Everything about New York And Erie Railroad totally explained
» This article is about the major railroad network owned by the Erie Railroad. For the never-built short line in northwest Pennsylvania (from Erie to Warren), see Erie Railroad (1836).
The
Erie Railroad was a
railroad that operated in
New York State,
New Jersey,
Pennsylvania,
Ohio,
Indiana, and
Illinois, connecting
New York City with
Lake Erie, and extending west to
Cleveland, Ohio,
Cincinnati, Ohio, and
Chicago. In
1960 it merged with the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad to form the
Erie Lackawanna Railroad, becoming part of
Conrail in
1976.
History
New York and Erie Rail Road: 1832-1861
The
New York and Erie Rail Road was chartered
April 24,
1832 to connect the
Hudson River at
Piermont, north of
New York City, west to
Lake Erie at
Dunkirk. On
February 16,
1841 the railroad was authorized to cross into the northeast corner of
Pennsylvania on the west side of the
Delaware River. Construction began in
1836, and it opened from Piermont to
Goshen on
September 23,
1841. After some financial problems, construction resumed in August
1846, and the next section, to
Port Jervis, opened on
January 7,
1848. Further extensions opened to
Binghamton December 27,
1848,
Owego January 1,
1849, and the full length to Dunkirk
May 19,
1851. At Dunkirk
steamboats continued across
Lake Erie to
Detroit, Michigan.
The line was built as 6 foot (1829 mm)
wide gauge; this was believed to be the best way to prevent traffic being lost to other lines.
In
1848 the railroad built the
Starrucca Viaduct, a stone railroad bridge over
Starrucca Creek in
Lanesboro, Pennsylvania which has survived and is still in use today. The viaduct is 1040 feet (317 m) long, 100 feet (30 m) high and 25 feet (8 m) wide at the top. It is the oldest stone rail bridge in
Pennsylvania still in use.
The Erie's charter was amended
April 8,
1845 to allow the building of the
Newburgh Branch, running from the main line near
Harriman north-northeast to
Newburgh, also on the Hudson River. The branch opened
January 8,
1850. It was later used as a connection to the
New York and New England Railroad via a
car float operation across the river to Beacon, New York.
The
Paterson and Ramapo Railroad and
Union Railroad opened in
1848, providing a connection between the Erie at the village of Suffern in
Ramapo and Jersey City, across the
Hudson River from
New York City. Through ticketing began in
1851, with a required change of cars at Ramapo due to the
gauge break. In
1852 the Erie leased the two companies along with the
Paterson and Hudson River Railroad, and Erie trains begin operating to the
New Jersey Rail Road's
Jersey City terminal on November
1853 after a third rail for
wide gauge was finished.
In
1852 the
Buffalo and Rochester Railroad, part of the
New York Central Railroad system, completed a new alignment between
Buffalo and
Batavia. The new alignment from Buffalo to
Attica was sold to the Erie's
Buffalo and New York City Railroad, a reorganization of the
Attica and Hornellsville Railroad, and converted to the Erie's
wide gauge. The extension from Attica southeast to
Hornellsville opened on
November 17,
1852, giving the Erie access to Buffalo, a better terminal than Dunkirk.
The Erie began operating the
Chemung Railroad in
1850; this provided a branch from
Horseheads north to
Watkins. The
Canandaigua and Elmira Railroad opened in
1851 as a northern extension from Watkins to
Canandaigua and was operated by the Erie until
1853. At this point, the Erie subleased the Chemung Railroad to the Canandaigua and Elmira. The C&E went
bankrupt in
1857 and was reorganized in
1859 as the
Elmira, Canandaigua and Niagara Falls Railroad, at which time the Erie leased it again. The Chemung Railroad reverted to the Erie in
1858 during the bankruptcy.
The
Canandaigua and Niagara Falls Railroad continued this line beyond Canandaigua to
North Tonawanda with
trackage rights over the
Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad to
Niagara Falls and the
Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge into
Ontario. This was leased by the Canandaigua and Elmira from its opening in
1853 to
1858, when it went
bankrupt, was reorganized as the
Niagara Bridge and Canandaigua Railroad, and was leased by
New York Central Railroad. The NYC converted it to
standard gauge and blocked the Erie from it.
The Erie pushed southward into the coal fields of
Elk County, Pennsylvania,
Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, and
Clearfield County, Pennsylvania to acquire a source of fuel for its locomotives. This action began with the February 26,
1859 merger of two earlier roads to form the Buffalo, Bradford and Pittsburgh Railroad Company. The new organization was sponsored by the New York and Erie Railroad Company, later known as the Erie. The B.B.& P. ran for 25.97 miles through
Bradford, Pennsylvania after connecting with the primary line of the Erie at
Carrollton, New York. The line came to a point known as Gilesville, the site of a
bituminous mine, by January 1,
1866.
Erie Railway: 1861-1875
In August
1859 the company went into
receivership due to the large costs of building, and on
June 25,
1861 it was reorganized as the
Erie Railway. This was the first
bankruptcy of a major trunk line in the U.S.
