The New York Central was a major force in Western New York railroading and operated a number of lines in the region. The 1900 map above shows the trackage owned by the company in red and the railroads that it leased and operated in other colors.
History
The New York Central Railroad was formed on March 17, 1853 by the consolidation of a number of smaller railroads between Albany and Buffalo. In 1867 Cornelius Vanderbilt gained control of the New York Central Railroad and on November 1, 1869 he merged it with his Hudson River Railroad to form the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad.
On February 1, 1968 the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad joined with its arch-rival, the Pennsylvania Railroad, to form the Penn Central Railroad. The Penn Central was never successful and on April 1, 1976 it was absorbed into the new Consolidated Railroad Corporation (Conrail).
For more details, see the New York Central Railroad Corporate History page.
Lines
- Main Line – Syracuse to Buffalo
- Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway – Buffalo to Pennsylvania State Line
- Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad – Dunkirk to Pennsylvania State Line via Falconer
- New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate) – Buffalo to Pennsylvania State Line
- Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad
- The “Hojack Line” – Oswego to Niagara Falls
- Fall Brook Railway – Lyons to Pennsylvania State Line
- West Shore Railroad – Syracuse to Buffalo
- Auburn Branch (or “Auburn Road”) – Syracuse to Rochester
- Falls Road Branch – Rochester to Niagara Falls
- Buffalo Belt Line
- Niagara Branch – Buffalo to Niagara Falls
- Buffalo to Lockport Branch
- Canandaigua Branch – Canandaigua to Batavia
- Tonawanda Branch – Tonawanda to Batavia
- Attica Branch – Batavia to Attica
Employee Timetables
Learn More
Listed below are some other good sources of information about the railroad.
More to come!