from the old canal locks; the canal was abandoned in 1878.
Main track was built through Belfast in the summer of 1882. First locomotive to reach Belfast was on the construction train No. 46, with diamond smokestack, red stripes on the drivers and shiny brass bands around the boiler - she sure was a beauty. Engineer had a large St. Bernard dog that used to carry a big dinner pail to and from the job, for his master, passed where I lived, and the dog rode in the engine cab most of the time.
The steam shovel in the Doherty gravel pit was operated by John Fitzgibbons. his regular job was freight conductor on the River Division, Olean to Oil City.
Division offices were at Olean and the following are the names
of some of the old-timers -pioneers on the Rochester Branch:
J.W. Watson, Division Superintendent.
Frank J. Martin, chief dispatcher and trainmaster
A.D. Peck, chief dispatcher and trainmaster
M.A. Miller, dispatcher
George P. Jackson, dispatcher
J.F. Grant, dispatcher
W. A. Gessee, extra dispatcher
E. A. Fisher, division engineer, Rochester
Charles Ellis, master carpenter, Rochester
Robert Wright, yardmaster, Rochester
Bill Passmore, lineman, Olean
Matt Hart, yardmaster, Olean
Cooney Derx, fence gang foreman, Olean
Jim Lang, mason foreman, Belfast
Rob Lang, mason foreman, Belfast
Pat Bracker, division superintendent, Cuba
Passenger conductors - William Byers, - VanSickle, Pete Keefe,
William Godfrey.
Passenger engineers - John Hamilton, Ed Clark, Al Goold.
Freight conductors - Dan Shafer, Pat Savage, Pat Devitt, Tom Devitt,
Mike McGannon, Bill Troan, *Frank Ingram, Pete Hotchkiss, Jack
Kingman, Charle Coilegrove, L.M. "Lett" Forrest, Big Joh Andrews,
and"Moxie" Mauch.
Firemen- Archie Battles, Gus Marth*, Bill Collopy.
Sectionforemen - John McGraw, Cuba; Tom McCarthy, Black Creek; Jack
Williams, Belfast; Martin McMahon, Belfast; Bill Sherman, Caneadea;
John Burgie, Fillmore; Tom McNulty, floating gang; John O'Leary, Mt.
Morris.
Freight engineers - *Jim Warner, *W.D. Penny, Ed Simmons,
JohnStimlinger, Fred Battles, Billy Breckle, *Johnnie Stout, Pat
O'Brien, Charlie Anderson, Charlie Miller, Charlie Quinlan, *Lee
Ingram, Frank "Pie" Steels, Gus Frey, Billy Gannon, Bill Jacquett.
*Mr. Fisher was made division superintendent at Oil City in
1892, and about two years later returned to Rochester and was city
engineer there until he died a few years ago at the age of 100 years.
Passenger brakemen- Bernie May, Fred Dempsey
Freight brakemen - Ed Lapp, Billy Weldy, bob Milliken, Tom Milliken
Jr., *John Murphy, *Pete Murphy, John Loftus, Clarence Gilman and
Frank Burleson.
Station Agents
W. A. Rapp, Olean
W.G. Conschafter, Hinsdale
P.N. Mallison, Cuba
W.A. Gere, Black Creek
C.M. Stedwell, Belfast
T. F. "Tom" Downs, Belfast
Mort Brooks, Oramel,
Mont Bartlett, Caneadea
Flatch Thompson, Houghton
Jim Waldorf, Fillmore
Charley Keenan, Portageville
L.P. Higgins, West Nunda
W. A. Gessee, Scottsville
W. B. Tracey, Genesee Junction
Telegraph Operators
*R,E. Wright, Olean
Shorty Prior, Olean
Pete Small, Olean
Billy Bowen, Hinsdale
John M. Lynch, Hinsdale
Mike Conners, Cuba
"Kern" Conners, L&P Jct.
Tom O'Neil, L&P Jct.
"Yank" Stewart, L&PJct.
'Sandy" Bremer, Belfast
Wesley Hauenstein, Balfast
Will Murphy, Belfast
Dell Dye, Belfast
Martin Dwyer, Belfast
Jim Lane, Belfast
Pat O'Gorman, Genesee Jct.
Bill Metcalf, Terminal
Jay Eastland, Rochester freighthouse
*Charles N. Poulson, Rossburg
Notes
*Charles "Pickey" Poulson became nationally known as a cornet player
and in the early 1900s he played both the 65th and 74th Regiment
bands in Buffalo at their summer concerts as soloist.
*Operator R. E. Enright became police commissioner in New York City.
*Brakeman John Murphy was killed in a wreck at Scottsville in 1887,
and his brother Pete was killed in Belfast, switching cars on the local freight in 1894. William, who worked as operator at Belfast for a short time, was killed in 18th Street yard in Pittsburgh in February, 1889 while dropping cars.
*L & P Junction was located one mile south of Belfast; rails taken up for scrap about 1891.
*Engineer Jim Warner often gave me a lecture about the use of tobacco and its evil effects, one of which was:
"Tobacco is a filthy weed,
And from the devil it doth proceed.
It lightens your pocketbook,
burdens your clothes,
And makes a chimney
out of your nose."
However I failed to heed his good advice, for I still smoke and
fear I will - hereafter.
*Hogeye W. D. Penney (on local freight) southbound, chased a
bunch of Jim Fox's horses up the track from Oramel one day, trying to get by them, but he caught them all at the bottleneck on the town line crossing killing four of the five.