In
1863 the Erie leased the
Buffalo, New York and Erie Railroad and its subsidiary the
Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad, jointly operating it with the
Pennsylvania Railroad's
Northern Central Railway. The BNY&E had taken over the
Buffalo and New York City Railroad in
1857 due to the Erie's bankruptcy, and the BNY&E used it west of
Attica to reach
Buffalo from its southeast end at
Corning. The R&GV split from the main line at
Avon, running north to
Rochester. A joint through line was created between
Philadelphia and Buffalo. At this time, the Northern Central leased the
Elmira and Williamsport Railroad, forming the part of the line from
Elmira south into
Pennsylvania. After disputes due to charges of the Erie using its own line via
Hornellsville (the B&NYC) too much, and problems with the
gauge break at
Elmira, this contract was cancelled in
1866. The
Elmira, Jefferson and Canandaigua Railroad (and its
Chemung Railroad) was transferred to the Northern Central, and a third rail was built to allow the Northern Central's
standard gauge trains to operate over it.
To restore access to the
Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge, the Erie got the
Suspension Bridge and Erie Junction Railroad chartered in
1868. The line opened in
1871, running from eastern
Buffalo to
Tonawanda and then alongside the
New York Central Railroad's
Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad to the bridge. The
Erie International Railway, chartered
1872 and opened
1874, provided a branch to the
International Bridge, and the
Lockport and Buffalo Railway, chartered
1871 and opened
1879, provided a branch to
Lockport.
Three well-known financiers struggled for control of the company from the
1850s to the
1860s,
Daniel Drew,
Jay Gould and
Cornelius Vanderbilt. Gould ultimately triumphed in this struggle, but was forced by poor public opinion to relinquish control in
1872, following his involvement in the 1869
gold-rigging scandal.
In
1869, the railroad moved its main shops facilities from Dunkirk to
Buffalo. Rather than demolishing the shops in Dunkirk, the facility was leased to
Horatio G. Brooks, the former chief engineer of the NY&E who was at the controls of the first train into Dunkirk in
1851. Horatio Brooks used the facilities to begin
Brooks Locomotive Works, which remained in independent business until
1901 when it was merged with seven other locomotive manufacturing firms to create
ALCO. ALCO continued new locomotive production at this facility until
1934, then closed the plant completely in
1962.
New York, Lake Erie and Western Railway: 1875-1893
The Erie still didn't see profits and via bankruptcy was sold in 1875 to become the
New York, Lake Erie and Western Railway.
The New York, Lake Erie, and Western Coal and Railroad Company pushed the line south to
Johnsonburg, Pennsylvania in 1881
- 1882, a distance of 29.68 miles. This section encompassed the once significant
Kinzua Bridge..
Erie Railroad: 1893-1960
In
1893 that railroad also went into bankruptcy reorganization, to emerge as the
Erie Railroad.
In
1897 trackage rights were obtained by the Erie over the
Pennsylvania Railroad, from Johnsonburg to
Brockway, Pennsylvania, then known as Brockwayville. The distance was 27.76 miles.
On May 1,
1907 the Erie obtained new trackage rights over the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh from
Clarion, Pennsylvania, north of Johnsonburg, to Eleanora Junction, later called Cramer, in
Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. This covered a distance of 50.67 miles.
In
1938, the Erie Railroad was involved in the famous
U.S. Supreme Court case of
Erie R.R. v. Tompkins. The Erie doctrine, which governs the application of state law in federal diversity cases, is still taught in American
law schools today.
On
September 15 1948, the Cleveland Union Terminals Company allowed the Erie to use the Union Terminal adjacent to
Terminal Tower in lieu of its old station.
(External Link
)
The Erie Railroad merged with the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in
1960. The new company became known as the
Erie Lackawanna Railroad.
Locomotives
Company officers
The following are the presidents of the Erie Railroad through its history:
Eleazer Lord (1833–1835)
James Gore King (1835–1839)
Eleazer Lord (1839–1841)
James Bowen (1841–1842)
William Maxwell (1842–1843)
Horatio Allen (1843–1844)
Eleazer Lord (1844–1845)
James Hooper (only for two months in 1845)
Benjamin Loder (1845–1853)
Homer Ramsdell (1853–1857)
Charles Moran (1857–1859)
Samuel Marsh (1859–1861)
Nathaniel Marsh (1861–1864)
Samuel Marsh (four months in 1864)
Robert H. Berdell (1864–1867)
John S. Eldridge (1867–1868)
Jay Gould (1868–1872)
John A. Dix (four months in 1872)
Peter H. Watson (1872–1874)
Hugh J. Jewett (1874–1884)
John King (1884–1894)
Eben B. Thomas (1894–1901)
Frederick D. Underwood (1901–1927)
John J. Bernet (1927–1929)
Charles Eugene Denney (1929–1939)
Robert E. Woodruff (1941–1949)
Paul W. Johnston (1949–1956)
Harry W. Von Willer (1956–1960)Further Information
Get more info on 'New York And Erie Railroad'.
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