New York Railroad Archive

Falconer, NY

An annotated map showing the locations of the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad and Erie Railroad stations in Falconer, NY. Author’s illustration based on an 1881 map from Historic Map Works.

Falconer is a village east of Jamestown that was serviced by the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad and the Erie Railroad. It was sometimes referred to as “Dexterville.”

There were a number of railroad buildings in Falconer on both the Erie and DAV&P. The Erie Railroad and its predecessors had a passenger station, freight house, and an interlocking tower at the crossing with the DAV&P while the DAV&P had their passenger station a little bit north of the crossing, as seen on the map at the top of the page.

Clippings

Erie Railroad

History

The first railroad to enter Falconer was the Atlantic and Great Western (A&GW) Railroad which arrived in August 1860. It was succeeded by the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad (1880 – 1883), New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad (1883 – 1895), the Erie Railroad (1895 – 1960), the Erie Lackawanna Railroad (1960 – 1976) and Conrail (1976 – 1990).

The Buffalo and Jamestown Railroad reached Falconer in the summer of 1875 and their track was parallel to and north of the A&GW. The Buffalo and Jamestown was bankrupt by 1877 when it was succeeded by the Buffalo and Southwestern Railroad, which itself was leased by the New York, Lake Erie and Western in 1880.

Erie Station

The Erie Railroad station in Falconer, NY circa 1909. The freight car on the right edge of the photo is on the track connecting the Erie Railroad with the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad. Photo from the Steamtown National Historic Site archives found on Rootsweb.com.
A westbound train at the Erie Railroad station in Falconer, NY in the early 1900s. The track in the foreground is the Erie’s Buffalo and Southwestern Branch and the parallel track in the background is the Erie main line between New York and Chicago. The tower in the background controls the crossings with the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad. Frewsburg.org Facebook group.
This map shows the location of the Erie Railroad passenger station and freight house and the Erie Railroad’s DV interlocking tower in Falconer, NY. This was before the southern-most line, the former Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, was relocated north directly next to the former Buffalo and Southwestern Railroad line. Author’s illustration from a 1919 Erie Railroad valuation map.

The Erie Railroad station was on the northwest corner of the junction between the Erie and DAV&P and was a stop on both railroads. On the Erie it was called “Falconer” or “DAV&P Crossing.” The DAV&P stopped at the Erie station and referred to it as “A&GW Crossing.”

Other Erie Railroad Photos

 

Erie Railroad Falconer Timetables

Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad

The Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad’s north-south line ran through Falconer on its way north to Dunkirk. The line was originally built by the Dunkirk, Warren and Pittsburgh Railroad, which on December 31, 1872 merged with the the Warren and Venango Railroad to form the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad. This company was leased to the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Company on January 3, 1873.

The Dunkirk, Warren and Pittsburgh Railroad reached Falconer on June 17, 1871 and the first passenger train over the line ran on June 22, 1871.

DAV&P Falconer Station

The DAV&P Falconer passenger station was located about a quarter-mile north of the junction. It was in service from 1871 until the end of passenger service on the line in 1937.

This 1912 postcard shows a Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh Railroad train stopped at their station in Falconer, NY. Frewsburg.org Facebook group.

DAV&P Falconer Timetables 

DV Junction and DV Tower

DV Junction was the name of the junction between the Erie Railroad and Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley and Pittsburgh (DAV&P) Railroad in Falconer. DV tower was an Erie Railroad tower that controlled traffic over the diamonds where the DAV&P track crossed the Erie.

There were two different DV Towers in separate physical locations. The movement of the tower was due to the changing of the Erie Railroad tracks where they crossed the DAV&P. The Atlantic and Great Western (A&GW) Railroad built the first tracks through the area in 1861. In 1875 the Buffalo and Jamestown Railroad, which became the Buffalo and Southwestern Railroad in 1877, built their tracks parallel to and about 80 feet north of the A&GW. By 1880 both railroads were part of the New York, Lake Erie and Western (NYLE&W) Railroad, commonly known as the Erie Railroad. The original DV Tower was built south of the A&GW track and east of the DAV&P track.

Sometime between 1919 and 1930 the Erie moved the former A&GW track next to the former B&SW track and built a new, stone tower to the south of the relocated A&GW track and east of the DAV&P track.

DV Tower was closed in 1987 and demolished a few years later.

A westbound Erie Lackawanna freight train passes DV tower in Falconer, NY in the October 1970 photo by Don Coppola. rr-fallenflags.org

DV Tower Photographs

Learn More

  • Gustafson, Randall. “Railroading 101 at DV Tower“, Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum.
  • Youtube.com. “Glen Wigren Film : Salamanca to Jamestown“. This is a short (9 minute) part of a five-hour, three-DVD set from Revolution Video entitled “Erie-Lackawanna Legacy.” There are scenes from DV Tower in the Youtube video. It appears to be available on Railfan Depot and Pentrex Videos. I don’t make any money if you buy from either place, I am including the links in the hopes they are helpful to someone.