Penney layed off about 60 days - afraid to go through Oramel.
Fox was looking for him with a gun.
*Johnnie Stout and Fireman Gun Marth were killed in a
derailment at Tuscarora.
* Conductor Frank Ingram, a brother Engineer Lee Ingram, was killed in a rear-end collision here, just about in front of the present steel mill office.
The first section of No. 288 had stopped to take water at the tank across the canal from the Chet Greene bungalow. The flagman failed in his duty and Engineer Pat O'Brien of the second section said he "saw him jump off, wade the canal, and take to the tall timbers just before he hit the rear end." He never was heard from since. Probably he joined up with the BR&P under another name.
The Castilian, Castile, N.Y.,
Thursday, July 8, 1937
Pennsylvania Passenger Trains Discontinued
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The two remaining passenger trains on the Rochester and Olean branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad made their last runs on Sunday.
Following a recent investigation into the service by the Public Service Commission permission was granted the railroad company to discontinue the two trains. The discontinuance of these two trains leave the operation of two mixed trains over the 122-mile route.
The expenses for engineer, conductor and baggageman on the discontinued trains has averaged $116.64 a day or $42,573.60 a year.
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Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
History of the Swains Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad
[Note: This story appeared in a series of articles in the Nunda News between November 18, 1992 and February 17, 1993]
By Howard W. Appell
Between the years 1874 and 1906 Nunda had a railroad line which ran right through the heart of the village. Many residents will recall the abbreviated remanent of this railroad, a dead-end freight spur which connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad, over which Nunda Lumber, GLF and the tubing company received shipments until 1963, when both the Pennsylvania and freight spur were abandoned and torn up.
At one time the track continued southward, beyond the coal trestle and unloading points in the Nunda Lumber yard and over Keshequa Creek, winding its way through the hills and down into the Canaseraga Creek valley, terminating at a connection with the Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern Railroad at Swains.
I became interested in the “Swains Branch” about ten years ago and did some extensive historic research into this little railroad. I was fortunate to find two people with a living memory of the time when the trains ran all the way to Swains, both of whom are now deceased.
Former Nunda area resident Col. Clarence Koppe was 98 years old and living in California when we corresponded with one another in 1983. He was able to describe his vivid boyhood memories of the railroading activities at Swains, where the 'Central New York & Western’ (a predecessor of the Shawmut) crossed over the Erie main line on a large horseshoe-shaped trestle and when the arrival and departure of the Swains Branch train was a daily occurrence.
Wiscoy resident and former Pennsylvania Railroad employee Bert Smith was 104 years old of age when I had the opportunity of taping several conservations with him. He had actually ridden the line in a caboose, serving as a sort of mobile telegrapher in the early 1900's, when the Pennsylvania scheduled a freight train by way the Swains Branch and Shawmut between Mt. Morris and Wayland. Mr. Smith recalled stopping at a little telegraph shanty in Swains, where he would plug in his portable gear and receive orders for the train to wait or proceed.
Although Nunda's little railroad hardly amounted much more than a rickety country short line, it was originally incorporated with grand visions as the Rochester, Nunda & Pennsylvania Railroad in 1872.
In the post Civil War era, the railroad was seen as the basis of America's industrial might. A community without a railroad had virtually no future. Nunda had a railroad of sorts. The Buffalo line of the Erie Railroad, completed in 1852, passed a point about two miles south of the village, known, appropriately, as 'Nunda Station', a satellite community which would seen exert its independence by renaming itself 'Dalton.'
But Nunda wanted and needed a genuine railroad of its one, one which ran right through the heart of the village from which goods could be sent and received and passengers could arrive and depart.
No small wonder, then, that when a new railroad line was proposed which would provide an avenue for transporting the rich lumber and coal resources of western Pennsylvania to the city of Rochester via a route through the village of Nunda. Nunda businessmen and politicians offered full support. In fact, so much support was promised from Nunda that the village’s name was incorporated into the railroad company’s.
The Rochester, Nunda & Pennsylvania was chartered in 1870 with Reuben P. Wisner of Mt. Morris as president. Initially, the line was proposed to run between Mt. Morris and Belvidere; a point in Allegany County on the Hornell-Salamanca section of the Erie Railroad main line. Over the course of the next two years, extensions were incorporated which projected the railroad to the destinations in its title, northward to Rochester and southward into Pennsylvania. A number of municipalities along the proposed route bonded themselves to invest in the project: Mt. Morris for $75,000; Leicester for $40,000; Nunda for $50,000, and the City of Rochester for $50,000. Another $25,000 was forthcoming from a neighboring railroad company, the Avon, Geneseo & Mt. Morris Railroad, a shortline which connected its namesake villages with re the Erie Railroad at Avon.
In 1872, when Benjamin Dow of Fowlerville succeeded the deceased Reuben Wisner to the R.N. & P. presidency, prospects were looking bright. The Erie had built a switch at Rosses, a point about halfway between Dalton and Swains on the projected right-of-way of the R.N.&P., for the delivery of rails and other equipment. Grading was being done by Irish work crews along the length of the route from
Belvidere to Mt. Morris. Foreign speculators in London were seriously considering a $2,700,000 investment in the R.N.&P. and the City of Rochester appeared to be good for another $400,000. With the promise of the sizeable British investment, the company too an option to purchase some extensive coal lands in Pennsylvania.
