New York Railroad Archive

Erie and New York City Railroad

Among the earliest supporters of the New York and Erie Railroad were prominent Jamestown residents who lobbied for the railroad to go through their town. Unfortunately, after much debate, the route chosen by the railroad bypassed Jamestown by 35 miles in favor of Salamanca, Dayton and Dunkirk.

After being snubbed by the New York and Erie, a meeting was held on June 27, 1851 in Jamestown and on June 30, 1851 a petition for a charter for the Erie and New York City Railroad was published. The road was to be built from West Salamanca, through Randolph and Jamestown, to the Pennsylvania state line. Work began on the line began in Randolph on May 19, 1853 and was abandoned on January 5, 1855 for lack of funds.

An 1866 book entitled “The Atlantic and Great Western Railway” includes the following description of the Erie and New York City Railroad:

In September, 1850, a meeting of public-spirited citizens was held at Jamestown, N. Y., to discuss the project of building abroad from the mouth of Little Valley Creek (now known as Salamanca), a point on the Erie Railway 414 miles from New York, to the city of Erie, Pa.

The attention of the directors of the New York and Erie Railroad, and others interested in that line of road, had been frequently called to the importance of extending their road to the harbor of Erie; and the route via Randolph and Jamestown, N. Y., was represented as being very feasible.

Such men as Hon. B. Chamberlain, and T.S. Sheldon, Esq., of Randolph, N. Y. ; Col. A.F. Allen, Samuel Barrett, Esq., William Hall, Esq., Col. Henry Baker, and others, of Jamestown, N. Y., well known in Western New York for their energy and liberality in pushing forward needed public improvements, caused surveys of the route to be made in November and December, 1850. Nothing farther was done until July, 1851, when a company with the above title was formally organized, and in March, 1852, the line of road was located. In May, 1853, the whole line from Salamanca to Ashville, a distance of 38 miles, was under contract for construction, and the grading progressing favorably. On account of financial difficulties the work was very much retarded; still, the grading was pushed along with considerable energy until January, 1855, when all work was discontinued, the means of the company having become exhausted.

The “Centennial History of Chautauqua County” described the history of the Erie and New York City:

The Erie and New York City Railroad was organized in 1852, and during the summer of that year a line beginning at the New York and Erie Railroad in Cattaraugus County, was surveyed through Jamestown, Ashville and Sherman to intersect the Erie and North East Railroad, two miles beyond the state line between New York and Pennsylvania. The ceremony of breaking ground took place in Randolph. Cattaraugus County, May 19, 1853, in the presence of a large concourse of people. Speeches were made by the president of the company, Benjamin Chamberlain, Richard P. Marvin, Madison Burnell and William Metcalf of Erie, Pa. Work was commenced upon the railroad the same day where now is the village of Salamanca and in August at Jamestown. A little later work was commenced in the town of Harmony, and in December in Sherman.

In December, 1858, the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company of New York was organized at Jamestown … This road commenced in Cattaraugus County, where now is the village of Salamanca. The first thirty-eight miles of the Erie and New York City Railroad, extending from Salamanca to five miles west of Jamestown, was adopted thence it extended to a point near the southwest corner of the town of Harmony.

An 1879 History of Cattaraugus County, New York described the railroad:

The first meeting to promote the project was held at Jamestown, June 27, 1851, with Hon. Benjamin Chamberlain as President ; Samuel Barrett, of Jamestown, Daniel Williams, of Ashville, and T. S. Sheldon, Vice-Presidents ; and John Stewart, of Panama, and F. W. Palmer, of Jamestown, Secretaries. After the usual speeches had been made setting forth the superior advantages of the proposed route over that of the Erie Road , as a means of reaching Lake Erie, a committee was appointed to prepare articles of association , to superintend the organization of a company, and to ascertain the amount of subscriptions which could be obtained.

Several subsequent meetings were held. An organization was effected, under the name of the Erie and New York City Railroad, to build the road from West Salamanca, through Randolph and Jamestown, to Erie. Money was raised by subscription, and towns along the line were bonded in aid of the enterprise. On the 6th of May, 1853, a contract for most of the work east of Jamestown was awarded to Calvin T. Chamberlain & Co. A committee was appointed to attend a meeting of the Erie people at Sherman, and also a committee to close the contract with the Seneca nation of Indians, and to draw upon the treasurer for money to pay them. Ground was broken at Randolph on the 19th of May amid great rejoicings, and the people considered the road as assured. The Randolph Whig of that date, headed its announcement of the ceremonies with ” A RAILROAD AT LAST ; ” but in due time the funds of the company were all expended, and then came years of alternate hope and despair, until in July, 1857, at a meeting of the stockholders held at Jamestown, propositions were received from Messrs. Morton & Doolittle, acting for English capitalists, to build the road from the eastern terminus to the State line, there to connect with the Meadville Railroad of Pennsylvania. Nothing was immediately effected under this proposition, but in 1858 Sir Morton Peto, as the head of an English company, purchased the eastern end of the road, and it became merged in the Atlantic and Great Western Railway, organized as such Dec. 9, 1858.

On May 7, 1859 the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad Company of New York was chartered with William Reynolds as its president. One of the first actions of the A&GW was to purchase the Erie and New York City Railroad. According to the “First Annual Report of The Atlantic & Great Western Railway,” the A&GW assumed $14,000 of 7 percent bonds upon the purchase of the Erie and New York City and received 3 locomotives, 2 passenger cars, and 40 freight cars from the contractors building the Erie and New York City.

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