| The Buffalo Creek Railroad was founded in 1868, incorporated in 1869 and was jointly leased and controlled by the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company and the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company, a predecessor of the Erie Railroad Company. By 1969 the railroad was located on 5.66 miles of land in South Buffalo with 34.23 miles of total track.(1) The "Crik" was the major workhorse for the grain industry and many other industries in Buffalo. It was the liaison between this section of the city and at least seven major railroads that served nearly all of Buffalo's grain elevators -- those not controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad and others. The "Flour Sack" logo on its fleet of over 1700 (2) company owned 40 foot boxcars was recognized all over the eastern United States. |  |
 "1930's photo of the Buffalo Creek railroad in South Buffalo colorized by Angelo Voltura. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
A busy section of Buffalo's "First Ward" is alive and well in this colorized image by Angelo Voltura (source unknown) from the early 1930's. A Buffalo Creek Railroad switch engine is making a delivery to one of the many prolific industrial warehouses on Ganson Street near the foot of Michigan Avenue. The General Mills "Gold Meadow Flour" elevator can be seen in the upper left corner of this image. The stake truck in the foreground is likely loaded with sacks of flour or some other type of grain product. |
| Nearby, at what was known as "Buffalo Jct." on the Nickel Plate Road, we see an 0-8-0, No. 291 in action. Society member John Slater, Director Emeritus of the Nickel Plate Road Historical & Technical Society, was gracious enough to share this great photo of a Class C-1a steam locomotives assigned to switching duties in the area between the Abbott Road outbound yard to the north and inbound Tifft Yard to the south (timetable west) - as well as movements in and out of the DL&W's Smith Street Transfer Yard. |  "©1950 - NKP #291 - from the collection of Tom Gascoigne. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
| C-1a No. 291 was originally constructed in the Wheeling & Lake Erie's Brewster, Ohio shops as W&LE No. 5111 in 1929 and became Nickel Plate 2nd #281 in February of 1951. It served inBuffalo until being transferred to Brewster, where it was laid up in July of 1957. This roster work horse was sold to Luntz Iron & Steel on November 13, 1958. This image from a 35mm slide, is in the collection his long-time friend and colleague Tom Gascoigne, and in Johns' opinion, quintessential Buffalo. |
| The Buffalo Creek was an all steam railroad up until 1939 when its first two diesels arrived. The railroad bought two new Electro-Motive Corporation SW 600hp Winton 201-A engines built in 1938 and they became BCK #40 and #41. In the spring of 1940, the Buffalo Creek bought two more 600hp diesels. EMC SW1 #42 with an EMD 567 prime mover, arrived first followed by their first ALCO, HH660 #43 powered by a McIntosh & Seymour 538 engine.(4) The new diesel locomotives served the grain mills and many warehouses through tight curves and thousands of switches located along the Buffalo River. After the war, the BCRR evaluated the performance of the ALCO and its EMD counterparts, taking into consideration such items as percent of time in service, cost of maintenance, repairs and track handling. #43's reliability and the ease of quickly getting replacement parts swayed the railroad to place an order with ALCO in 1947 for four (#44, #45, #46 & #47) of their new 1000 horsepower ALCO 539 powered S-2 locomotives.(4) These were followed by four more used S2's and a used S4 up until 1956. The BCK remained an all ALCO railroad until its take-over by Conrail in 1976. |
| Road No. | Model | Build No. | Bld Date | Notes |
| 40 & 41 | EMC-SW | 679 & 750 | 12/38 | To Detroit Steel 111 &112, then Preston Duffy & Son, 2/69, then to MD Friedman Co. and scrapped (3) |
 "©1969 Courier Express 3/23/69 - 1939 photo of Buffalo Creek #40 in front of the Ohio Street engine house with its crew. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
To the left in this 1939 photo, we see BCK #40 shortly after its arrival in the Ohio Street yard with BCK #41 coupled behind. L/R Dan Kless, Charlie Ward, Fred Ernst, Walter Kraus and Bart O'Neil on the pilot proudly pose for this photo. On the right, Bill Volkmer caught #40 crossing Ohio Street in 1951. |  "©1939 - Bill Volkmer - Don Ross collection, photo of Buffalo Creek #40 in front of the Ganson Street engine house with its crew. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
| Road No. | Model | Bld No. | Bld Date | Notes |
| 42 | EMC-SW1 | 1026 | 3/40 | To Chicago SS & South Bend 601 in 1959; to Columbus & Greenville 514; then to Babcock & Wilcox (3) |
| Road No. | Model | Build No. | Build Date | Notes |
| 43 | ALCO HH660 | 69239 | 3/40 | To RELCO #606, 1966, on lease for 33yrs; to WNYRHS 3/2000 as 43, started 1st time 7/2016. |
 "©1950 - Richard Ganger, Buffalo Creek #43 at the old Ganson Street Engine house next to the Buffalo River in Buffalo, New York. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
As has been documented on all the Buffalo Creek #43 "Update" pages, the WNYRHS is dedicated to get #43 back on the mainline as soon as possible. This HH660 is one of eight still in existence and when finished will be one of three that are in service. #43 made its first independant move in 19 years on July 28th, 2018 we are committed to continue the long legacy of this historic locomotive. |  "©2013 smph50 - Buffalo Creek #43. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
| Road No. | Model | Build No. | Build Date | Notes |
| 44 | ALCO S-2 | 73917 | 1/47 | To Conrail 9661, 1976 (3) |
