From Humble Beginnings: The Genesee & Wyoming Railroad

Known today as a railroad holding company with numerous short-line railroads in its portfolio, the Genesee & Wyoming itself started as a short-line railroad in Upstate New York, running 14.5 miles between Retsof and Caledonia, NY.

Genesee & Wyoming Railroad 17 Steam Engine

The railroad first ran in 1891, after salt deposits were discovered within Wyoming County, NY, and was then named the Genesee & Wyoming Valley Railway. A financier, William Foster Jr, invested in a project to mine the salt, and a town grew as a result. It was named "Retsof", or "Foster" backwards.

From Retsof, two spurs were located to the east and west of the town to connect with the other railroads in the area, namely the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Delaware Lackawanna & Western. In 1894, the line north to Caledonia was completed.

In 1899, it omitted the "Valley" in its name, and other than abandoning a connection to Cuylerville, NY in 1934, remained roughly the same size for nearly a century until 1977, when it was reorganized as a holding company, making the railroad a subsidiary operation.

The G&W then began to acquire lines from larger railroads looking to dispose of unprofitable assets, a process that continues to this day. As short-line companies are subject to lower taxes and regulations than Class I lines, there are situations where a line can run profitably as a smaller operation than as part of a large railroad. In 1997, its portfolio expanded outside the United States for the first time.

The original Genesee & Wyoming Railroad was sold to the Rochester & Southern in 2002, which still operates under that flag to this day.

Thanks as always for reading!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Underwater Water Slide: Fly Over at Durinrell TikiBad

Image
Have you ever wished to experience being transferred from one pool of liquid to another via a pipe? Had you visited the Dutch water park known as Durinrell , also known as Tikibad before 2010, you would have had the chance. Half water slide, half war crime, this was a unique water slide that was filled to the brim with water, leaving riders completely submerged throughout the journey. Image:  XtremeRidesNL Known as the Fly Over was an underwater water slide, which is exactly how it sounds, and transported riders from one pool to another using the water as propulsion. Built in 1994, riders dove underwater to access the slide, using gravity to transport them upwards via the Communicating Vessels Principle . Riders would be completely underwater for about 15-20 seconds. This is how I imagine those 15-20 seconds felt like while riding the slide. The slide was built to drain water in five seconds or less in case a rider got stuck in the slide or had a medical emergency, but the threat tha
Read more

Railroad Vocabulary: A List of Words and Phrases Used in the Industry - Updated February 2024

Image
As somebody who enjoyed watching trains, but was not an employee of the railroad industry ( at least growing up ), when I would interact with railfans and historians, there was often a lot of technical jargon that applied only to the railroad industry thrown back and forth that made it difficult for a newcomer to understand what they were talking about. For example, what is a dinky? It's actually a passenger train. This non-inclusive language seems to keep the loop closed to members of the community, and to uncouple (no pun intended) that technical jargon and help make it easier for people to communicate with people in the industry, I am creating a list of railroad vocabulary that I'm hoping will make the industry more transparent.  BNSF 2361 . Image: Matt Flores While I ultimately believe that such technical jargon has no place outside of perhaps technical communications between employees, I know quite well that I alone am not going to stop people from communicating in a non-i
Read more

The Abandoned Route 66 in McCook, IL

Image
Route 66, the iconic "Main Street of America," weaves through the heart of the United States, connecting communities and embodying the spirit of adventure. However, not all sections of this historic highway have stood the test of time. While much of the former US 66 is drivable in one way or another, especially in Illinois, there are some parts are not.  One of the first such roadblocks for would-be travelers heading from Chicago to Los Angeles via the Mother Road, now known as Joliet Road, comes just outside of Chicago in McCook, IL, where the former highway is closed between 55th St and East Ave, and has been for over two decades. (Link to the location on our Ghost Towns Map ) Image: Google Maps at 55th and Joliet Rd in McCook, IL The land that the quarry would eventually take over was part of Stinson Airport in the early days of Route 66, dating back to before 1930. ( Abandoned Airports map ). 1938 USGS Aerial Imagery The quarrying on the south side of the road would
Read more