Medina, NY was a station on the New York Central Railroad‘s Falls Branch which ran between Rochester and Suspension Bridge (Niagara Falls), NY and a station on the Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad electric line.
The former freight house is now the home of the Medina Railroad Museum. The museum web site describes the building and a summary of the railroad history of the town.
The building is the second New York Central Freight House built in this location. The building is one of the longest wooden structures built by New York Central, coming in at 301 feet long by 35 feet wide. The current freight house was completed in 1905, and ran as a passenger station and freight for three years until the current passenger station (located across West Avenue) was completed in 1908. The freight house was one of the main distribution centers for Western New York. The building became inactive in 1963, with the decline of the New York Central; it was sold to the Hickey’s Furniture Store. They ran their storage and The Village Square Furniture store here, when in 1991 they decided to retire and put it up for sale and our founder, Martin “Marty” Phelps, bought the property to begin the future of the Medina Railroad Museum.
The 1908 passenger depot is still standing and is used as a senior center.
New York Central Railroad
History
The Rochester and Lockport Railroad was chartered on May 15, 1837, but little was done except for some grading and bridge construction. A reorganized company, the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad was granted a state charter in 1850 and the nearly 76 mile long railroad between Niagara Falls and Rochester by way of Lockport was opened to traffic in 1852. The following year the line came under the control of the New York Central Railroad where is was known as the Falls Branch or the Falls Road.
The line was operated by the New York Central (1852 – 1968), the Penn Central Railroad (1968 – 1976), and Conrail (1976 – 1996). On October 15, 1996 the Falls Road Railroad, which is owned by the Genesee Valley Transportation Company, acquired the line from Lockport to Brockport, NY from Conrail.
Station Photographs
Timetables
Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad
The Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester Railway was an electric interurban railway that opened on November 17, 1908 between Rochester and Lockport, which it connected to the International Railway Company for service into Buffalo. In 1917 the company was reorganized as the Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad. The company ran until April 30, 1931 when the company folded and the line was abandoned.
Timetables
Clippings
Maps
Other Items
Learn More
- Medina Railroad Museum
- New York Central Railroad. 1917. New York Central Railroad, Valuation Section 86, map 40. National Archives collection.
- Facebook. Medina Historical Society (Medina, NY)