| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Cohocton, New York, U.S. |
| Reporting mark | BH |
| Locale | New York |
| Dates of operation | 1872– |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Previous gauge |
|
B&H Rail Corporation( reporting mark BH), formerly the Bath & Hammondsport Railroad, is a Class III shortline railroad. Initially the line served the communities of Bath, New York and Hammondsport, New York. In Bath, the railroad connected with the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. In 1996, the railroad was leased by the Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad.
It was chartered in 1872 as a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad running from the Erie and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's interchange in Bath to Hammondsport, New York. In Hammondsport, passengers could continue north via a ferry on Keuka Lake. The railroad was converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge in 1889. [1]
The line eventually came under control of the Erie Railroad around 1903. Passenger service ended in 1917, when steamboat service on Keuka Lake was discontinued. Business continued as usual until a flood in 1935 damaged much of the railroad. Faced with having to rebuild miles of railroad, the management of the Erie Railroad instead began abandonment proceedings. Freight service was temporarily provided by trucks. Five local businessmen joined together to purchase the B&H from the Erie and return it to local control. The railroad was repaired and reopened with ceremonies on July 25, 1936. [2]
1960 saw the merger of the Erie and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroads with the formation of the Erie Lackawanna. On April 1, 1976, the Erie Lackawanna became part of Conrail. That same year, Conrail sold the DL&W line between Bath and Wayland to the Steuben County Industrial Development Agency. B&H became the designated operator of the branch to Wayland. Primary freight traffic for the railroad was wine and related products, lumber, and general commodities. [3] Among the wineries served was the Great Western winery, also known as Pleasant Valley Wine Company. The county operated the line with the nickname of "The Champagne Route", and passenger excursions were operated by the Champagne Railroad (CGNE). These excursions ended in 1994, and much of the track to Hammondsport was taken out of service once wine shipments from Hammondsport ceased. Service continued between Bath and Wayland on the former EL track. Freight interchange was maintained with Conrail at Bath.
In May 1996, shortline Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad (LAL) assumed operation [4] of the county-owned trackage, including the original B&H. These operations were transferred to the subsidiary Cohocton Valley Railroad in 2001, and later that year this company was renamed B&H Rail Corporation and assumed a long-term lease of Norfolk Southern Railway trackage between Wayland, Bath and Painted Post. [5] At this time, the LAL embarked on an aggressive track rehab program, replacing many ties. The track to Rheims remains out of service, but is not abandoned. Beyond Rheims to Hammondsport the rails have been lifted.
As of August 2008, the B&H operates regular service between Cohocton and Painted Post. About half of a mile of the Hammondsport branch line is being used as a siding. The original line, designated at the Hammondsport Running Track, continues to be maintained for potential future service. Some new construction took place on the line from Bath to Painted Post just past the junction where dirt embankments have been built up as if additional sidings were going to be added. The railroad's main office and locomotive facility are located in Cohocton. A second engine house was built in Coopers Plains in 2012.
The last B&H steam locomotive was #11, was built by Alco at its Cooke Locomotive and Machine Works in Paterson, New Jersey, for a sugar railway in Cuba, but the order was never fulfilled. It was sold to the Narragansett Pier Railroad, before being sold to the Bath & Hammondsport. It was retired in 1949 and put into storage. The B&H sold #11 to Dr. Stanley A. Groman for display at his Rail City Railroad Museum in 1955. After Rail City closed, the locomotive was sold back to the Narragansett Pier Railroad in 1977 to be used in an excursion service which never began. In 1981 it was sold to the Middletown and New Jersey Railroad, again for possible excursion use that never came to fruition. It was sold to the Everett Railroad in 2006, where it was restored and returned to service. [6]
The B&H replaced steam with two General Electric 44-ton switchers. These were eventually replaced with two Alco S1s. The Alcos remain on the property and see occasional use.
Bath is a village and the county seat of in Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 5,786 at the 2010 census. The village is located in the town of the same name, northwest of Elmira and west of Tyrone.
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Northeastern United States, originally connecting Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, with Lake Erie at Dunkirk, New York. The railroad expanded west to Chicago following its 1865 merger with the former Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, also known as the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad.
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad, was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey, and by ferry with New York City, a distance of 395 miles (636 km). The railroad was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1853, and created primarily to provide a means of transport of anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeast Pennsylvania to large coal markets in New York City. The railroad gradually expanded both east and west, and eventually linked Buffalo with New York City.
The Northern Branch is a railroad line that runs from Jersey City to Northvale in northeastern New Jersey, and formerly extended further into New York State. The line was constructed in 1859 by the Northern Railroad of New Jersey to connect the New York and Erie Railroad's Piermont Branch terminus in Piermont, New York, directly to Erie's primary terminal in Jersey City, initially Exchange Place, later Pavonia Terminal. In 1870 the line was extended to Nyack, New York, and continued to provide passenger service until 1966. After the Erie's unsuccessful merger with the Lackawanna Railroad to form the Erie-Lackawanna, ownership of the line passed into the hands of Conrail upon its formation in 1976 from a number of bankrupt railroads.
The Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad is a short line railroad that operates in Livingston County and Monroe County in New York, United States. The railroad interchanges with CSX at Genesee Junction in Chili, New York, the Rochester and Southern Railroad (RSR) at Genesee Junction and the RSR's Brooks Avenue Yard in Gates, New York, and with the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum at Industry, New York. Their primary freight consists of food products: grains and corn syrup. In 1997, the Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad was selected as Short Line Railroad of the Year by industry trade journal Railway Age. The LAL is also the parent company for the Bath and Hammondsport Railroad, the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad and the Ontario Midland Railroad.
