Niobe was a station in Chautauqua County, just east of the New York – Pennsylvania border, on the Erie Railroad‘s Meadville line. An 1875 inventory of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad (A&GW) noted that the station had previously been named “Allens” (sometimes called “Allen”) but was at that time named “Grant.” Sometime between 1893 and 1913 the name was changed again to “Niobe.”
I don’t know when passenger service to Niobe ended. The line serving the Niobe station was taken out of service on April 24, 1977 and abandoned in 1981.
Station Location
The station was located just west of the point where the original A&GW main line crossed Little Brokenstraw Creek and where the railroad crossed Niobe Road (also known as County Touring Road 12). The station area is currently the County Route 12 Parking Area for the Watts Flats Wildlife Management Area.
The Station
An 1870 inventory of the A&GW noted that the station at Allen’s was a “Passenger and Freight Depot, 80×25, frame building and well painted,” there was a “Wood House, 24×100, good” and that there was a siding with 1,570 feet of 56 pound rail. Interestingly, the same inventory referred to the station as “Grant” and noted that there were 433 cords of wood stored there, presumably in the wood house. It listed the furnishings in the station as “1 Desk, 1 Chair, 1 Ticket Case, 1 Ticket Stamp, 1 Clock, and 2 Lamps.” There was also 1 telegraph relay, 1 key, and 1 battery.
The 1875 inventory noted that the A&GW owned 3.44 acres of land in Grant and identified the following structures in the town:
Depot—80×25, Frame, stone foundation, shingle roof, one Passenger, Baggage, Office and Freight Rooms ; in good condition, except Office and Passenger Rooms need plastering.
2932 square feet of Platform, stone foundation, in good condition.
33×160 Wood Shed, stone foundation, in good condition.
25×18 Section House, L 12×16, needs painting, stone foundation board finish inside.
10×12 Hand Car House.
The Columbus and Erie Cutoff
In 1905 the Erie incorporated the Columbus and Erie Railroad to build a 13 mile long line between NE Junction, about a mile east of Niobe, to Columbus, PA. Though four miles longer than the original line built in 1861 by the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, it was much flatter and allowed the railroad to run heavier trains more quickly.
The Erie built NE Tower at NE Junction to control traffic between the original main line and new cutoff. The Niobe passenger station was on the original main line but the new cutoff passed through the town about 1/3rd of a mile south and east of the original line.
History of the Line
The line through Watts Flats was constructed by the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad (1861 – 1880), and was later operated by the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad (1880 – 1883), the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad (1883 – 1895), the Erie Railroad (1895 – 1960), the Erie Lackawanna Railroad (1960 – 1976), and the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail).
Station Photos
Clippings
Timetables
