Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway

The Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway (reporting mark BR&P) was a railroad company in the United States, one of the more than ten thousand railroad companies founded in North America. It served communities from the shore of Lake Ontario to the center of western Pennsylvania, and it lasted much longer than most of its contemporaries. The line's purpose was to haul bituminous coal from the mines of western Pennsylvania to the cities of Rochester and Buffalo, as well as to smaller towns and villages. By the middle of the 19th century, American industry had learned to use and transport this coal economically, first for steam power in locomotives and factories. Existing coal transportation for Buffalo was limited to lake boats, while Rochester depended on canals and east-west railroads. These bottlenecks caused fuel shortages and encouraged the promotion of many new rail schemes, including several paper railroads that were never built. The Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway grew out of the Rochester and State Line Railroad and the Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad. The Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad Company was born on 29 January 1881 from the remains of the R&SL, which had been sold on 20 January for $600,000 to a New York syndicate of investors led by Walston H. Brown. The investors planned expansion into the lucrative coal-haulage market, and the coal source had by then expanded south through western Pennsylvania into the Beech Tree area between Brockwayville and DuBois. In 1882, through its subsidiary the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad, the company extended its trackage south from Salamanca to reach the Pennsylvania coal fields. This required bridging the Kinzua Creek Gorge with what was then the world's highest railroad bridge, more than 300 feet above the creek and more than 2,000 feet long, built in only ninety-four days. The single track over the bridge was shared with the Erie and proved a bottleneck, so the successor company built a forty-mile detour that opened in 1893. The BR&P was a coal-hauling railroad that also served general freight and passenger needs along its route. It operated in a fiercely competitive, laissez-faire environment marked by paper railroads, corporate buying and selling, and financial manipulation by syndicates of investors. The company is remembered as a long-lived regional carrier that linked the Lake Ontario shore to the center of western Pennsylvania.

The Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway (reporting mark BR&P) was one of the more than ten thousand railroad companies founded in North America. It lasted much longer than most, serving communities from the shore of Lake Ontario to the center of western Pennsylvania. By the middle of the 19th century, American industry had found the means of both utilizing the bituminous coal of western Pennsylvania and transporting it economically from the mines to those who needed it. Initially, this meant steam power, in both railroad locomotives and factories. The immediate consequence was the need for a railroad line to haul coal from the hills of Pennsylvania to the cities of Rochester and Buffalo as well as the smaller towns and villages. The needs of the latter motivated them to invest, both individually and municipally, in the new rail companies that arose almost as profusely as spring flowers. In the simplest terms, the Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh Railway was required to pick up precisely what the Rochester and State Line Railroad and the Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad had dropped: the coal-hauling market between the coalfields of western Pennsylvania and the cities of Buffalo and Rochester. The mines produced steam coal, and the factories and railroads of the Northeast needed it in vast amounts. The reality, however, was far less simple. The great need of the coal-transportation market attracted aggressive competitors, and the laissez-faire environment of the day encouraged tactics that included paper railroads, buying and selling of corporations as though they were used cars, and financial manipulation by syndicates of investors. For Buffalo, existing coal transportation was limited to lake boats; for Rochester, the canals and the east-west railroads. These bottlenecks caused fuel shortages which, in turn, led to the development of such paper railroads as the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad as well as the Attica and Allegheny Valley, in the same year. The Rochester and Genesee Valley Railroad was another scheme, although this one was actually built, to a degree. In Rochester, both the seasonality of the Erie Canal and the near monopoly of the Erie Railroad intensified the pressure for a new railroad running through to the coalfields. Another failed attempt to resolve this saw the also-never-built Rochester and Pittsburgh in 1853. Another line which was partially built but never reached Pennsylvania was the three-foot-gauge Rochester, Nunda, and Pennsylvania. By 1869, much money had been spent, most of it to no good purpose, and many words had been uttered and printed, but there was still no efficient, reliable, all-weather route for the coal. Although probably mythical, there is a story that the Mumford merchant Oliver Allen arose from a dinner with some fellow businessmen at which the need for a new railroad had been the topic of a spirited discussion and exclaimed, "Let's build a railroad." Allen did not build the road himself, but his was the drive that led to the Rochester and State Line Railroad. The Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad Company was born on 29 January 1881 from the remains of the R&SL. The latter had been sold on 20 January for $600,000 to a New York syndicate of investors led by Walston H. Brown. Brown, of Brown, Howard, and Company, had experience in railroad building; his company typified the many financial speculators and investment organizations which dealt in railroad companies and their securities. Another investment company to figure prominently in the BR&P history was that of Adrian Iselin. Ab initio, these investors planned expansion into the lucrative coal-haulage market. The source of the coal had by this time expanded south through western Pennsylvania into the Beech Tree area between Brockwayville and DuBois. In a practice typical in the industry, so-called "construction companies" were formed. They were paper railroads intended for the actual building of new lines and branches but not permanent existence operating them. Thus, the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad Company, the Great Valley and Bradford Railroad, the Bradford and State Line Railroad, and the Pittsburgh and New York Railroad built their respective lines, and then the latter three companies were folded back into the Rochester and Pittsburgh in November 1881. The R&P purchased the Pitkin Building on Main Street West and Oak Street in Rochester and added a two-story Gothic structure to it. The board then hired a highly qualified manager in George E. Merchant, who had excelled as a division superintendent for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific. Among the issues he faced upon beginning work in the head office in Rochester were several pending lawsuits against the R&SL and disputes arising from the shady land acquisition practices of the company's forebear. Resolving these, he proceeded to improve the capital plant, including refurbishing the older locomotives and buying new ones. He bought more 4-4-0 Brooks engines, as well as a number of 2-8-0 Consolidations. Line construction absorbed considerable resources as well. In 1882, through its subsidiary, the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad, it extended its trackage south from Salamanca to reach the coal fields of Pennsylvania. To accomplish this required bridging the Kinzua Creek Gorge. The R&P used what was, for the time, the world's highest railroad bridge. Built by the New York, Lake Erie, and Western Railroad and Coal Company, the structure was more than 300 feet (91 m) above the creek and more than 2,000 feet (610 m) long. Construction took only ninety-four days. The single track over the bridge was shared by the Erie and the R&P; this proved to be a bottleneck, and the company which succeeded the Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad Company, the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway, built a forty-mile detour, opening it in 1893.

• 1893

  The Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway opened a forty-mile detour to bypass the bottleneck single track over the Kinzua Creek Gorge bridge.

• 1882

  Through its subsidiary, the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad, the company extended its trackage south from Salamanca to reach the coal fields of Pennsylvania, bridging the Kinzua Creek Gorge.

• 1881

  The Rochester and State Line Railroad was sold for $600,000 to a New York syndicate of investors led by Walston H. Brown.

• 1881

  The Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad Company was born from the remains of the R&SL.

• 1881

  The Great Valley and Bradford Railroad, the Bradford and State Line Railroad, and the Pittsburgh and New York Railroad were folded back into the Rochester and Pittsburgh.

• 1869

  Despite much money spent and many words printed, there was still no efficient, reliable, all-weather route for coal.

• 1853

  The Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad, a never-built scheme, was proposed.

A regional coal-hauling railroad connecting the Pennsylvania coalfields with the cities of Rochester and Buffalo.

• Coal haulage

  Transport of bituminous steam coal from the mines of western Pennsylvania to Rochester, Buffalo, and smaller communities.

• Freight transportation

  General freight service along the line from the Lake Ontario shore to western Pennsylvania.

• Passenger rail service

  Passenger service for the communities along the route.

1. 1Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway - Wikidatawikidata.org