 "©1976 - Bill Phillips, Buffalo Creek #44 at the Ohio Street engine house. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1976 R.A. Durfee - Buffalo Creek #44 in South Buffalo. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1979 Tim Vermande - Conrail #9661 in Mount Vernon, Illinois. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
| Road No. | Model | Build No. | Build Date | Notes |
| 45 | ALCO S-2 | 73923 | 2/47 | To Pielet Bros., 5/1974; scrapped (3) |
 "©1975 - Stephie Kolata, Buffalo Creek #45 at the Ohio Street engine house. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
| Road No. | Model | Build No. | Build Date | Notes |
| 46 | ALCO S-2 | 73924 | 2/47 | To Conrail 9662, 1976; to Ontario Midland 14, 1976; to Tioga Central 14, 1984; to LA&L 14, 2014 (5) |
 "©1975 - Tim Vermande, Buffalo Creek #46 at the Ganson Street engine house. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1978 - MikeStellpflug, Buffalo Creek #46 at the Ohio Street engine house April 1978. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1976 - Rick Burns, Buffalo Creek #46 in the BCK yard. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1984 - BillVolkmer, Don Ross Collection, Ontario Central #14 in Sayre, PA. It became Conrail #9662, in 1976 and sold to Ontario Central Railroad #14 in 1976. It was sold as Tioga Central Railway #14 in 1984 and then to the LA&L 14, in 2014. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©2003 - Sam Botts, Tioga Central #14 at Wellsboro Junction, PA, October 2003. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
| Road No. | Model | Build No. | Build Date | Notes |
| 47 | ALCO S-2 | 76190 | 11/48 | To Conrail 9663, 1976; scrapped 1979. (3) |
 "©1976 - Don Ross Collection, Buffalo Creek #47 switching cars. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1976 - Rick Burns, Buffalo Creek #47 with Joe Burns at the throttle at the Ganson Street engine house. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1976 - Larry Berger, Buffalo Creek #47 and #49 work in the BCK yard. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1977 - Jack Smith, Buffalo Creek #47 and #44 in the BCK yard. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
| Road No. | Model | Build No. | Build Date | Notes |
| 48 | ALCO S-2 | 73358 | 5/45 | nee-D&H 3002, to Buffalo Creek 48, 1/56; to Pielet Bros., 9/74; scrapped. (3) |
 "©1972 - Stephie Kolata, Buffalo Creek #48 at the Ganson Street engine house in October 1972. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1973 - Karl Geffchen, Buffalo Creek #48 in Erie yard, Hornell, NY., July 1973. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1973 - Robert Farkas, Buffalo Creek #48 in Erie yard, Hornell, NY., July 1973. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1974 - Christopher Smith, Buffalo Creek #48 in Erie yard, Hornell, NY., August 1974. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
| Road No. | Model | Build No. | Build Date | Notes |
| 49 | ALCO S-2 | 74334 | 10/45 | nee-D&H 3006, to Buffalo Creek 49, 1/56; To Conrail 9664, 1976. (3) |
 "©1964 - Dave Mangold, Buffalo Creek #49 in the BCK yard, July 1964. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1976 - Bill Phillips, Buffalo Creek #49 in front of the Ohio Street engine house. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1976 - Rick Burns, Buffalo Creek #49 in the BCK yard, June 1976. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1976 - Rick Burns, Buffalo Creek #49 in the BCK yard, Joe Burns at the throttle. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
| Road No. | Model | Build No. | Build Date | Notes |
| 50 | ALCO S-2 | 74330 | 9/45 | nee-D&H 3005, to Buffalo Creek 50, 8/56; To Conrail 9665, 1976. (3) |
 "©1964 - Dave Mangold, Buffalo Creek #50 in the Ohio Street yard, June 1974. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1976 - Tim Vermande, Buffalo Creek #50 in the Ohio Street yard. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1978 - AlanPage, Buffalo Creek Alco S-2 #50 (CR 9665) rests retired at the Juniata shops (Altoona, PA.) deadline in August, 1978.. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
| Road No. | Model | Build No. | Build Date | Notes |
| 51 | ALCO S-2 | 76778 | 6/49 | nee-Erie 552; ex-EL 552; to Buffalo Creek 51, 9/56; To Conrail 9666, 1976. (3) |
 "©1964 - MartyBernard, Erie #522 in Hammond, Indiana March 1964. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1976 - Christopher Smith, Buffalo Creek #51 and S-4 #52 at the Ganson Street engine house March 1976. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
| Road No. | Model | Build No. | Build Date | Notes |
| 52 | ALCO S-4 | 79530 | 1/52 | nee-Erie 527; ex-EL 527; to Buffalo Creek 52, 1960; To Conrail 9667, 1976. (6) |
 "©1978 - Alan Page, Buffalo Creek S-4 #52 rests in the Juniata (Altoona, PA.) deadlines in August, 1978. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
 "©1979 - Ted Schnepf, Don Ross Collection, Buffalo Creek #52 in Conrail deadline, Chicago, Illinois April 1979. (15K) - CLICK to Enlarge") |
| ENDNOTES: 1. "'Little Giant' Noting 100th Anniversary" Courier Express, 23 March 1969, Cyril M. Johnke. 2. The "Official Railway Equipment Register of the United States," January, 1964. 3. "Comprehensive Guide To Industrial Locomotives," Jay Reed, 3rd ed, 2002. 4. "ALCO's HH Series," R. Daniel Cupper, 2006, pg72. 5. "ALCO Locomotives of New York State," Scot Lawrence, 2014. 6. "Don's Rail Photos," Don Ross Collection, 2010. |
Web Site Hosting by TRAIN WEB
The WNYRHS, Inc., 100 Lee Street, Buffalo, NY. 14210 is an independent organization and has no affiliation with any other local or national group.
The Society is a fully qualified organization under 501 (C) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and all donations to the Society are tax deductible.
©Copyright 1999 , WNYRHS Inc. all rights reserved
