- Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad
Infobox SG rail
railroad_name=Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad
logo_filename=
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locale=Buffalo, NY toNiagara Falls, NY
start_year=1834
end_year=
old_gauge=
hq_city=The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad was a part of theNew York Central Railroad system, connectingBuffalo, New York to Niagara Falls. It is still used byCSX for freight andAmtrak for passenger service.History
The Buffalo and Black Rock Railroad was chartered in 1833 and opened in 1834, operating a
horse-powered line from downtown Buffalo north to Black Rock, now the east end of the International Bridge. The line was mostly built on state land next to theErie Canal .The Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad was incorporated in 1834 to take over the Buffalo and Black Rock and extend it north and northwest to Niagara Falls. Construction began in August 1836, and included a replacement of the low-quality rails of the horse-drawn line. By 1837 the extension to Tonawanda was completed, and around 1840 the rest of the way to Niagara Falls opened.
In or soon after 1852, the new Erie Street terminal was built in downtown Buffalo, along with a relocation of the tracks near downtown to the west side of the Erie Canal.
In 1853 the newly-formed
New York Central Railroad leased the Buffalo and Niagara Falls, which at the time did not connect to any other NYC lines. It was merged into the NYC in 1855.Tonawanda also served as a junction with several other lines. The
Canandaigua and Niagara Falls Railroad opened to Tonawanda in 1853, and in 1854 built a connection from the Niagara Falls end of the Buffalo and Niagara Falls to theNiagara Falls Suspension Bridge intoCanada . The New York Central bought the Canandaigua and Niagara Falls in 1858. TheBuffalo and Lockport Railroad opened in 1854, connecting the Buffalo and Niagara Falls at Tonawanda to the NYC'sLockport and Niagara Falls Railroad at Lockport.The Junction Railroad opened in 1871, finally connecting the Buffalo and Niagara Falls at Black Rock to the
New York Central and Hudson River Railroad main line via a bypass of downtown Buffalo. In 1873 a connection was built downtown (partly using a short piece of theLake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway ), forming a complete loop, known as theBuffalo Belt Line . The old Erie Street station was sold to theGrand Trunk Railway , and NYC trains now used the Exchange Street station, which had been used since 1842 by the NYC's main line.The International Bridge opened in 1874, connecting the Buffalo and Niagara Falls at Black Rock to
Ontario, Canada .Between 1900 and 1943, a realignment was made in southern Tonawanda, eliminating a bridge over the
Erie Canal (Tonawanda Creek ). The new longer alignment turned east south of downtown, and then north parallel to theErie Railroad 'sSuspension Bridge and Erie Junction Railroad , merging with the oldCanandaigua and Niagara Falls Railroad south of its bridge over the canal.Between 1948 and 1962, a bypass of Niagara Falls was built. This left the old alignment about halfway from Tonawanda and headed north to the NYC's old
Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad , where trains turned west to Niagara Falls. The old alignment was abandoned, and part of it was used in 1970 for theLaSalle Expressway .The line passed into the hands of
Penn Central in 1968 andConrail in 1976, by then known as theNiagara Branch . The 1998 Conrail breakup assigned the Buffalo-Niagara Falls line toNew York Central Lines LLC, a subsidiary ofCSX . CSX operates it, along with the old connection to the New York Central main line, and the connection to theWhirlpool Rapids Bridge andMichigan Central Railway Bridge (via the oldRochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad ), as theirNiagara Subdivision .Amtrak 's Empire Service and Maple Leaf carry passengers along the full line, the latter continuing toToronto, Canada .ee also
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New York Central Niagara River Railroad , a short branch north of Black RockReferences
* [http://www.earlpleasants.com/search_1.asp Railroad History Database]
* [http://www.buffalohistoryworks.com/ptracks/ Past Tracks: A Queen City Built by Rail]
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