East Aurora is a village in the town of Aurora, Erie County, NY. It was a stop on the Buffalo Line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
The East Aurora station appears on a 1909 map on the west side of the tracks just north of Main Street. The current station, which was built in 1917, is on the east side of the tracks, opposite of where the older station was located. A 1991 article in the Buffalo News said that the new station was built after Roycroft founder Elbert Hubbard complained to the railroad that he had a “better-looking pigsty” than the East Aurora depot.
In 1935, the tracks were elevated to allow traffic on the streets to cross under the tracks, making them safer and improving traffic flow. The postcard below shows the original alignment while the 1935 photo was taken just after the tracks were raised.
History
The Buffalo and Washington Railway reached East Aurora in late 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.
In addition to long distance trains from Buffalo south to places like Washington, DC, the Pennsylvania Railroad operated a commuter train service between Buffalo and East Aurora. Passenger service on the line lasted until 1973 when the Penn Central Railroad stopped service on the line.
There have been a number of railroad accidents in East Aurora over the years, including on July 18, 1893 when a 12-car excursion train returning to Buffalo from Lime Lake ran through an open switch into the turntable pit in East Aurora.
Clippings
Station Photographs
Other Photographs
Maps
Timetables
Learn More
- Aurora Town Historian. Facebook page.
- Jandura, Greg. “Into the Pit” Information about the 1893 train wreck in East Aurora.
- Riley Street Station. “Our History“
- Wikipedia. “East Aurora, New York“