New York Railroad Archive

Depew, NY

An early 1900s photograph of the Erie Railroad station in Depew, NY. Steamtown National Park archives.

Depew is a village in Erie County and was a station on the Erie Railroad‘s Hornell to Buffalo line, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad‘s main line, the Lehigh Valley Railroad‘s main line, and the New York Central Railroad‘s main line.

Depew is inextricably linked to the railroads and was named after the President of the New York Central Railroad Chauncey M. Depew. Depew came to what was then a small rural community in 1893. He built the headquarters of the railroad in what was called “The New City of Depew.” He and a group of fellow investors formed the “Depew Investment Company” and purchased 1,000 acres of land north and south of the NYC tracks to sell industrial sites, and homes for workers near their jobs. The location was close to Buffalo, then the second most important railroad city in the country, and four major railroads passed through the area giving manufacturers easy access to raw materials and the ability to ship their finished products out.

A number of railroad-related industries were located in Depew, including the New York Central Locomotive Works, National Car Wheel Works, and the Gould Coupler Company.

For a much more detailed history of Depew and its railroads, see Scott MP Hawbaker’s great “THE NEW CITY OF DEPEW” on Trainweb.com.

Detail of a 1905 topographic map showing the routes of the Erie Railroad (green), Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (blue), Lehigh Valley Railroad (red), and New York Central Railroad (yellow) through Depew and Lancaster, NY. Author’s illustration based on a 1905 topographic map.

Erie Railroad

The Erie Railroad station was just to the east of Transit Road.

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad

I am not sure where the DL&W station in Depew was located.

The line through Depew was built in 1882 by the New York, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, which was leased by the DL&W immediately after the line was built. The DL&W operated the line until 1960 when the it merged with the Erie Railroad to form the Erie Lackawanna Railroad.

The last passenger train operated over the line on June 30, 1962. 

The DL&W track from through Depew was operated by the Erie Lackawanna (1960 – 1976), Conrail (1976 – 1989) and the Depew, Lancaster & Western Railroad (1989 – present).

Lehigh Valley Railroad

The Lehigh Valley Railroad Depew station was just to the west of Transit Road in Depew.

A 1916 photo of the Lehigh Valley Railroad station in Depew, NY. The Village of Depew, NY page on Facebook.
A photo of the Lehigh Valley Railroad station in Depew, NY. David Daruska, Facebook.com.
A 1915 drawing of the Lehigh Valley Railroad station in Depew, NY. ebay.com.

Just to the west of the LV station was Niagara Junction, where the East-West main line traffic could go north on the Niagara Falls branch to Tonawanda Junction, and then onto New York Central tracks over the suspension bridge into Canada.

New York Central Railroad

Like the Lehigh Valley, the New York Central’s Depew station was just west of Transit Road.

A photo of the New York Central Railroad depot in Depew, NY. Village of Depew Facebook page.
A 1919 photo of the New York Central station in Depew, NY. Western New York Railway Historical Society collection. Found on New York Central Railroad Fangroup on Facebook.

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