Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway (1895–1955)

Not to be confused with New York & Pennsylvania Railroad.

The Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway (earlier, the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad) was a railroad that operated independently from 1887 to 1900 in the U.S. states of New York and Pennsylvania.

Western New York & Pennsylvania Railway

Overview
Headquarters	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Locale	Emporium, Pennsylvania and Mahoningtown, Pennsylvania to Buffalo, New York and Rochester, New York
Dates of operation	1895–1955
Predecessor	Western New York Railway and Northwestern Pennsylvania Railway
Successor	Penndel Company
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	586.145 miles (943.309 km)

The Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad was incorporated in 1887 from the reorganization of the Buffalo, New York, and Philadelphia Railroad.^[1] It was reorganized in 1895 as the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway. In 1900, it was acquired and leased by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1900.^[2][3] It was merged into the Penndel Company in 1955.

History

Destroyed in 1968 in the name of Rochester's urban renewal, this station served first the WNY&PRR and then the Pennsy.

WNY&P System Map c. 1900

The line ran from Emporium, Pennsylvania, across the state line to Olean, Hinsdale, Cuba, Belfast, and Rochester in New York. From Belfast north, it was laid on the bed of the abandoned Genesee Valley Canal. In Rochester, a house of Italianate design was purchased on Main Street West at Trowbridge Street and converted for use as the railroad's station.^[4]

From 1895 to 1899, the company drew too little revenue to pay the bond interest. At the time, the Pennsylvania Railroad was trying to expand into western New York. On August 1, 1900, the WNY&PRY agreed to be operated by the PRR. The deal brought the WNY&PRY little profit,^[5] but it did improve revenues for the Allegheny Valley and the Philadelphia and Erie roads, so the net result was satisfactory to PRR executives.^[6]

Eventually, the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway became the PRR's Buffalo and Allegheny Valley Division.

Various sources date the small branch from Scottsville to Garbutt from 1900 and the summer of 1907.^[7] The branch was abandoned in 1944;^[8] no trace of it remains. The Pennsy station has disappeared – even photographs of it are rare – and the railbed cannot be discerned in aerial photographs of the area south of Oatka Creek.^[9])^[10]

See also

• New Castle Branch
• A short-line railway began operations in 2001 under the name Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad, running trains on former Erie Railroad and later former WNY&P trackage.

References

1. Dunn, Edward T. (2000). A History of Railroads in Western New York. Canisius College Press. p. 149.
2. "Pennsylvania In Control; It Acquires the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad" (PDF). The New York Times. 27 May 1900. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
3. Schotter (1927). The Growth and Development of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company 1846–1926. Philadelphia, PA: Allen, Lane & Scott. p. 279.
4. Dann, Mary Hamilton (2001). Rochester and Genesee Valley Rails. Railroad Research Publications. p. 45.
5. "RAILROAD DEFICIT GROWS.; Western New York & Pennsylvania Reports Increase of $2,699,918" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 May 1922.
6. Dunn, Edward T. (2000). A History of Railroads in Western New York. Canisius College Press. p. 162.
7. Schmidt, Carl F. (1953). History of the Town of Wheatland. Rochester, N.Y. p. 226.
8. Baer, Christopher T. (April 2015). "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company Its Predecessors and Successors and Its Historical Context 1944" (PDF). Pennsylvania Technical & Historical Society. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
9. "Google Maps".
10. Palmer, Richard (13 September 2008). "History of the Rochester Branch, Pennsylvania Railroad". The Crooked Lake Review Blog. Retrieved 2016-06-19.

External links

• Western New York And Pennsylvania Railway (1895–1955) at Youtube.com