Ebenezer, NY

A portion of a 1909 map showing the Pennsylvania Railroad station and yard at Ebenezer, NY. The Street running north-south in the center of the map is Union Road. Century Map Company. 1909. “Erie County, 1909, Middle Ebenezer, Greymont, Lower Ebenezer.” Historic Map Works.

Ebenezer is a hamlet in the town of West Seneca, Erie County, New York that was named after the Ebenezer Society, a group of German Lutherans who purchased land and settled this area around 1843.

Ebenezer was a station on the Buffalo Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Ebenezer station was located just to the east of Union Road on the south side of the tracks, though I have not been able to find a photo of it.

Ebenezer was also the site of a large Pennsylvania Railroad yard, including a roundhouse and other locomotive repair and service facilities. The railroad’s West Seneca Branch connected to Buffalo Line just east of the Ebenezer station and yard.

The Buffalo, Gardenville and Ebenezer Railway, an electric line, also served Ebenezer.

History

The Buffalo and Washington Railway reached Ebenezer in 1868. In 1872 the company was renamed as the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railway. The line was operated by the Buffalo and Washington (1870 – 1872), the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railway (1872 – 1887), the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad (1887 – 1895), the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway (1895 – 1900), the Pennsylvania Railroad (1900 – 1968), the Penn Central Railroad (1968 – 1976), Conrail (1976 – 1999) and the Norfolk Southern Railroad (1999 – 2007). In 2008 Norfolk Southern leased the segment from Buffalo to Machias Junction to the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad.

The roundhouse at the Ebenezer Yard, also referred to as “Seneca Yard”, was closed in 1968 with the merger of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad. It still stands and is used by Ebenezer Railcar Services to build and refurbish rolling stock for railroad customers.

Clippings

Station Photographs

Other Photographs

Pennsylvania Railroad locomotives 4223 and 6003 in the Ebenezer Yard in West Seneca, NY on January 27, 1968. Photo posted by the user “vakmont” on trainorders.com.

A view looking east from the Union Road overpass showing the Pennsylvania Railroad yard in Ebenezer, NY. The passenger station was just out of the frame on the right side of the photograph. Posted by Raymond Storey in the Facebook “Pennsylvania Railroad” group.

A view looking west from the Union Road overpass showing the Pennsylvania Railroad yard in Ebenezer, NY. Posted by Raymond Storey in the Facebook “Pennsylvania Railroad” group.

Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive 1753 at the roundhouse in the Ebenezer, NY yard circa 1957-1959. Theo Cherry photo posted by Nathan Vester in the Facebook “Abandoned Rails – Buffalo & Western New York” group.

Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive 3704 on its side near the railroad’s yard in Ebenezer, NY on April 6, 1945. This photo is looking east toward Buffalo from the Union Road overpass. From the Key, Lock and Lantern archives collection, posted to the Facebook “Key Lock & Lantern – Railroad, Transportation & Industrial History” page.

Pennsylvania Railroad 4-8-2 locomotive number 6968 in the deadline at Ebenezer Yard on June, 1955. Photo posted by Alan Biesenkamp in the Facebook “Pennsylvania Railroad” group.

Pennsylvania Railroad 2-8-0 Class H9sa locomotive number 7109 at Ebenezer, NY. ca. 1939. Photo posted by Matthew Fruhschien on the Facebook “Old Images of the American Railroad” page.

Pennsylvania Railroad number 9450, a Fairbanks-Morse cab unit, at the roundhouse in Ebenezer, NY in November 1958. Photo posted by Theo Cherry in the Facebook “Abandoned Rails – Buffalo & Western New York” group.

Pennsylvania Railroad “Shark” locomotive number 9704 at Ebenezer, NY, June 10, 1955. Paul W Prescott photo, posted by Craig Garver in the Facebook “Pennsylvania Railroad” group.

Maps

Detail of a 1952 Pennsylvania Railroad Central Region map showing the lines in Western New York. Pennsylvania Railroad. 1952. Found on Multimodalways.com.

Timetables

A timetable effective October 21, 1868 on the Buffalo and Washington Railway. Evening Courier & Republic. Buffalo, NY. October 20, 1868.

A July 3, 1881 timetable of trains between Eldred, PA and Buffalo, NY on the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railway. The Official Railway Guide, January 1882, p. 77. Found on Google Books.

A May 3, 1891 timetable of trains on the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad Buffalo Division. Traveler’s Official Guide, June 1891. Google Books.

A June 1897 timetable of trains on the Buffalo Division of the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad. Travelers Official Guide of the Railway and Steam Navigation Lines, October 1897. Found on Google Books.

A timetable of trains on the Pennsylvania Railroad Buffalo Line effective November 29, 1903. Travelers Official Guide of the Railway and Steam Navigation Lines, February 1904. Found on Google Books.

Part of a 1908 Pennsylvania Railroad passenger timetable showing the line from Buffalo, NY to Emporium PA. eBay.

A timetable of commuter trains on the Pennsylvania Railroad between Buffalo and East Aurora, NY effective September 30, 1923. Scan posted by the Aurora Town Historian on their Facebook page.