Arcade & Attica Railroad Rare Mileage Trip 5/19/2010

by Chris Guenzler

Randy and I arose at Nellie's Arcade Village Hotel and after going to the store, had a good breakfast at Nellie's Family Restaurant. From here we drove to the public parking area behind a building across the street from the Arcade & Attica Railroad station and parked.

Right by where we parked was a railroad display.

Arcade & Attica 44 ton switcher 110 built by General Electric in 1941. This was the first new piece of equipment purchased by the Arcade & Attica which replaced the last steam locomotives used in regular freight service, making the A&A one of the first diesel-operated railroads in the United States.

Arcade & Attica box car 411, nee Baltimore and Ohio built in 1927 and acquired by the Arcade and Attica in 1967.

Arcade & Attica caboose 303, nee Susquehanna and New York 15. It was one of only three cabooses the railroad ever owned and served as the conductor's office on trains until the mid 1960's. The side baggage doors made loading mail and freight much easier. This is on loan from the family of Earl R. Rule. Mr. Rule purchased the caboose in 1980 from the Arcade & Attica Railroad. He spent many hours restoring the caboose so that people could enjoy and appreciate this historical piece of railroad history.

The rear of the train display.

The Arcade & Attica station built in 1830. From here I walked through the station and east three blocks to the engine house.

The Arcade & Attica engine house.

An Arcade & Attica freight train would be leaving town before our scheduled departure.

Arcade & Attica 65 ton switcher 112, nee United States Navy 65-00063 built by General Electric in 1945. After its Navy career, 112 went out to Colorado for switching work before being acquired by the A&A in 1988.

Arcade & Attica 2-8-0 18 built by American Locomotive Company in 1920 for stock. Later that year, it was sold as Charcoal Iron Company of America 18 at Newberry, Michigan, then in a corporate sale, became Newberry Iron 18. In 1946, it was sold to the Boyne City Railroad Company at Boyne City, Michigan and in 1962, was sold to Arcade & Attica Railroad Corporation.

Arcade & Attica 4-6-0 14, nee Escanaba and Lake Superior 14 built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1917. It was sold to the Arcade and Attica in 1963.

Arcade & Attica 44 ton switcher 111 built by General Electric in 1947 and was the last new locomotive that the railway purchased.

From here we walked back to the station to wait for our engine and then the freight train.

Arcade & Attica 111 heads for the front of our train.

The Arcade & Attica freight train headed north out of Arcade.

The active Arcade & Attica motive power in one picture.

Arcade & Attica 111 crossed New York Highway 39. I then boarded the open car for our trip this morning, which had a consist of Arcade & Attica 44 ton switcher 111, combine 305, coach 307 and open air car 300.

A Brief History

As railroads were stretching across the country, the farmers of Western New York saw the perfect opportunity for a link to the big cities. Many small organizations formed that began building railroads throughout the countryside. Despite many stops and starts, railroads were built stretching across the picturesque Allegheny River valley. When the Pennsylvania Railroad wanted to connect to Buffalo they found the best way to do so would be to purchase all the small incomplete railroads and link them together. As a result the Buffalo, Attica & Arcade Railroad was formed.

The narrow gauge line would connect Attica, through Arcade, to the Pennsylvania state line then onto Pittsburgh. In 1880 the line officially opened between Attica and Curriers Corners where our excursion stops today. The rails you ride on today were first spiked down in 1881 and standardized in 1895 to connect with the Pennsylvania Railroad. By 1917 the B.A.& A. Railroad was being operated by the Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad which was thinking of closing down this section of the line. The businessmen along the B.A.& A. were very concerned. The Merrell-Soule Company of Arcade (predecessor of the Borden Co.) operated a large milk processing plant and they along with others needed rail service. Facing closure, interested parties began to raise money needed to purchase the section of line. Stock was sold to farmers, merchants and anyone else who was interested. 365 people raised $79,000 and formed the Arcade and Attica Railroad Corporation – and our story begins. The small corporation still owns the railroad today.

This railroad has never been blessed with a lot of luck. In addition to many bankruptcies, numerous washouts have taken their toll on the tiny railroad. The largest of these washouts occurred in January 1957 when the Tonawanda Creek flooded its banks taking several hundred feet of track with it. At that time it would have cost $72,000 to repair the damage…an amount the stockholders could not afford. In an emergency session the Board of Directors voted to suspend all operations between North Java and Attica on January 25th. Nearly all of the freight business was between Arcade and North Java anyway so it was not a difficult decision. Permission was granted from the ICC and the line from North Java to Attica was abandoned.

The railroad has an active freight service which has transported milk, cheese, grain, cattle, gasoline, coal and mail. Thirteen boxcars were purchased especially for carrying "Cremora" all over the nation while the Arcade Borden's plant was in operation. The longest train ever operated by the A.& A. occurred in the 1920's when the line handled 50 cars of "New Improved Michigan Limestone" out of Attica. With engine 5 in the lead, cars were set off at each station along the way until the train arrived at Arcade with two engines and twenty five cars. The conductor on the special was Gus Berwanger, engineer – Simeon Kilton and Rube Roblie – fireman. One of the more interesting operations of the railroad was service to the Attica State prison. The Erie Railroad serviced that area but their engines were too big to get inside of the prison so the job came to the A&A with its smaller engines. No “extra” passengers ever took the train out of the prison due to the watchful eyes of the inspectors.

The 1930’s were boom years for the Arcade & Attica, so when the depression hit, they were able to stay afloat without laying off a single employee. Quite an enviable record! In 1941, with the advent of the diesel locomotive and the need to reduce expenses, the railroad purchased 110, a 44 ton General Electric diesel engine. The A.& A. became one of the very first railroads in the nation to conduct operations with diesel power! 110, the first new locomotive ever owned by the company, performed so well and cut expenses so drastically, that it literally saved the A.& A. in 1941. She became “famous”, becoming the subject of numerous ads in the trade papers.

In the late 1950's, freight business began to slide and something had to be done in order to save the short line. The decision was made to try steam powered passenger excursions. 18, a 1920 2-8-0 locomotive, was purchased in 1962 from the Boyne City Railroad in Michigan along with two Delaware, Lackawanna and Western coaches. The inaugural run was on July 27 1962 for railroad officials and the press. Regular summertime excursions began in August of the same year. During that first season of only 27 days, 17,000 paying passengers were carried in only two cars. The trains ran from morning to night. In 1963 14, a Baldwin 4-6-0 was purchased from the Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad and more Delaware, Lackawanna and Western coaches were purchased. The line came to be known as the "Grand Scenic Route".

Our Train Trip

Our train departed Arcade by reversing east for the rare mileage part of the trip first as we would initially go to Arcade Junction.

The Arcade & Attica engine house as seen from our train.

Arcade & Attica 2-8-0 18.

Arcade & Attica snow plow SP1.

Arcade & Attica coach 312, nee Delaware, Lackawanna and Western 600 built by Pullman in 1914.

Passing what was left of the wye.

Our train ran to New York Highway 39 where we were controlled by this signal.

Once the signal turned yellow, we were then allowed to cross the intersection.

We stopped the traffic on New York Highway 39.

Passing a grain elevator.

Nellie's Family Restaurant.

View as we reversed to Arcade Junction.

The train passed another old industry that no longer has rail service then reversed all the way to the property line with the Norfolk Southern line, now operated by the Buffalo and Pittsburgh, after which it was posed for pictures.

Before returning towards the train.