View source for Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway (1895–1955)

{{distinguish|New York & Pennsylvania Railroad}}
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{{Infobox rail
|gauge            = {{Track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}
|railroad_name    = Western New York & Pennsylvania Railway
|system_map       = {{maplink-road|from=Genesee Valley Canal Railroad.map|from2=Rochester, Nunda and Pennsylvania Railroad.map|from3=Oil Creek Railroad.map|from4=Oil Creek and Allegheny River Railway.map|from5=Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Western Railroad.map|from6=Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway.map}}
|map_size         = 200px
|map_caption      =
|locale           = [[Emporium, Pennsylvania]] and [[Mahoningtown, Pennsylvania]] to [[Buffalo, New York]] and [[Rochester, New York]]
|start_year       = 1895
|end_year         = 1955
|predecessor_line = [[Western New York Railway]] and [[Northwestern Pennsylvania Railway]]
|successor_line   = [[Penndel Company]]
|length           = {{convert|586.145|mi}}
|hq_city          = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
}}
The '''Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway''' was a [[railroad]] that operated in the [[U.S. state]]s of [[New York (state)|New York]] and [[Pennsylvania]].
==History==
[[Image:Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad station in Rochester.jpg|thumb|right|Destroyed in 1968 in the name of Rochester's urban renewal, this station served first the WNY&PRR and then the Pennsy.]][[File:Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway route map.jpg|right|thumb|WNY&P System Map {{circa|1900}}]]
Incorporated in 1887 as the Western New York and Pennsylvania ''Railroad'' from the reorganization of the Buffalo, New York, and Philadelphia,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dunn|first1=Edward T.|title=A History of Railroads in Western New York|date=2000|publisher=Canisius College Press|page=149}}</ref> and reorganized in 1895 as the Western New York and Pennsylvania ''Railway'', this American transportation system was acquired and leased by the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] in 1900 <ref>{{cite news|title=Pennsylvania In Control; It Acquires the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad|date=27 May 1900|work=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=2008-01-27|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1900/05/27/108276109.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Schotter|title=The Growth and Development of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company 1846–1926|date=1927|publisher=Allen, Lane & Scott|location=Philadelphia, PA|page=279}}</ref> and merged into the [[Penndel Company]] in 1955.
The route that the line followed from [[Emporium, Pennsylvania]] across the state line to [[Olean, New York|Olean]], [[Hinsdale, New York|Hinsdale]], [[Cuba (town), New York|Cuba]], [[Belfast, New York|Belfast]], and [[Rochester, New York|Rochester]] was laid, from Belfast north, on the bed of the abandoned [[Genesee Valley Canal]]. A house of Italianate design was purchased on Main Street West at Trowbridge Street and converted into the Rochester station.<ref>{{cite book|title=Rochester and Genesee Valley Rails|first1=Mary Hamilton|last1=Dann|publisher=Railroad Research Publications|date=2001|page=45}}</ref>
The 1895 to 1899 period of this rail system's operations saw revenue inadequate to pay the bond interest; these financial problems were contemporaneous with the [[Pennsylvania Railroad|Pennsylvania]]'s need to expand into [[western New York]]. Moreover, this expansion did not raise competitive issues with the Pennsy's principal rival, the [[New York Central Railroad|New York Central]]. Thus, on August 1, 1900, the WNY&PRY signed an agreement with the PRR under which the latter operated the former. Although the WNY&PRY did not generate much profit in this arrangement,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/05/11/99023486.pdf|work=The New York Times|title=RAILROAD DEFICIT GROWS.; Western New York & Pennsylvania Reports Increase of $2,699,918 |date=11 May 1922}}</ref> it did improve matters for the [[Allegheny Valley Railroad|Allegheny Valley]] and the [[Philadelphia and Erie Railroad|Philadelphia and Erie]] roads; so the net result was satisfactory to the Pennsylvania.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dunn|first1=Edward T.|title=A History of Railroads in Western New York|date=2000|publisher=Canisius College Press|page=162}}</ref>
Eventually, the '''Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway''' became the Pennsylvania Railroad's Buffalo and Allegheny Valley Division.
Note the date of the small branch from [[Scottsville, New York|Scottsville]] to [[Garbutt, New York|Garbutt]]. While the route map clearly shows this line in 1900, other sources equally unambiguously date it to the summer of 1907.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schmidt|first1=Carl F.|title=History of the Town of Wheatland|url=https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofw00schm|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofw00schm/page/226 226]|date=1953|publisher=Rochester, N.Y.}}</ref> The branch was abandoned in 1944;<ref>{{cite web|last1=Baer|first1=Christopher T.|title=A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company Its Predecessors and Successors and Its Historical Context 1944|url=http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR1944.pdf|date=April 2015|accessdate=2016-06-19|publisher=Pennsylvania Technical & Historical Society}}</ref> no trace of it remains today. The Pennsy station has disappeared – even photographs of it are exceedingly rare – and the railbed cannot be discerned in aerial photographs of the area south of Oatka Creek.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=43.017788,-77.747803&spn=0.003463,0.006545&t=h&z=18|title=Google Maps}}</ref>)<ref>{{cite web|last1=Palmer|first1=Richard|title=History of the Rochester Branch, Pennsylvania Railroad|url=http://crookedlakereview.blogspot.com/2008/09/history-of-rochester-branch.html|website=The Crooked Lake Review Blog|date=13 September 2008|accessdate=2016-06-19}}</ref>
==See also==
*[[New Castle Branch (Pennsylvania Railroad)|New Castle Branch]]
*A [[short-line railway]] began operations in 2001 under the name [[Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad (2001)|Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad]], running trains on former [[Erie Railroad]] and later former WNY&P trackage.
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mtCFWJS_R0 Western New York And Pennsylvania Railway (1895–1955)] at [[Youtube.com]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Western New York Pennsylvania Railway 1895 1955}}
[[Category:Defunct New York (state) railroads]]
[[Category:Defunct Pennsylvania railroads]]
[[Category:Predecessors of the Pennsylvania Railroad]]
[[Category:Railway companies established in 1895]]
[[Category:Railway companies disestablished in 1955]]
[[Category:American companies disestablished in 1955]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1895]]