New York Railroad Archive

Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway

The route of the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway in New York State. Author’s illustration.

The Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway was primarily a coal hauling railroad which ran from the coal fields of central Pennsylvania to the ports of Rochester and Buffalo. In Western New York, the lines formed a “Y” shape connecting Buffalo, Rochester, and Salamanca. The line ran north from Salamanca to Ashford Junction where it split and continued to Rochester and Buffalo. The company also operated the seven mile long Silver Lake branch from Silver Springs to Perry.

The BR&P was a major hauler of coal and operated the railroad car ferries Ontario No. 1 and Ontario No. 2 to haul coal from Rochester to Cobourg, Ontario, Canada.

History 

The history of the BR&P has three main eras: the Rochester and State Line Railroad (1869 – 1881), the Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad (1881 – 1885), and the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway (1887 – 1932).

The actual corporate history of the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway is more complex than covered below and includes a number of “paper railroads” that were chartered and raised money but who did not lay any track or operate any trains. I didn’t include the in this summary, though there is a discussion of them in the pages for the specific railroads. For those that are interested in the details, please see the Corporate History of the BR&P page.

Rochester and State Line Railroad (1869 – 1881)

The predecessors of the BR&P in New York State began on October 6, 1869 when New York State granted a charter to the Rochester and State Line Railroad from Rochester south through Scottsville, Caledonia, Perry, Castile, Portageville, Belfast, Belmont and Wellsville on its way to the Pennsylvania state line. Shortly after it was chartered, vast coal deposits were discovered near Ridgeway, Pennsylvania. In 1872 the Rochester & State Line changed its charter to make Salamanca its southern terminus.

The Rochester and State Line began building the line from Rochester to Salamanca in 1873. The railroad completed the line and began operations on its full length in 1878.

Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad (1881 – 1885)

On January 20, 1881 the Rochester and State Line Railroad was sold to a New York syndicate which incorporated the Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad on January 29, 1881. The Rochester and Pittsburg built the Buffalo to Ashford line in 1883.

By 1885 was bankrupt and was sold on October 16, 1885 to Adrian Iselin, one of the directors of the R&P. It was broken into the Pittsburgh and State Line Railroad, which operated in Pennsylvania, and the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad which operated the New York sections.

Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway (1887 – 1932)

On March 10, 1887 the two companies were reunited as the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway. The BR&P continued until January 1, 1932 when it was purchased by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

Silver Lake Railway (1910 – 1932)

In New York State, the BR&P operated the Silver Lake Railway, which it purchased in 1910.

Lines and Stations 

The BR&P operated two major lines and one branch in New York State.

Operations

An 1888 report noted that the BR&P had been given an extension until January 1, 1889 to comply with the provisions of chapter 189 of the laws of 1888, in respect to heating its passenger cars other than by a stove or furnace kept Inside the car. The reason given by the railroad was that

the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh was much delayed by its connecting lines not deciding promptly what style or method of steam heating should be adopted.

That the company, as soon as this question was decided, at once entered into a contract with the Martin Anti-fire Car Heater Company, for the purchase of its apparatus, and many of the cars of this company are already furnished with the same.

That owing to the limited equipment of the company, not more than one or two cars can be spared from service at the same time to be fitted with the apparatus.

News Clippings

Locomotive Photographs

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Maps

Timetables

Employee Magazines

Like many railroads, the BR&P published an internal magazine for its employees featuring stories about the railroad, places it served, and people who worked for it. Google Books has nine years (1912 – 1920) of digitized BR&P Employee magazines:

Railroad Annual Reports

Google Books has digitized versions of BR&P’s annual reports from 1888 to 1920 that can be viewed online and downloaded. The reports form 1921 – 1923 can be viewed and each page can be downloaded, but the entire report can’t be downloaded together.

Other Information

Learn More

Books

  • Paul Pietrak. 1979. “Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway.” This is a great reference and the source of most of my information. 
  • Mike Zollitsch. 2004. “Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway In Color, Volume 1: New York” has some great pictures of the BR&P in Western New York.  
  • William Fries has two books of interest to the BR&P fan.  His “Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Stations and Towers along the Niagara Division” has many pictures of BR&P stations and other buildings in WNY.  His “Train Wrecks & Disasters, A Pictorial & Chronological History As Reported by the Press” contains newspaper articles on various wrecks on the BR&P and predecessors.

Articles

  • Robert R. Rothfus. 1968. “More About Locomotives of the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway” Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin Number 119.
  • C.F.H. Allen, Date Unknown. Article on the history of the BR&P. Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin Number 81.
  • C. E. Fisher, Date Unknown. Roster of BR&P Locomotives.  Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin Number 84.

Online Resources