THE GREATER ROCHESTER RAILFAN PAGE

GREATER ROCHESTER SHORTLINE RAILROADS

WESTERN NEW YORK & PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD

ADDRESS & PHONE:  69 Dow Street, Falconer, NY

CORPORATE WEBSITE:  http://www.wnyprr.com

RAILFAN WEBSITE:  Jamestown Railfan Page - by Dave Becker - more up to date

MAILING LIST:  lal_rail@yahoogroups.com - also another good place for up to date information - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LAL_RAIL/

OWNERSHIP: Physical property - Norfolk Southern Corporation and Southern Tier Extension Railroad Authority.  Operated by the WNYP - a subsidiary of the Livonia Avon and Lakeville Railroad Corporation.

REPORTING MARK: WNYP

RADIO FREQUENCIES: 160.205, 160.260, 160.620, 160.830, 161.175, 161.070 - talk with NS

PRIMARY BUSINESS

ANNUAL TRAFFIC: 2,000 carloads (and growing)

INFRASTRUCTURE: 145 miles of track, 110 - 141 lb rail (CWR in some spots), passing sidings:

Wellsville
Cuba
Olean
Salamanca
Falconer
Columbus
Cambridge Springs

ONLINE CUSTOMERS:

SCHEDULE OF OPERATIONS:

TRAINSPOTTING LOCATIONS:

INTERCHANGE POINTS & RAILROADS:

LOCOMOTIVE ROSTER: Click links for pictures (from other websites).   Enginehouse located at Dow St in Falconer.  CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE LAL ENGINE ROSTER

 

MAPS & TIMETABLES:

NEWS & PRESS RELEASES:

STB's Decision (click here)

WNYP Press Release (click here)

CORRY-MEADVILLE RAIL LINE TO BE ACQUIRED BY THE WESTERN NEW YORK & PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD - Jan 2002

The Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad (WNYP) is set to acquire the Corry, Pa. - Meadville, Pa. rail line from the Northwest Pennsylvania Rail Authority after an agreement was signed at the Authority's meeting in Meadville yesterday.

Authority chairman Stephen R. Hall and WNYP president William D. Burt signed an agreement that calls for transfer of the line in exchange for $1 and cancellation of $1.9 million in debt owed by the Authority. The debt is owed to a company that WNYP acquired in 2001. The sale is expected to occur in the near future, after necessary filings have been made with the federal Surface Transportation Board.

In his comments during the meeting, Hall noted that the agreement achieves the Authority's objectives of preserving rail service to the corridor between Corry and Meadvile and enhancing economic development. Burt praised the Authority's "historic" role in saving the line from abandonment by Conrail, and offered to work with Authority members to identify opportunities to attract new industry requiring rail service. "Everything we do from here forward stands on the shoulders of the Rail Authority and what has been accomplished by the OCTL," Burt said. WNYP has reached a separate agreement with Titusville-based Oil Creek & Titusville Lines, which has operated the Corry-Meadville line since 1995.

Burt emphasized that addition of the Corry-Meadville line to WNYP's existing Corry-Hornell, New York line will make it possible to re-establish through freight service between connections with Norfolk Southern at Meadville and Hornell. "Former rail users along the line consistently tell us that their use of rail service fell off sharply after Conrail withdrew the through freight trains in 1991," Burt said, "Restoring reliable through freight service is the key to bringing them back."

WNYP is currently rehabilitating portions of its Corry-Hornell line in Pennsylvania and New York, and is planning to further rehabilitate and reopen the inactive segment between Olean and Hornell if pending and proposed grant applications are funded. Since early December the line between Corry and the New York/Pennsylvania state line has been rehabilitated to a track condition that permits 40 MPH running. The railroad has a $3.25 million capital budget grant in Pennsylvania, of which $500,000 has been used, and is working with the Southern Tier Extension Railroad Authority and the Southern Tier West Regional Planning Board in New York to secure additional funding assistance. In addition WNYP has invested close to $4 million of its own capital since taking over the line last April.

According to Burt, resumption of through freight service between Meadville and Hornell will substantially improve the reliability of rail service to local industry, cut transit times, and improve the railroad's efficiency. WNYP projects that when the entire railroad is rehabilitated to a 40 MPH track condition, it will be again be possible to move freight shipments between Meadville and Hornell in eight hours or less. The line is the shortest and most direct route between Norfolk Southern's Conway Yard near Pittsburgh and New York's Southern Tier. Conway Yard classifies much of the NS freight traffic handled in New York State and New England.

Burt noted that competitive freight transportation is often a major factor in decisions affecting the jobs of thousands of employees in other industries. "The improvements in rail service that we are working on will make the region we serve more attractive for economic development," Burt said.

WNYP is a subsidiary of Lakeville, N.Y.-based Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad, which operates 240 miles of railroad serving a diversified base of industrial and agribusiness customers in western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. Addition of Corry-Meadville will bring the total to 282 miles. Organized in 1964, LAL operated just ten miles of railroad as recently as 1995. It was named Railway Age Magazine "Short Line Railroad of the Year" in 1997 and won the year 2000 Silver Medal for Safety in its size class, nationwide, given by the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association.

HISTORY: Former Erie Railroad line.  Placed out of service by Conrail between Hornell and Olean, and Jamestown and Corry.  Transferred to Norfolk Southern in 1998 as part of the breakup of Conrail.  Ownership transferred to the Southern Tier Railroad Authority and operation granted to the LAL/WNYP in February 2001.

CREDITS: Jamestown Railfan Page - Dave Becker - lots of goodies and pictures here -- plus his website is much more updated for the WNYP than mine!


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UPDATED: February 20, 2005

Copyright 2002 by Les Wilson - all rights reserved