The American Locomotive Company was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969.
The Interurban is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 and 1925 and were used primarily for passenger travel between cities and their surrounding suburban and rural communities. Interurban as a term encompassed the companies, their infrastructure, their cars that ran on the rails, and their service. In the United States, the early 1900s interurban was a valuable economic institution. Most roads between towns and many town streets were unpaved. Transportation and haulage was by horse-drawn carriages and carts. The interurban provided reliable transportation, particularly in winter weather, between the town and countryside. In 1915, 15,500 miles (24,900 km) of interurban railways were operating in the United States and, for a few years, interurban railways, including the numerous manufacturers of cars and equipment, were the fifth-largest industry in the country. By 1930, most interurbans in North America were gone with a few surviving into the 1950s. Oliver Jensen, author of American Heritage History of Railroads in America, commented that "...the automobile doomed the interurban whose private tax paying tracks could never compete with the highways that a generous government provided for the motorist."
Tower City Center is a large mixed-use facility in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio, on its Public Square. The facility is composed of a number of interconnected office buildings, including Terminal Tower, the Avenue shopping mall, Jack Cleveland Casino, Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, Chase Financial Plaza, and Tower City station, the main hub of Cleveland's four RTA Rapid Transit lines.
The Rochester Industrial and Rapid Transit Railway, more commonly known as the Rochester subway was a light rail rapid transit line in the city of Rochester, New York, from 1927 to 1956. The subway was constructed in the bed of the old Erie Canal, which allowed the route to be grade-separated for its entire length. Two miles (3.2 km) of the route through downtown were constructed in a cut-and-cover tunnel that became Broad Street, and the only underground portion of the subway. The Rochester Subway was designed to reduce interurban traffic on city streets, and to facilitate freight interchange between the railroads. The line was operated on a contract basis by New York State Railways until Rochester Transit Corporation (RTC) took over in 1938. The last day of passenger service was June 30, 1956. Portions of the right-of-way were used for expressway construction, while the rest was abandoned and filled in over the years. The largest remaining section is a stretch of tunnel under Broad Street from Exchange Street to the intersection of Court Street and South Avenue.
New York State Railways was a subsidiary of the New York Central Railroad that controlled several large city streetcar and electric interurban systems in upstate New York. It included the city transit lines in Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Oneida and Rome, plus various interurban lines connecting those cities. New York State Railways also held a 50% interest in the Schenectady Railway Company, but it remained a separate independent operation. The New York Central took control of the Rochester Railway Company, the Rochester and Eastern Rapid Railway and the Rochester and Sodus Bay Railway in 1905, and the Mohawk Valley Company was formed by the railroad to manage these new acquisitions. New York State Railways was formed in 1909 when the properties controlled by the Mohawk Valley Company were merged. In 1912 it added the Rochester and Suburban Railway, the Syracuse Rapid Transit Railway, the Oneida Railway, and the Utica and Mohawk Valley Railway. The New York Central Railroad was interested in acquiring these lines in an effort to control the competition and to gain control of the lucrative electric utility companies that were behind many of these streetcar and interurban railways. Ridership across the system dropped through the 1920s as operating costs continued to rise, coupled with competition from better highways and private automobile use. New York Central sold New York State Railways in 1928 to a consortium led by investor E. L. Phillips, who was looking to gain control of the upstate utilities. Phillips sold his stake to Associated Gas & Electric in 1929, and the new owners allowed the railway bonds to default. New York State Railways entered receivership on December 30, 1929. The company emerged from receivership in 1934, and local operations were sold off to new private operators between 1938 and 1948.
The Oneida Railway, which was an interurban rail, was established in 1907 when the New York Central Railroad electrified 49 miles (79 km) of the West Shore Railroad between Syracuse, New York and Utica, New York. The interurban railroad used nontraditional third-rail pickup for power instead of the typical overhead catenary. In 1909 the system merged with the New York State Railways system which remained in business until 1930.
The Syracuse and Binghamton Railroad was established on August 18, 1851, and opened for business on October 18, 1854. The road merged in 1856 into Syracuse and Southern Railroad which was renamed to Syracuse, Binghamton and New York Railroad when the company reorganized after foreclosure in 1857.
The Syracuse Rapid Transit Railway, an interurban rail, was chartered on May 21, 1896. The company was a consolidation of the Syracuse Street Railroad Company, the Syracuse Consolidated Street Railway Company and the People's Railroad Company which was formerly leased to the Syracuse Street Railroad Company.
The Rochester, Syracuse and Eastern Railroad, an interurban rail, began operations in 1906 and linked Rochester, New York, with the nearby towns of Newark, Egypt, Fairport and Palmyra. At its peak the railroad was 87 miles (140 km) in length and employed steel catenary bridges over much of the line to support the trolley wire. The railroad was owned by the Beebe Syndicate, and was the only one of its properties that was designed and constructed by the management group.
