New York Railroad Archive

Buffalo and Jamestown Railroad

Map showing the route of the Buffalo and Jamestown Railroad. Author’s illustration.

History

The Buffalo and Jamestown Railroad company was organized on March 4, 1872 with the aid of one million dollars from the city of Buffalo and another million dollars donated by towns along the line. Work commenced rapidly and the company built 25 miles of track in 1873, 5 miles in 1874, and the remaining 36.5 miles in 1875. The road was completed from Buffalo to Gowanda by October 20, 1874. At Dayton, the track passed under the tracks of the Erie main line from Salamanca to Dunkirk and continued south to Jamestown. The road was opened in sections and was completed in October 1875.

The road was never financially successful and on September 7, 1876 a group of investors sued to foreclose on a 2.5 million dollar mortgage take out by the company in 1863. The company was sold at auction in Buffalo on September 11, 1877 by George S. Wardell, the referee in the suit of “The Farmers’ Loan and Trust Company against the Buffalo and Jamestown Railroad Company and others” A bid of one million dollars (the only bid) was accepted and on December 11, 1877 the Buffalo and Southwestern Railroad was incorporated.

Broad Gauge or Standard?

Despite eventually becoming part of the Erie Railroad system, which was a wide-gauge (6 foot) railroad, the Buffalo and Jamestown was built as standard-gauge railroad. An 1874 “American Railroad Manual for the United States and the Dominion” lists the railroad as standard-gauge, as does the 1874 Poor’s Manual listing for the railroad. A December 12, 1879 newspaper article talking about the Buffalo and Southwestern Railroad noted that:

“As is well known, the Southwestern connects at Jamestown with the Atlantic and Great Western Railway, but owing to poor accommodations for transferring freight, and to the broad gauge of the latter, it has received but little assistance from this source. The Atlantic and Great Western Railroad has for some time past been in a sadly demoralized state, but its future now looks exceedingly promising. It is to be thoroughly reorganized, sold out, the receivership done away with, and its gauge narrowed to that of the Southwestern and Lake Shore”

Stations

Buffalo * Buffalo Creek (BC) Junction * Tifft Street Junction * West Seneca * Blasdell * Big Tree * Abbott’s Road * Hamburg * Water Valley * Eden Valley * Eden Center * North Collins * Lawtons * Collins * Gowanda * Dayton * Markhams * South Dayton/Pine Valley * Cherry Creek * Conewango * Waterboro * Kennedy * Falconer * Jamestown

Facilities

An 1881 map shows the Buffalo and Southwestern Railroad having a small engine house and turntable in Jamestown, as shown below. I do not know if this was built by the Buffalo and Jamestown or by its successor, the Buffalo and Southwestern.

Locomotive Roster

  • Buffalo & Jamestown #1, 4-4-0, built November 1872 by Brooks Locomotive Works. Became Buffalo & Southwestern #1, Erie #41. Scrapped July 1896.
  • Buffalo & Jamestown #2, 4-4-0, built November 1872 by Brooks Locomotive Works. Became Buffalo & Southwestern #2, Erie #42. Scrapped December 1902.
  • Buffalo & Jamestown #3, 4-4-0, built December 1874 by Manchester. Became Buffalo & Southwestern #3, Erie #108. Scrapped October 1901.
  • Buffalo & Jamestown #4, 4-4-0, built April 1875 by Manchester. Became Buffalo & Southwestern #4. Scrapped October 1891.

Clippings

Timetables

Documents

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