By early 1873. ten miles of rail had been laid from Rosses through Nunda to the Mt. Morris town line, thirteen more miles of right-of-way had been graded in the towns of York and Chili and nearly all the grading and bridge construction had been completed from Rosses southward to Belvidere.
Then the unthinkable happened.
The New York City banking firm of J. Cook and Company failed on September 18th, 1873, initiating a nation wide recession which would become known as the ‘Railroad Bond’’ panic. Sources of investment dried up. The contractor for the R.N.& P. construction, A.L. Dolby & Co. of Syracuse, went unpaid for a large portion of work and found himself bankrupt.
Largely through the efforts of Dolby agent James Hill, who had a large stake in the construction already accomplished, additional rail was acquired, enough to build the line an additional five miles northward to Sonyea. At Sonyea a connection was made with another new railroad line, the Erie & Genesee Valley Railroad, which was an extension of the Avon, Geneseo & Mt. Morris from Mt. Morris to Dansville. The R.N.&.P. now had 17 miles of line complete, from Rosses through Nunda and Tuscarora to Sonyea.
On September 1st, 1874 a brand new locomotive from the Brooks Works in Dunkirk was delivered by the Erie to the R.N.& P. connection at Rosses. The locomotive was named F. D. Lake after a prominent Nunda hardware merchant and member of the R.N.& P. Board of Directors. Six flat cars accompanied the delivery. On September 26th a grand opening excursion took place, with the excursionists competing for space with piles of fill dirt on the flat cars.
During the course of the winter, some freight shipments were made over the R.N.& P. but without additional investment, the line was doomed to failure: On May 17th, 1875 the locomotive F. D. Lake was shipped back to Dunkirk, having been repossessed: when the R. N. & P. was unable to make payments.
Some hope: appeared when the Erie's famous wooden viaduct at Portage, the highest bridge in the world, was totally destroyed by a fire on May 6th, 1874. A possibility existed that the Erie might utilize the R. N. & P. as part of a detour route. But this never occurred and in fact the Erie completed a new steel viaduct in a record 47 days time.
Now locomotive-less, the R. N. & P. has fallen on very hard times. For the next five years the track would remain rusty and unused. farmer, D. D. Woodman, even pulled up the rails crossing his property and sold them to the Silver Lake Railroad. During the five years from 1875 to 1880, while the rail of the Rochester, Nunda & Pennsylvania lay rusty and idle, the State of New York closed and abandoned the Genesee Valley Canal. The state announced that it would be willing to sell the towpath right-of-way at a reasonable cost to some company willing to construct a railroad along the route, thereby compensating the canal communities for the loss of commerce suffered when the canal was abandoned.
In 1880 the canal right-of-way was purchased by a syndicate of New York and Philadelphia bankers, prominent among whom were Henry A.V. Post and Archer N. Martin. This syndicate made a large investment in existing and potenial rail routes in western Pennsylvania and New York during the early 1880’s, all under the auspice of the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia Railroad. Included in the syndicate’s projects was the 100 mile long Genesee Valley Canal Railroad built along the towpath of the abandoned canal.
The construction of the Canal Railroad caused much consternation in the Village of Nunda when it was learned that the route of the railroad would have to be engineered so as to avoid the steep gradient of the canal right-of-way west of the village. Thus the Canal Railroad would not be able to follow the exact route of the canal through the Village. Instead, the railroad skirted the area northwest of the village, where a station with the name ‘‘West Nunda”’ was established at Picket Line Road. Once again, as had happened with the Erie in 1852, a railroad avoided the village.
The newspaper editor and local officials complained to Albany, to little avail, but their tempers cooled when it was announced, very soon after the canal acquisition, that the same syndicate had also purchased the old Rochester, Nunda & Pennsylvania property between Sonyea and Belvidere. Under the new ownership, the railroad was renamed the Rochester, New York & Pennsylvania and given a new lease on life.
Under the syndicate, the old R.N. & P. was utilized in three separate railroad construction projects. The section between Sonyea and “Nunda Junction,” where rail and bridges were already intact, was used as the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad route, instead of the generally parallel towpath itself. (This legacy of the R.N.&P. remains today in the proposed route of the Genesee Valley Greenway, which
would follow the old railroad grade, close to but not on the canal towpath between Sonyea and Nunda Junction.)
The middle section of the R. N. & P. from Nunda Junction through Nunda to Swains was restored and track laying was completed between Rosses and Swains.
Both the Rochester, New York & Pennsylvania Railroad and Genesee Valley Canal Railroad were leased to the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia Railroad. In September of 1882 freight and passenger trains began utilizing these routes in schedules between Angelica also found a useful purpose. Grading and bridges had been constructed along this route, but rail had never been laid. In the spring of 1881 oil was struck in the southwestern part of Allegany County. During the next few months a network of railroads was built to serve the boom towns which sprung up in the wake of oil fields activity. These railroads were all built “narrow gauge” meaning the tracks were set only three feet apart, as opposed to the standard spacing of four feet, eight and a half inches.
The Post-Martin syndicate had an interest in one of these narrow gauge companies, the Allegany Central. During the latter part of 1881 and early 1882 the Allegany Central was extended northward from Friendship, linking up with the former R.N.& P. grade at Belvidere and continuing right into to Swains.
Thus in the summer of 1882 Swains had become a bustling little railroad center, where connections could be made via the Erie to Buffalo or Hornell, via the Allegany Central to the oil fields and via the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia to Rochester.