The Syracuse, Lake Shore and Northern Railroad, an interurban railway, was incorporated on September 9, 1905, after it was purchased by the Beebe Syndicate. The line ran from Syracuse, New York, to Baldwinsville, New York, a distance of 14 miles (23 km) with a short branch to the New York State Fair grounds ending at Long Branch Park west of the city for a total of 23.53 miles (37.87 km) of electric track.
The Empire State Railway, established in 1916, was an interurban railway that ran from Syracuse, New York, to Oswego, New York, a distance of 38 miles (61 km). Streetcar service on the route ran until 1931 when it was abandoned in favor of buses.
The Rochester and Syracuse Railroad was a double-track, high-speed line 87 miles (140 km) long that ran between Rochester and Syracuse, New York. The tracks paralleled the New York Central Railroad and the Erie Canal and had only one grade crossing with another railroad its entire length.
The Auburn and Syracuse Electric Railroad was an interurban rail that ran from Auburn, New York to Syracuse, New York, a distance of 24 miles (39 km). The railroad owned a total of 58 miles (93 km) of track which "was as fine as any in the state."
The Syracuse and South Bay Railway, also known as the Syracuse and South Bay Electric Railroad, incorporated on May 10, 1900, was an interurban rail that ran from Syracuse, New York, through Cicero to Lower South Bay on the south shore of Oneida Lake, a distance of 12 miles (19 km).
The Syracuse Northern Electric Railway, also known as the Syracuse and Northern Electric Railway, was an interurban rail that ran from Syracuse, New York, to Oswego, New York, a distance of 35.5 miles (57.1 km). The line also proceeded to South Bay, New York, on Oneida Lake.
The Syracuse, Lakeside and Baldwinsville Railway began operations in 1898 and provided service along the shore of Onondaga Lake outside of Syracuse, New York. Due to dependence on summer traffic, the company did not prosper during the remainder of the first year; however, during 1899, the rail was extended to Baldwinsville, a suburb, and the line began to handle daily commuter traffic.
The Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad was an electric interurban railway that was constructed between Rochester, New York, and Lockport, New York, connecting to the International Railway Co. at Lockport for service into Buffalo. Opened in 1909 as the Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester Railway, the route followed the Erie Canal and the New York Central Railroad's Falls Road branch for most of its length. For a brief period of time, the railway was part of the Beebe Syndicate of affiliated interurban railways stretching from Syracuse to Buffalo. Entering receivership in 1917, it was reorganized as the Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad in 1919. After years of struggling with declining revenue during the Depression years, the railway's last day of service was April 30, 1931.
The Beebe Syndicate was the name given to a group of electric streetcar and interurban railroads as well as construction and finance companies that shared common management based in Syracuse, New York. Founder Clifford D. Beebe (1866–1937) had returned to New York State after building up his career in the banking industry in Michigan. His first involvement with managing electric railways was presiding over the Syracuse and East Side Railway in 1894. After several years of involvement with various local streetcar lines, Beebe turned his attention to the development of electric interurban railways. Beginning in 1899, the Beebe Syndicate grew to control 28 individual companies at its height in 1915. By this time, many properties were placed in receivership due to overwhelming debt. Large parts of the Syndicate were sold into foreclosure in 1917, with the remaining lines reorganized independently. Beebe left the Syracuse area in 1919 and moved to New York City to pursue a career in real estate. He returned to Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1935 and died of a sudden heart attack in 1937.
The Newark and Marion Railway operated between Newark, New York, and Marion, New York. Chartered in 1900, it opened for business in 1906. The railroad was constructed by the Beebe Syndicate, a conglomeration of streetcar and interurban lines across New York State, though the Newark and Marion was never electrified. The company entered receivership in 1915, and control by the Beebe Syndicate ended. The railroad was reorganized as the Marion Railway Corporation in 1917. The Pennsylvania Railroad acquired the line in 1930. It continued to operate as a spur of the Elmira Branch through the Penn Central and Conrail eras. Operation passed to short line Ontario Midland Railroad in 1979. Dwindling freight traffic and deteriorating track conditions led to the line's closure in July 1984.
Chartered in 1904 by the Beebe Syndicate, the Auburn and Northern Electric Railroad connected the city of Auburn, New York, with the Rochester, Syracuse and Eastern Railroad at Port Byron, New York. The New York Board of Railroad Commissioners authorized construction and a $1 million mortgage to the A&N in 1905 so it could build 12 miles (19 km) of track between Auburn and Port Byron. Lease of the line to be used by A&N was negotiated at an Auburn and Syracuse Electric Railroad stockholders' meeting in May 1907. Construction of the line was contested by the Lehigh Valley Railroad who initiated a frog war when the A&N tried to build a crossing at its tracks; the A&N obtained an injunction and continued building. The railroad began operation in 1908. Lehigh Valley Railroad kept the crossing as a point of contention with an order from the railroad commission in 1909 requiring the A&N to install and operate derails at the crossing.
