Vandalia and South Vandalia are hamlets in the town of Carrollton, NY. There were railroad stations using both names in the two hamlets.
Erie Railroad
Vandalia was a station on the Erie Railroad between Carrollton and Allegany stations. I have not been able to find any photos of the station and the only reference I could find to its location was one Erie Railroad valuation map that shows the depot on the south side of the tracks just east of Canfield Street, currently named N 9 Mile Road.
Passenger service to Vandalia appears to have stopped in 1931 or 1932. The station appears on a September 1931 Erie Railroad timetable but is missing from timetables starting in September 1932.
Other Photographs
Maps
Timetables
Pennsylvania Railroad
Vandalia, or sometimes South Vandalia, was a station on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s River Line that started in Olean and passed through Salamanca. The station was likely built around 1882/1883 when the line was completed and was named “South Vandalia.” In 1899 it was renamed as “Vandalia” station. I am not sure, but I believe it was located where the tracks crossed the road just north and west of the “S” in “South Vandalia” in the topographic map above.
The line was first constructed 1882 or 1883 by the Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Western Railroad and was operated by the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railway / Railroad (1882 – 1887), Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad / Railway (1887 to 1900), and the Pennsylvania Railroad (1900 – 1962). The line was abandoned by the PRR in 1965 when parts of it were submerged during the building of the Kinzua Reservoir.
I am not sure when passenger service to Vandalia and the rest of the River Line ended. I found a March 2, 1932 article that mentions that the Pennsylvania Railroad had discontinued sleeper cars on the River Line north of Oil City. A 1934 Official Guide timetable showed passenger service on the line, a single train each way between Olean and Oil City.
Other Photographs
Maps
Timetables
South Vandalia and State Line Railroad
The very short-lived South Vandalia and State Line Railroad connected to the Western New York and Pennsylvania, which later became the Pennsylvania Railroad, at South Vandalia.
Western New York and Pennsylvania Traction Company
The Western New York and Pennsylvania Traction Company was an electric railroad that operated in Western New York and Northwest Pennsylvania. In 1906 the company expended from Olean west to Salamanca and Little Valley, including a station in Vandalia. The trollies operated for just over 20 years, with service ending in 1927.
The railroad had a stop in Vandalia, but I don’t know if they had a station building or just dropped off and picked up at a specific location.
Clippings
Other Things
Learn More
- Wikipedia. “Allegany, New York“