And Nunda residents were pleased with the frequent service and new equipment of the B.N.Y.&P. which was scheduling three passenger trains each direction daily right through the village, plus a “commuter’’ train which originated at Nunda in the morning, running to Rochester and returning in the evening.
The Allegany Central narrow gauge railroad was a prospering enterprise in 1882, with 59 miles of trackage from Olean to Swains by Way of Bolivar, Friendship, Angelica and Birdsall. But the company had grander visions similar to those of its predecessor, the Rochester, Nunda and Pennsylvania Railroad, whose route and right-of-way the Allegany Central utilized between Belvedere and Swains.
In June of 1883, the Allegany Central was renamed the Lackawanna and Pittsburgh and commenced several major expansion projects. Then narrow gauge track from Angelica got Swains was relaid with heavier rail and widened to standard gauge, with bridges and trestles being strengthened to accommodate larger standard gauge engines and cars. At Swains a large horseshoe shaped trestle was constructed which extended the line towards Canaseraga and onward to Wayland, with the ultimate goal of Geneva. A five mile connection was built from Angelica to a point south of Belfast on the Genesee Valley Canal/B.N.Y. & P. railroads. Then, in August of 1883 the Lackawanna and Pittsburgh leased the Swains branch from the Rochester, New York and Pennsylvania / B.N.Y. & P. railroads.
In April of 1883 the B.N.Y. & P. had removed from its schedules one of the three daily trains through Nunda, but service remained at a respectable level with two through trains plus the Nunda-Rochester commuter run. As leasee, the Lackawanna and Pittsburgh operated the two through trains which provided connections between Swains (and later Angelica when, in November of 1883, the standard gauging project was completed) and Rochester-Olean B.N.Y. & P. trains at Nunda Junction. The commuter run continued to be operated by the B.N.Y. & P.
In June of 1884, the L&P further expanded its operations by acquiring trackage-use rights over the B.N.Y. & P. and other lines between its Belfast connection and Newcastle, Pennsylvania, and between Nunda Junction and Genesee Junction (the point where the Genesee Valley Canal and New York, West Shore and Buffalo railroads connected just south of Rochester). Agreements between the Lackawanna and Pittsburgh and B.N.Y. & P. were easily arranged, since several B.N.Y. & P. directors also held positions as L. & P. directors.
At this time the Lackawanna and Pittsburgh began operating the trains of the “Globe Fast Freight Line” over a nearly 300 mile route between Newcastle and Genesee Junction, which included the Swains Branch. For five exciting months, from June to November of 1884, the long freight trains of the Globe Line sped through Nunda Village on fast, tight schedules.
But the volume of freight anticipated by the L. & P. failed to materialize and rate wars initiated by major trunk line companies forced revenues down to absurdly low levels. In December of 1884 the L. & P. was bankrupt and placed in receivership.
First the freight trains had disappeared in November. Then in March the L. & P. eliminated its passenger express train from the Swains branch, followed by the local accommodation train in September. During the winter of 1885-86 there was no service between Swains and Nunda, although Nunda depot still hosted the B.N.Y. & P. Rochester commuter train. Once again Nunda’s little railroad had failed. Boom then bust, and it would not be the last time.
During the spring of 1886 the faltering Lackawanna & Pittsburgh Railroad made a sincere effort to pull itself up by its bootstraps. Contracts were negotiated with United States Express Company and the Pullman Company resulting in the introduction of the “Cannonball” between Wayland and Olean, hauling passengers, mail, express parcels and sleeping cars. New equipment was obtained to replace the old locomotives and cars, most of which had been repossessed by creditors.
This activity on the L. & P. mainline had ramifications on the leased Swains Branch, where a local freight and passenger accommodation train was reintroduced in April of 1886, between Nunda Junction and Swains, briefly supplemented by an express train, introduced in September but taken off again in January.
Then in May of 1887, the Buffalo, New York & Philadelphia Railroad instituted a schedule change which definitely made Nunda Village residents unhappy. It was necessary for the locomotive for the daily commuter train between Nunda and Rochester to have its direction reversed on a turntable located behind the hotel on Second Street. Having built another turntable at Portageville, the B.N.Y.&.P decided to make this Wyoming County village the new terminus of the commuter run. Henceforth Nunda residents could no longer board the train in the village, but instead had to go to the “West Nunda”station to catch the Rochester commuter train.
Now the only train on the Swains Branch was the daily L. & P. accommodation. This service too ended in September of 1888 when disgruntled Lackawanna & Pittsburgh employees, several months without their paychecks, struck for back wages. Once more Nunda found itself as a village with railroad tracks, but no trains.
Meanwhile the B.N.Y.&P. Railroad, itself in none-too-healthy financial condition, had undergone corporate reorganization in 1887 and was now known as the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad.
This new W.N.Y.& P. company inherited responsibility for the Swains branch from the B.N.Y. & P.. (Technically, the branch remained as the Rochester, New York & Pennsylvania Railroad, leased by the W.N.Y. & P.). The Lackawanna & Pittsburgh in 1889 had also undergone an name change and was now the Lackawanna & Southwestern, but the new L. & S.W. company never exercised its option to operate trains on the Swains Branch.
For two years the W.N.Y. &. P. was the subject of complaints by Nunda citizens to the New York State Railroad Commission, seeking restoration of train service into the village. Finally, in the summer of 1890 the W.N.Y. & P. agreed to run one of its Olean-Rochester locals down the branch as far as the village.
