The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) was one of the largest and most influential railroads in American history. It had a myriad of lines running from the east coast to Chicago. Five of those lines operated in Western New York; two to Buffalo, one to Rochester, and one through Salamanca and Olean to Warren and Oil City Pennsylvania.
Like most railroads, the Pennsylvania reached Buffalo, at one time the second most important railroad city beside Chicago. The Chautauqua Branch of the PRR reached Buffalo through a route that went north from Corry, PA through Mayville, Brocton, and Dunkirk on its way to Buffalo along the shore of Lake Erie.
Three main PRR routes in Western New York came from the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad:
- The Buffalo Line went north from Olean through Machias, Arcade, and Elma and approached the city of Buffalo from the southeast.
- The Rochester Branch went through Cuba, Portage, and Mt. Morris on its way to Rochester.
- The Salamanca Branch went west from Olean, through Salamanca, and south to Warren and Oil City Pennsylvania.
The PRR also operated the former Northern Central Railroad which had a route through Elmira, Penn Yan, to Sodus Point, a port on Lake Ontario.
The PRR operated until 1968 when it merged with the New York Central to form the Penn Central Railroad.
Newspaper Articles
- July 6, 1931 - End of Sodus Bay Railroad Line Planned
- January 8, 1956 - On the Pennsy Through Elmira
- July 8, 1956 - Parlor Cars, Mt. Pisgah Buckboard, Minnequa - They're Memories of Troy's Railroad Days
- April 17, 1963 - Gatekeeper Recalls Last Rochester Run
Annual Reports
- 1867 Annual Report for the Pennsylvania Railroad
- 1868 Annual Report for the Pennsylvania Railroad
- 1869 Annual Report for the Pennsylvania Railroad
- 1870 Annual Report for the Pennsylvania Railroad
- 1871 Annual Report for the Pennsylvania Railroad
- 1872 Annual Report for the Pennsylvania Railroad
- 1873 Annual Report for the Pennsylvania Railroad
Other Resources
- Sipes, WIlliam. 1875. The Pennsylvania Railroad: Its Origin, Construction, Condition, and Connections. This is a 22MB PDF file of a 300+ page book from Google Books. Nothing on WNY, but an interesting read on the rest of the system.