Geneva and Lyons Railroad
The Geneva and Lyons Railroad was a railroad in
History
Chartered on October 5, 1877,
Construction of the Geneva and Lyons was underway by the spring of 1878. The first passenger train over the railroad ran on November 11, 1878, and was operated by the Fall Brook, continuing south to
Coal trestles or chutes were built for the New York Central's locomotives at Lyons, and in August 1879, 1,000 short tons (890 long tons) of coal per day were shipped over the Geneva and Lyons to the trestles there. About 400 short tons (360 long tons) were used to fuel locomotives at Lyons and the remainder shipped elsewhere on the New York Central system. By 1886, this amount had increased to 230,000 short tons (210,000 long tons) in a month, both bituminous coal from the Fall Brook's mines and anthracite from connections southward. At the time, it was reported that the Lehigh Valley Railroad, was also running over the Geneva and Lyons to deliver coal. In January 1887, the coal shipments had increased again, to 22,000 short tons (20,000 long tons) daily.[3] In August 1881, work began to double-track the line. By April 1882, the double track had been finished from Geneva to Bennett's and from Lyons to Thompson's. However, the complete double-tracking was still unfinished in 1893.[3] 12.67 miles (20.39 km) of the line, which totaled 14.08 miles (22.66 km), had been double-tracked as of 1914.[5]
The Geneva and Lyons was absorbed by the New York Central, which had operated it as a branch. The line was leased by the Fall Brook in 1893, but was itself taken over by the New York Central in 1899.[3]
References
- ^ Horatio Seymour, Jr. (1880). Annual Report of the State Engineer & Surveyor on the railroads of the State of New York. Albany: Weed, Parsons & Co. pp. 475–476.
- ^ "Local News". Steuben Farmers' Advocate. January 17, 1879.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Fall Brook as seen by the newspapers of the time".
- ^ W.F. Allen, ed. (1897). The Official Railway Guide. p. 262.
- ^ Seventh annual report of the Public Service Commission. Albany: J.B. Lyon Company. 1914. p. 15.