But from 1888 to 1890 no trains operated between Nunda and Swains. Nevertheless, the W.N.Y. & P. must have seen some potential in the Swains Branch, because in the spring of 1891 it commenced a major rebuilding project at the south end. The Swains Branch would be given one more chance to prove its worth.
When the B.N.Y.& P. Railroad had completed the final four miles of the Swains Branch in 1882, the project required the construction of a long s-shaped wooden trestle at Rosses, where the track crossed over the line of the Erie Railroad. Over the Erie Railroad itself, stone abutments supported the Swains Branch bridge. (These abutments remain intact today and can be seen when approaching Rosses crossing on Route 70.) The Swains branch then continued parallel to the Erie, through the swampy Klossner’s Pond. The following year a great 180 degree horseshoe shaped trestle was built at Swains where the Lackawanna & Pittsburgh crossed over the Erie.
The long trestle at Swains showing the depot
PS&N Railroad Historical Society
The arrangement was adequate during the early and mid-1880’s when most traffic on the Swains branch was either to or from the south, that is Angelica, the Alllegany oil fields and Pennsylvania. However, by the late 1880’s, the Allegany oil boom was over and the Globe Fast Freight line had failed.
New traffic sources and destinations had emerged to the east. In 1888 a branch was completed from a point on the L. & P. railroad just east of Canaseraga, 10 miles into Hornell. Known as the Rochester, Hornelisville and Lackawanna Railroad, this company had a prosperous business in Hornell.
Although the Lackawanna & Pittsburgh had not reached Geneva, it had reached Wayland, where it connected with the main line of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The Swain branch had the potential of being a conduit between the traffic centers at Hornell and Wayland, and Rochester as well as Nunda and the villages along the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad.
There was only one problem. Swains branch trains to or from the east had to cross, then recross the Erie over the trestles at Rosses and Swains and would find themselves facing the wrong direction upon reaching Swains. To remedy this situation the new owner of the Swains Branch,the W.N.Y. & P. Railroad, abandoned the trestle and bridge at Rosses and the eastern four miles of line on the southwest side of the Erie tracks. A new track was built on the northeast side of the Erie,
connecting to the L. & P. (now Lackawanna & South Western) on the northeast end of the horseshoe trestle, at a point designated “Swains Junction.” The old junction on the opposite end of the horseshoe trestle was now merely a short stub-end spur into Swains hamlet.
(Today you can see both the old and “new” Swains branch grades on either sides of the existing Norfolk Southern tracks through Klossner’s Pond, both railroads long since abandoned. The Department of Environmental Conservation lookout point on Route 70 is filled in over the new grade, but offers a good view of the old grade. Walk down the trail at the north end of the fill and you will be standing on
the new grade. Walk along the shore further north and you will see more evidence of both old and new grades, which were built on fill through the length of the swamp.)
The Swains trestle at the time it was being filled in.
St. Marys Historical Society
In September of 1891, a new “short line route” from Hornell to Rochester via the Swains Branch and its newly rebuilt trackage was open. Nunda again had first-rate passenger train service. The “Short Line Express” ran between Hornell and Nunda under R.H.& L. operation and between Nunda and Rochester under W.N.Y.& P. operation. In addition, daily local freight and passenger service off the W.N.Y.& P. main line (Canal Railroad) continued to serve Nunda as well as a weekly local train from Hornell, operated by the R.H.& L.
The little “Short Line Express” appears to have been a competitive threat to the mighty Erie Railroad. The Erie soon initiated its own Hornell-Rochester express in cooperation with the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad using a connection at Silver Springs.
The decade of the 1890's finally brought some stability to train operations on the Swains Branch. In November of 1892 the Rochester, Hornellsville & Lackawanna and Lackawanna & Southwestern companies were merged and reorganized into the Central New York & Western Railroad. The C.N.Y. & W. retained the lease of the Swains Branch from the R. N.Y. & P. and W. N. Y. & P. Railroads and operated two daily trains, an express and local accommodation in each direction through Nunda for the remainder of the decade.
The CNY&W also made some substantial improvements to its own properties, among which was the replacement (actually, burying) of the large horseshoe trestle at Swains with earthen fill, with a concrete culvert installed over Canaseraga Creek and a steel through truss bridge over the Erie Railroad. Although the railroad is long gone, abandoned in 1947,the horseshoe-shaped fill remains very much in evidence at Swains today.
In 1899 this company again changed its name, from the Central New York & Western to the Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern when it merged with several other railroads in the bituminous coal country of northwestern Pennsylvania.
The P. S. & N. or “‘Shawmut,”’ as it was popularly known, continued to operate the Swains Branch for about another year. However, in 1900 the Rochester, New York & Pennsylvania Railroad became part of the great Pennsylvania Railroad system, the “standard railway of the world.”
The Pennsylvania Railroad operated the Swains Branch for the next four years, and it was during this period that Burt Smith was telegrapher on the Mt. Morris-to-Wayland freight train which ran over the branch.
The Pennsylvania Railroad, which had acquired the W.N.Y. & P. system primarily for access to Buffalo and Rochester apparently did not see much value in the 12-mile Swains Branch, which traversed some rather steep grade and sharp curves in its meanderings over the hills between the Keshequa and Canaseraga creek valleys.
Operation of the branch between Nunda and Swains ceased in 1904 and the trackage was removed in 1908. The two-mile connection between Nunda Village and Nunda Junction, on the Pennsylvania Railroad “canal” line in Rochester,, was retained, so Nunda still had a railroad, albeit a dead-end spur. The Pennsylvania continued to deliver freight car shipment into the village and passenger service off the canal line likewise continued.
