Buffalo and Lockport Railroad

Buffalo and Lockport Railroad

Overview
Dates of operation	1852 (1852)–1853 (1853)
Successor	New York Central Railroad
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Length	22 miles (35 km)
Route map

The Buffalo and Lockport Railroad was a railway company in the United States. It was incorporated in 1852 and completed a line between Buffalo, New York, and Lockport, New York, in 1853. The railroad was consolidated with nine other railroads later that year to form the first New York Central Railroad.

History

The Erie Canal opened in 1825. The community of Lockport, New York, grew up around a set of double locks built to traverse the Niagara Escarpment there. ^[1] The Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad, which connected Lockport with Niagara Falls, New York, opened in 1838. ^[2] The Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad acquired that company in 1850, closed the original route in 1851, and opened a new line, including an eastward extension to Rochester, New York, in 1852. ^{[3] [4]} The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad had completed a line between Buffalo, New York, and Niagara Falls in 1837. ^[5]

The Buffalo and Lockport Railroad was incorporated on April 29, 1852, to build a connection from the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad southwest to Buffalo. ^[6] The 22-mile (35 km) line opened in February 1853. ^[7] It met the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad in Tonawanda, and the two companies shared the same right-of-way from there to Buffalo. ^[8]

The Buffalo and Lockport Railroad was consolidated with nine other railroads to form the first New York Central Railroad on May 1, 1853. ^[9]

Notes

1. Roark et al. (2012), p. 325.
2. Yates (1950), pp. 31–32.
3. ICC (1930), p. 212.
4. Yates (1950), pp. 44–45.
5. "Principal Railways in operation in the United States in 1837". The Railway Magazine . Vol. 5, no. XXXII. 1839. pp. 302–303.
6. Stevens (1926), pp. 236–237.
7. "Untitled". Rochester Daily American . February 5, 1853. p. 2. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
8. Stevens (1926), p. 237.
9. ICC (1930), pp. 211–212.

References

• Interstate Commerce Commission (1930). Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States. Valuation reports. Vol. 27. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
• Roark, James L.; Johnson, Michael P.; Cohen, Patricia Cline; Stage, Sarah; Hartmann, Susan M. (2012). The American Promise, Volume I: To 1877: A History of the United States. Bedford/St. Martin's. ISBN   978-0-312-66313-1.
• Stevens, Frank Walker (1926). The Beginnings of the New York Central Railroad: A History. New York: G. P. Putnam.
• Yates, Raymond F. (1950). The old Lockport and Niagara Falls Strap Railroad. Lockport, New York: Niagara County Historical Society. OCLC   11465531.

Further reading

• Klein, Aaron E. (1985). New York Central (1st ed.). New York: Bonanza Books. ISBN   978-0-517-46085-6.