Arcade & Attica "Railfan Day"
May 21st, 1983
| By: John "Rainmaker" Baker - The Societies 3rd Annual "RaiIfans Day" on May 21st, 1983 was a great success. Mother Nature cooperated with us this year and gavc us a great day for the trip. Approximately 300 people from all over the northeast were on hand to enjoy the special steam powered excurslon. A&A's #14, a 4-6-0 Baldwin built in 1917 , pulled us out of the station shortly after 10:00am and we were on our way toward Arcade Junction. The first leg of of our journey took us over the last remaining portion of the former Buffalo & Susquehanna trackage in this area. Just west of the village we held our first photo run past. Here #14 put on an excellent display of steam power in action for the passengers and a local TV news team that had made the trip from Buffalo. Later that night, many of us watched our train on television. At Arcade Jct., #14 was put on the head end. With the beautiful weather, our photographers got some fantastic shots. |
 "©1972 John E. Helbok - From 1972 to ’78, John Helbok and his son, Oren, spent a month each summer on the road in search of steam, and in numerous places they walked into depots and enginehouses where John would stick out his hand to the first person they met, saying “John Helbok, here to take pictures for the Steam Directory.” And that got them access. For instance, they rode the cab of #14 with Cecil Lester. They visited the Arcade & Attica in 1972 and '75.
It took Oren more than forty years to get back to the A. & A. Imagine his delight to find, among the many wonderful historic photos hanging in the Arcade depot, this 11x14 sepia print of his father’s photo of their two locomotives outside the ancient wooden enginehouse - the print that he had given to the railroad on their second visit in 1975. This illustrates the trail of good will that John Helbok left behind him wherever he went. - Click to Enlarge photo") |
Returning to the A&A shops in Arcade, the railroad had all of their locomotive power outside and all passengers were given the opportunity to photograph this unique display of steam and diesel motive power. After a brief servicing and watering our train then passed the Arcade station again and started our trip toward North Java. Proceedlng over Cattaraugus Creek and on through the rolling hills of Wyoming County, we were soon along the banks of "Monkey Run" looking for beaver dams that glve the railroad so much trouble in the spring. |
| Regarding the above photo, read Oren Helbok's review of a trip he made back to the Arcade & Attica Railroad in 2017. "Back Home Again". |
| Just south of Curriers we made our second runpast and the passengers were given another excellent opportunity to photograph our special train from the low hills just west of the tracks. Our next stop was in Curriers, NY where we made our extended lunch stop. Passengers unloaded their picnics and ate lunch on the lawn of the station enjoying the scenery and sunshine. They also were able to tour the century old depot that is being restored by our Society and the displays that were set up for their convenience. Many of the passengers also took a tour of the locomotive that was offered. |
| Two whistle blasts from our engineer, gave us the signal to get back on board as we continued our journey Northward. In the farmland south of Java we made our third photo runpast. As usual #14 and the six coaches she was hauling made for some great photos and movie action. The local cows even joined into the action and thought that it was an excellent time to cross the tracks and head for the barn. Not many rail passengers can say that they have been on a train that was stampeaded by cows. |  "©1975 John E. Helbok - Engineer Cecil Lester in #14 - Click to Enlarge") |
| Our journey then continued over the freight only portion of the railroad towards North Java. In North Java at the northern end of the line, #14 was uncoupled and briefly serviced with water that was provided by the local North Java Fire Dept. Soon our train was reassembled and our train was ready to head back towards Arcade. Our trip back to Arcade was uneventful. Our passengers just sat back and relaxed watching the scenery slip past as we ran over the century old roadbed of the Arcade & Attica. Everyone had a very enjoyable day of railroading provided by the railroad. If you missed this trip , make sure you get on board for next years excursion. |
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