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The Lowville & Beaver River Railroad is a short-line railroad in Lewis County, NY. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lowville and Beaver River Railroad (reporting mark LBR) is a short-line railroad[1] that was owned by Genesee Valley Transportation (GVT) of Batavia, New York from 1993[2] to Wednesday, January 24, 2007.[3] Map [4]
| Industry | rail transport |
|---|---|
| Founded | September 17, 1903 |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Northeastern New York |
The Lowville & Beaver River runs from an interchange, with GVT subsidiary Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad (MHWA) at Lowville, NY to Croghan, New York.[5]
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The Lowville & Beaver River Railroad interchanged at Lowville with the Utica & Black River Railroad (U&BR). The U&BR reached Lowville in 1868 and Carthage in 1871. The L&BR was an 11-mile shortline from Lowville through Beaver Falls to Croghan planned in 1880 but it was not built.[6]
In 1903 James P. Lewis backed the short line to serve his mills at Beaver Falls.[7] The Lowville & Beaver River Railroad was open on January 13, 1906.[8][9][10]
The L&BR was dieselized in 1947, while #1923, their remaining steam locomotive, was last used on standby service in case the diesel needed repairs. It last operated in January 1957.[11] The locomotives of the L&BR were numbered 10, 12, 51, 1912, 1923, 1947 (Diesel), 1950 (Diesel), 1951 (Diesel) and 8, a Shay owned by the Railway Historical Society of Northern New York.[12][13] All of the diesels are GE 44-tonners.
From 2010 to 2012, Lewis County and GVT negotiated the sale of the LBR infrastructure to the county. Plans called for the LBR route, which was offered for $425,000, to be used for a museum train operated by the Railroad Society of Northern New York, which had been based in Croghan in the mid-1990s. The MHWA route from Lowville to Carthage was also to be sold to the county and converted to a rail trail.[14] On April 30, 2012, however, the county decided against purchasing the infrastructure.[15]
River Marine Inc. of Cape Vincent, NY recently purchased the former Carthage train depot[16] on Mechanic Street. River Marine also owns the railway yard in Lowville, NY.[17] Ronald J. Trottier the owner of River Marine Inc. plans to lease the railroad between Cartage and Lowville. His plan is to run tourist trains and rail bikes, human-pedal-powered open air vehicles that ride the rails.[18]
The #1923 steam locomotive, an Alco 2-8-0, has been preserved as part of the Steamtown, USA National Historic Site, Scranton, PA.[19]
The 16.8 km long route of the LBR runs from Lowville through the valley of the Beaver River via New Bremen and Beaver Falls to Croghan. In Lowville, there is a connection to the MHWA route to Carthage, which is part of a connection formerly running from Utica to Clayton on the St. Lawrence River, but whose section from Lowville south to Lyons Falls was closed in 1964. The LBR has a small depot in Lowville.[20]
The branch line crosses the Black River on a 1,100 foot long Warren swing through truss bridge.[21]
The MHWA Lowville-to-Carthage branch line has been virtually out-of-service since the mid-2000s and is currently, as of May, 2022 out-of-service. The L&BR was placed out of service after the paper mill in Beaver Falls closed on January 24, 2007. The future usage of the line is yet to be determined.
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Media related to Lowville and Beaver River Railroad at Wikimedia Commons
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