Silver Lake Railroad

The Silver Lake Railroad was a six mile long railroad operating from Perry to Silver Springs, New York.  It serviced a number of industries in Perry as well as a large tourist trade to the resorts on Silver Lake.

The map below shows the Silver Lake Railroad in green, the Erie Railroad in red, and the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh in blue.

History

The Silver Lake Railroad was chartered in June 1869 to build a railroad from Perry to a connection with the Erie Railroad at Silver Springs.  The road was chartered, but no construction was done on the route.  Around 1871 the Silver Lake Railroad was absorbed into the Rochester and Pine Creek Railroad which was chartered to build a line from Caledonia to Silver Springs.  On February 1, 1872 the Rochester and Pine Creek opened the six mile line from Perry to Silver Springs.

In the early 1880s backers of the Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad built the one mile Perry Railroad to connect with the Silver Lake Railroad at Silver Springs and the Rochester and Pittsburgh at Silver Lake Junction.  The Silver Lake Railway was operated as a branch line of the Rochester and Pittsburgh and later the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh until 1910 when the railroad was merged into the BR&P.

The line operated as the Silver Lake branch of the BR&P and later the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.  Service on the line ended in 1971 and the tracks were removed in 1977.

The Silver Lake Railroad went through a number of owners in its lifetime.  A March 5th, 1886 article in the New York Times states:

"BUFFALO, N.Y. - March 4. -- The Silver Lake Railroad, about six miles long, running from Silver Springs, on the Erie and Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railroads, was sold yesterday to John J. Carter, president of the Bradford, Bordello and Kinzua, for $125,000.  The road was built by the town of Perry, and about three years ago was put into the hands of Commissioners to be sold. The road is thought to be bought in the interest of the Erie. It has paid as high as 12 per cent profit in some years."

This apparently was a short-lived purchase as a Rochester coal merchant named Arthur G. Yates purchased the Silver Lake Railway on June 1, 1886.  Yates was the largest shipper of coal on the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway and owned a large fleet of coal hoppers.  It was said that the six mile long Silver Lake Railroad was not long enough to hold all of Yates' coal cars.

Stations

Newspaper and Magazine Articles

References

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