As the new century progressed the size of railroad locomotives increased. When the locomotives became too long for the small turntable in the village, turning had to be done at the wye shaped trackage up at Nunda Junction. As Col. Koppe recalled, “Nunda became well known to railroad patrons as ‘the place where the trains back into” which was a dirt if a civic disgrace to local citizens.”
After 1908 the Swains Branch was reduced to a two mile spur track which connected the Village of Nunda with the Pennsylvania Railroad ‘main line’ between Olean and Rochester. In the years prior to World War Il, Nunda was served by two daily passenger trains, which would back in from Nunda Junction on the ‘main line’. One of these trains was a first class express usually consisting of a locomotive, tender, baggage car and coach. The second train was really the freight train, with a combination baggage-passenger coach sandwiched between the freight cars and caboose. During the 1920’s and 1930’s, the express train was replaced by a gas-electric “doodle-bug,” an early predecessor of the diesel locomotive, which had two gasoline engine powering a generator which fed power to traction motors in the axles.
All passenger service between Olean and Rochester, including service to the Swains Branch, was eliminated on April 26, 1941. A more important function of the Swains Branch in the 20th century was the delivery of freight into the village. A 1902 map indicates switches for a coal shed, warehouse and feed mill. A 1913
listing of Pennsylvania Railroad sidings indicates switches for Foote Mfg. Co. (which received coal for its boiler house), for W. Baker's Planning Mill, for a ‘public track,’ and for William Craig.
Even into the early 1960's, Foote, GLF and Nunda Lumber received and/or shipped by rail. The Pennsylvania Railroad ‘canal’ line between Hinsdale (in Cattaraugus County) and Wadsworth Junction (in southern Monroe County), including the spur into Nunda, was abandoned in March of 1963.
The story of the abandonment of the line appeared in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle on February 22, 1963.
Old Pennsy Line Calls it Quits
The Pennsylvania Railroad branch line between Olean and Rochester will call it quits Feb. 26 after 84 years of service. Customers have been notified of the closing date but it is understood that 10 days will be allowed to take care of unfinished business along the line.
The Pennsylvania filed a notice with the Interstate Commerce Commission Dec. 21, 1961, asking permission to abandon the single track line of 84 miles located in the counties of Cattaraugus, Allegany, Wyoming, and Livingston.
Shortly after the request was made strong opposition arose all along the line that apparently did no good. The railroad claimed that loss of business and increased cost of operation has forced the closing of the line. The Interstate Commerce Commission has granted permission for pulling up the track.
The abandoned right-of-way was subsequently purchased by Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation. Soon, with R.G. & E.’s cooperation, it may become the Genesee Valley Greenway Trail.
An interesting recollection of the Swains Branch and ‘canal’ railroad, author unknown, appeared in the Nunda News of September 17, 1948.
The Genesee Valley Canal railroad which eventually replaced it was not built until 1882. Six construction trains then were at work in the vicinity. Laborers struck in March of that year for $1.50 a day, an increase of 10 cents. Teams of horses earned $3.50 a day. 68,000 Fence posts were required to put up the barbed wire fence along the road, and probably as many telegraph poles, as Nunda was connected with the outside world by telegraph that year, although it previously had been connected via the Erie. Portageville staged a big celebration when the work train arrived there on the 30th anniversary of the first crossing of the High Bridge by a train.
The first passenger coach ever seen in Nunda arrived in July, 1882, and the people turned out in large numbers to greet its arrival, but it was not until December that thru trains were running between Rochester and Olean. The new coaches were described as ‘‘models of elegance and comfort.’’ They were painted a bright straw color, the interiors were lighted with four double center lamps, the seats were red plush, and the hat racks, brass. West Nunda was the name given in the timetables for Nunda’s station on the main line. The depot at that place was built in the winter of 1887-88.
In 1892, the railroad--known by then as the Western New York and Pennsylvania--proposed that the people of Nunda raise the money to build a depot to cost not more than $1,000, for which the railroad would reimburse them at the rate of $100 per year. The company also proposed to straighten the tracks through the village, locate the express and telegraph office here instead of at West Nunda, replace wooden bridges with iron, and iron rails with heavy steel.
Later, however, the depot was moved here from West Nunda-- placed on a flat car one Sunday and moved to its present site ‘amidst great pomp and ceremony.”
Nunda was once known to the outside world as the town where the trains backed in. Nunda Junction, northeast of the village, where the L & P (Swain’s branch) and the Pennsylvania met, was the site of a ‘‘Y’’ in the tracks where trains made the turn to take the spur into the village from the main line. For years there was a train which lay over here all night and left for Rochester every morning. It was known as “The 6:20’ and it returned at about 6 p.m. A later train did not come into the village but made a stop at West Nunda about 9 p.m. and late stayers in “‘the city” could return on that train and take the stage to the village. Numberless excursion trains carried sight-seers and picnickers to Portage.
This account of the old Swains Branch depot in Nunda appeared in the Nunda News on August 18th, 1960, shortly after the class landmark was demolished:
The razing of the “Pennsy” depot in Sunday village brings a small nostalgic tear to the eyes of those who have sat in the warmth of of its pot-bellied stove and listened to the mysterious clicking of the telegraph while waiting (impatiently!) for the train to back in from Nunda Junction so they could be off to Rochester or Olean…or perhaps to Belfast change to the Buffalo & Susquehanna for Belmont, or maybe to Portage Bridge or Mt. Morris.