The Falls Road Railroad is a Class III short line railroad owned by Genesee Valley Transportation (GVT). The railroad operates in Niagara, Orleans, and Monroe counties in New York.
The Ontario Midland Railroad Corporation is an American Class III railroad company operating in western New York. As of September 2022, it became a subsidiary of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad (LAL).
The ALCO RS-1 was a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by Alco-GE between 1941 and 1953 and the American Locomotive Company from 1953 to 1960. ALCO subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works built an additional three RS-1s in 1954. This model has the distinction of having the longest production run of any diesel locomotive for the North American market. The RS-1 was in production for 19 years from the first unit Rock Island #748 in March 1941 to the last unit National of Mexico #5663 in March 1960.
The Finger Lakes Railway is a Class III railroad in the Finger Lakes region of New York. The company began operations on July 23, 1995, and operates in Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Ontario, Schuyler and Yates counties. The FGLK operates 18 diesel locomotives on 167 miles (269 km) of ex-Conrail trackage, formerly owned by the New York Central Railroad, the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Between 2001 and 2013, the railroad operated a heritage railroad known as the Finger Lakes Scenic Railway which offered passenger train excursions.
The Stourbridge Line is a shortline railroad that operates 25 miles (40 km) of former Erie Lackawanna Railroad trackage between Honesdale and Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, where it connects with Norfolk Southern Railway. The line was previously owned by the Lackawaxen-Honesdale Shippers Association and operated under contract by Robey Railroads. The operation was contracted to the Morristown & Erie Railway in January, 2009; service ended in 2011. Service was resumed by the Delaware, Lackawaxen & Stourbridge Railroad (DL&S) on May 9, 2015.
The ALCO Century 420 is a four-axle, 2,000 horsepower (1,491 kW) diesel-electric locomotive. 131 were built between June 1963 and August 1968. Cataloged as a part of ALCO's "Century" line of locomotives, the C420 was intended to replace the earlier RS-32 model.
The Central New York Railroad is a shortline railroad operating local freight service along ex-Southern Tier Line trackage in New York and Pennsylvania.
The Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad is a short-line railroad that operates freight trains in Western New York and Northwest Pennsylvania. The company is controlled by the Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad, with which it does not connect. It started operations in 2001 on the Southern Tier Extension, a former Erie Railroad line between Hornell, New York and Corry, Pennsylvania, owned by the public Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany and Steuben Southern Tier Extension Railroad Authority (STERA).
The ALCO RS-3m is a diesel-electric locomotive rebuilt from an ALCO RS-3 road switcher. These 98 locomotives were rebuilt to replace their original ALCO prime mover with the more reliable EMD 567B engine and fan assemblies taken from retired E8s. Many of these rebuilds were performed by the ex NYC DeWitt shop with 56 completed at the ex PRR Juniata shop. The RS3m rebuild program started in 1972 and continued until 1978 under Conrail.
The Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad Museum (RGVRRM) is an operating railroad museum located in Industry, New York, a hamlet within the town of Rush. The museum started in 1971 with the purchase of a former Erie Railroad Depot from the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. Since then the museum has grown to include a one-mile demonstration railroad, connecting it with the New York Museum of Transportation in Rush, making it one of the few operating railroad museums in New York State.
The Erie Western Railway was a Class III railroad operating in Illinois and Indiana from 1977 until 1979, operating a segment of the former Erie Lackawanna mainline that was not included in the Conrail Final System Plan.
The New York and Greenwood Lake Railway was a shortline railroad owned by James Wilson and based in Passaic, New Jersey. It operated primarily to service transfer station facilities for a few private companies, with a trans-load facility at its yard in Passaic. Cars ran on NYGL's trackage, the former Erie Railroad Dundee spur, to interchange with the Norfolk Southern Railway on New Jersey Transit's Bergen County Line in Garfield.
The Ontario Central Railroad is an American class III railroad company operating in Ontario County, New York. As of 2007, the ONCT has been under the ownership of the Finger Lakes Railway which is based in Geneva, New York.
The United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey, Inc. is a non-profit educational organization directed at supporting the preservation of New Jersey's historical railroad equipment and artifacts for the proposed New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center or in its absence, another railroad museum in New Jersey.
Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad and Coal Co. 38 is a preserved 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive. It was built by Baldwin in April 1927 for use on the Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad and Coal Company in south central Pennsylvania in the United States, which commonly used the locomotive to pull short-distance freight trains, as well as occasional passenger trains, until the railroad shut down operations in 1954. The locomotive was subsequently acquired by the Rail City Historical Museum in Sandy Creek, New York for static display. In the late 1960s, No. 38 was sold to the Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad in Lakeville, New York, who restored the locomotive to operating condition to pull their excursion trains. In 1977, the locomotive was sold again to the Gettysburg Railroad, which used the locomotive to pull their own tourist trains until 1986, when No. 38 was transferred to the Knox and Kane Railroad to be used there. The locomotive had been removed from service in 1989 for a long-term overhaul that was eventually completed, but it never returned to service for the Knox and Kane. After No. 38 fell victum to an arson-related roundhouse fire in 2008, it was sold at an auction to Alan Maples for the Everett Railroad. As of 2023, the Everett Railroad is restoring No. 38 to operating condition for use in excursion service alongside 2-6-0 No. 11.