The depot was always warm and cozy in the morning . It smelled strangely of soft coal smoke, but to a child it was a wondrous place. We are glad to have a couple of “Rexie” Wright’s old postcard views of it and most grateful to those who so kindly contributed them.
The story of how the depot was moved from West Nunda to Nunda on a couple of flat cars has been told a good many times, but it inevitably comes to mind again. The feat was accomplished on a Sunday in November, 1896. Another story which has not been repeated quite so often concerns a man who was a sort of unofficial train-greeter, meeting practically every train which came to town.
Some friends of his thought it would be a good joke if he missed this most-exciting-of-all arrival, so corralled him well ahead of the appointed hour and plied him with refreshments, so to speak. Time flew by, his faculties dimmed, and the depot backed safely into town without benefit of his presence. He was so upset when he realized what had happened that he never met a train again.
This was too bad in a way, for - in the words of soap operas - he was a “kindly old gentleman,, just like the m an next door” and much too decent to be made the brunt of such a joke. But no doubt the perpetrators enjoyed the whole thing immensely.
The only depot in the village up to that time has been a waiting room in a warehouse which formerly stood on the opposite side of the tracks, so the townspeople were very happy indeed when railroad officials announced the decision to move the depot down from West Nunda, where it had been built in 1888. The reason for its location there must have been that while all trains on the division did not come into the village, all passed that point. A new road running west from the north end of Gibbs street had been built to reach the West Nunda Station. Price Street is part of that road, and West Nunda was where the railroad crosses the road a short distance farther west. So far as we know, that’s all there ever was of West Nunda - a depot, freight house, coaling station, etc. Stages ran between there and the village.
Several sites had been considered for a depot in the village, including the one where it eventually came to rest. But that spot had been considered the least desirable as there was not sufficient room for trains without blocking the street. And of course trains did block the street for many years - but the inconvenience was more than offset by the thrill of watching the train. In one old photograph in our collection, the crossing sign is the time-honored one, “Railroad Crossing, Look Out for the Cars.” This was part of an old riddle - remember? “Can you spell it without any R’s?””
The Special did not run on the Rochester-Olean division, though. The original coaches on this division were painted a bright straw color and had red plush seats and brass hatracks. But our recollection is of green plush seats, somewhat discolored from soft coal soot. Open windows were the air-conditioning system, and cinders had a way of coming thru the windows, sometimes even lodging in eyes. But even so, there seemed to be an elegance about a train, no matter how remote from the main line.
Backing in from Nunda Junction was all a part of it, too. The time was when there was a turntable at the Junction, but every new engine was longer than the one before, and finally there wasn’t room on the turntable, so tracks were laid in a ‘“‘Y”’ and the trains came into town in reverse. Many out-of-towners used to refer to Nunda as ‘‘the place where the trains back in.”
And so one looked backward to watch for familiar hometown landmarks. Now we are looking backward at an era which is all but gone--not with real sadness but perhaps a sigh because the things of today seem less glamorous.
Col. Clarence E. Koeppe lived the later years of his life in California, but recalled the Swains
branch and the great horseshoe trestle from his boyhood days in Nunda and Swains in this November 1, 1962 letter to the Nunda News: :
As a lad at the turn of the century, I frequently visited my uncle, James Ryan, who lived at Swain; and I spent many hours of each visit watching the trains on both the Shawmut and Erie.
The trestle shown in connection with your article formed a great horseshoe curve, comparable to the Pennsylvania horseshoe curve at Cresson, Pa. This great curve was necessary in order to reduce the grade in going from the lowlands of Chautauqua Hollow to the higher area at Birdsall and Angelica. Later this trestle was filled with gravel except at the point where the Shawmut crossed the Erie. This was a common practice of the day, and I well remember seeing this method of grading along the newly built line of the Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad as it crossed the broad Genesee Valley east from Belfast. As you know, the B. & S. Railroad went the way of the Shawmut, the Olean Rochester section of the Pennsylvania R.R. and many other railroad lines.
Another point of interest is that the original Swains Branch crossed the Erie Railroad at a point above the swamp lands of Chautauqua Hollow just north and west of Swain; its passenger station was in the center of Swain, an old red building later used by the Shawmut which sent its passenger trains into Swain from the junction a mile or so up the grade toward Angelica. Later, the Swains Branch, then known as the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad, moved its track to the other side of the Erie and joined the P. S. & N. at the point where your photograph showed the Shawmut Depot; this junction point was only a few rods from the highway now labeled Highway 408.This new junction point made it possible for the Swains Branch to haul considerably more freight originating not only along the Shawmut, but also the Lackawanna and the Erie.
Even so, this additional freight was not sufficient to save the Swains Branch which had so many wrecks on the poorly ballasted tracks that the final owner, the Pennsylvania Railroad, abandoned the line in the first decade of this century, salvaging only the light rails. Thus ended the aspirations of the people of Nunda for a “through line,” for which they bonded themselves for $75,000 a bond which was not paid off until long after the line was torn up.
Some time back you mentioned two things in connection with the railroad, usually referred to in my early memory as the ‘Swains Branch.’ One concerned the depot. The first depot that I recall was located in a sort of warehouse east of the tracks and situated next to the Cottage Hotel, run at that time by the Murphy’s. When the Pennsylvania system acquired the Swains Branch, the depot which was located at West Nunda was moved on a flat car from West Nunda via Nunda Junction. The whole town turned out for the occasion.
The moving of the depot met with several difficulties. As the train approached the State Street crossing,, trees along the right of way adjoining the old Amos place on the north side of vermont Street had to be partially hewn down. Then there was the problem of getting by the old Allday Cooper Shop with was very close to the railroad’s sharp curve after crossing Third Street.
The other railroad item concerned the turntable which, I believe you said, was located at Nunda Junction. The turntable was actually located right in Nunda back of the Cottage Hotel and back of the present Duryea Funeral Home. Spectators were numerous whenever a locomotive had to be turned around. The turntable was designed for the small locomotives first used on the Swains Branch; but later larger ones were used, necessitating the separation of the tender from the engine, each section being turned by itself.
The original railroad and its rolling stock held great fascination for young and old. I recall many occasions when the lone (I believe there was only one) freight locomotive with the rusty cowcatcher would be unable to haul its load of perhaps 20 cars up the rather heavy grade back of our home on Vermont Street. So the train would be cut in two sections, the engine taking one section over the hump near Towne’s Pond and leading jnto Chautauqua Hollow, returning an hour or two later to pick up the other half of the train.
It was a sad day for the Nunda villagers when the Pennsylvania decided to abandon the line from Nunda to Swains. They started removing the rails from the Swain end of the line, moving them on little flat cars (about the size of the ‘hand-car’ in use by section crews). On Sundays when the rail removing crews were idle, some of us teenagers would push a flat car up the grade perhaps as far as the foot of the old Stone Quarry Road, and then coast down into the village using a stick on the wheels for a brake. We would travel at what seemed to me to be a frightening rate of speed, but most thrilling. Of course, my parents did not know that I was participating in such a dangerous enterprise.
Excursion
Excursion train of the Buffalo Chapter, National Railway Historical Society, passes under the Erie bridge near Portageville, June 19, 1949. On the head end is 2-8-2 Class L-1s #137. A similar trip sponsored by the Rochester Chapter occurred on October 12, 1952 but no pictures have been found.
More contemporary views in Rochester
[Steven Allen Collection]
Switching on Troup Street in Rochester
Lehigh Valley Railroad Time Table No. 8 dated October 28, 1962:
Lehigh Valley Railroad Company General Order No. 802 Zone E Effective 12:01 A.M. Tuesday, February 26, 1963, paragraph (a):
Main Line- Lehigh & Lake Erie Branch
Pennsylvania Railroad Company trains will use Lehigh Valley Railrod Company tracks between Tifft Terminal and Wadsworth, subject to the rules of this company.
[At that time the Pennsylvania R.R. had a train master's office at Tifft Street Terminal].
The Pennsylvania Railroad trackage rights over the Lehigh Valley ended with the Penn Central merger on February 1, 1968. There was never a General Order or Bulletin Order that depicted the trackage rights as being abolished. The PRR Rochester Branch between Wadsworth Jct. and Rochester was abandoned in 1971. Scottsville Road (location of the PRR yard) to Genesee Jct. was approved for abandonment on June 30, 1976. There must have been a revision to that abandonment however as the former PRR Rochester Branch continues north from a connection at Genesee Jct. to 84 Lumber on Scottsville Road. This line segment also serves a metal recycling facility that is just south of 84 Lumber. As for the ex-PRR trackage Scottsville Road-downtown Rochester is unknown. Have some abandonment dates for Rochester Terminal trackage but do not know if this is associated with the former PRR. - Information provided by Paul J. Templeton,
December 16, 2020.
_______
Rochester Branch fence gang, A. C. Rogers, foreman
| Station | Mile | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Rochester | 0 | |
| Genesee Jct. | 5.8 | |
| Scottsville | 12.3 | (branch to Garbutt 2.9) |
| Wadsworth Jct. | 14.5 | |
| Fowlerville | 23.9 | |
| York | 26.3 | |
| Retsof Jct. | 28.2 | |
| Cuylerville | 33.1 | |
| DL&W Jct. | 35.3 | |
| Mt. Morris | 36.9 | |
| Tuscarora | 45.2 | |
| Nunda Jct. | 48.4 | (branch to Nunda 2.20) |
| Portage Park | 56.3 | |
| Portageville | 57.7 | |
| Ambluco | 60.2 | |
| Rossburg | 64.0 | |
| Fillmore | 67.9 | |
| Houghton | 72.1 | |
| Caneadea | 75.1 | |
| Belfast | 78.5 | |
| Black Creek | 86.4 | |
| Cuba | 91.1 | (station still stands!) |
| Hinsdale | 98.7 | (Junction with Buffalo line) |
Swains Branch
| Station | Mile | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Nunda | 2.20 | ( from Nunda Jct.) |
| Ross Crossing | 5.95 | |
| Swains Junction | 13.14 |
Abandonments:
Passenger service discontinued April, 1941.
Scottsville to Garbutt authorized for abandonment April 26, 1944. ICC Finance Docket 14487.
This portion, authorized for abandonment 1971 ICC Finance Docket 26147)
Wadsworth Jct. - Hinsdale authorized for abandonment Jan. 15, 1963, ICC Finance Docket 21890)
Rochester Secondary Rochester-Rochester .3 mi. 8-10-82
Rochester Secondary SW Flint St.-Rochester Terminal 2.70 mi. 9-13-83
Rochester Terminal Rochester Secondary-Main Line 2.50 Mi. 9-12-83
