Erie Railroad

Erie Railroad

Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap A map of all the rails the Erie ever had rights over
Overview
Headquarters	New York, New York (1832–1931) Cleveland, Ohio (1931–60)
Reporting mark	ERIE
Locale	New Jersey Pennsylvania New York Ohio Indiana Illinois
Dates of operation	1832–1960
Successor	Erie Lackawanna Railway
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Previous gauge	6 ft (1,829 mm) gauge
Length	2,316 miles (3,727 kilometers)

The Erie Railroad (reporting mark ERIE) was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie. It expanded west to Chicago with its 1865 merger with the former Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, also known as the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad (NYPANO RR). Its mainline route proved influential in the development and economic growth of the Southern Tier of New York State, including cities such as Binghamton, Elmira, and Hornell. The Erie Railroad repair shops were located in Hornell and was Hornell's largest employer. Hornell was also where Erie's mainline split into two routes, one north to Buffalo and the other west to Chicago.

On October 17, 1960, the Erie merged with former rival Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad to form the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. The Hornell repair shops were closed in 1976, when Conrail took over, and repair operations moved to the Lackawanna's Scranton facility. This had a devastating effect on Hornell, from which it has never recovered. (The repair shops have subsequently been used, intermittently, for the assembly of railroad and transit cars.) It is now run by Alstom. Some of the former Erie line between Hornell and Binghamton was damaged in 1972 by the floods of Hurricane Agnes, but the damage was quickly repaired and today this line is a key link in the Norfolk Southern Railway's Southern Tier mainline. What was left of the Erie Lackawanna became part of Conrail in 1976.^[1] In 1983, Erie remnants became part of New Jersey Transit rail operations, including parts of its Main Line. Today most of the surviving Erie Railroad routes are operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway.

History[]

New York and Erie Rail Road: 1832–61[]

1834 plan

The New York and Erie Rail Road was chartered on April 24, 1832, by Governor of New York, Enos T. Throop to connect the Hudson River at Piermont, north of New York City, west to Lake Erie at Dunkirk. On February 16, 1841, the railroad was authorized to cross into the northeast corner of Pennsylvania on the west side of the Delaware River. Construction began in 1836 and was opened in sections until reaching the full length to Dunkirk on May 19, 1851. At Dunkirk, steamboats continued across Lake Erie to Detroit, Michigan.

When the route was completed in May 1851, President Millard Fillmore and several members of his cabinet, including Secretary of State Daniel Webster, made a special, two-day excursion run to open the railway. It is reported that Webster viewed the entire run from a rocking chair attached to a flatcar, with a steamer rug and jug of high-quality Medford rum.^[2][3] At stops, he would step off the flatcar and give speeches.

The line was built at 6 ft (1,829 mm) wide gauge; this was believed to be a superior technology to standard gauge, providing more stability.

In 1848, the railroad built the Starrucca Viaduct, a stone railroad bridge over Starrucca Creek in Lanesboro, Pennsylvania, which has survived and is still in use today. The viaduct is 1,040 feet (317 m) long, 100 feet (30.5 m) high and 25 feet (7.6 m) wide at the top. It is the oldest stone rail bridge in Pennsylvania still in use.

1855 map

Erie Railway: 1861–78[]

In August 1859, the company went into receivership due to the large costs of building, and on June 25, 1861, it was reorganized as the Erie Railway. This was the first bankruptcy of a major trunk line in the U.S.

Former Erie Railroad tracks pass through Nutley, New Jersey. Track on left is out of service

Railway switch in Nutley, New Jersey

In the Erie War of the 1860s, four well-known financiers struggled for control of the company; Cornelius Vanderbilt versus Daniel Drew, James Fisk and Jay Gould. Gould ultimately triumphed in this struggle but was forced to relinquish control in 1872–73, due to unfavorable public opinion following his involvement in the 1869 gold-rigging scandal and to his loss of $1 million of Erie Railroad stock to the British con-man Lord Gordon-Gordon.

In 1869, the railroad moved its main shop facilities from Dunkirk to Buffalo. Rather than demolishing the shops in Dunkirk, the facility was leased to Horatio G. Brooks, the former chief engineer of the NY&E who was at the controls of the first train into Dunkirk in 1851. Horatio Brooks used the facilities to begin Brooks Locomotive Works, which remained in independent business until 1901 when it was merged with seven other locomotive manufacturing firms to create ALCO. ALCO continued new locomotive production at this facility until 1934, then closed the plant completely in 1962.

The cost of breaking bulk cargo in order to interchange with standard gauge lines led the Erie to introduce a line of cars designed to operate on either broad or standard gauge trucks.^[4] Starting in 1871, this allowed interchange traffic by means of truck exchange, including through passenger and freight connections to Saint Louis, Missouri using a Nutter car hoist in Urbana, Ohio.^[5][6][7]

Beginning in 1876, the Erie began plans to convert their line to standard gauge, as it became clear that the cost of changing from one gauge to another was not justified by the stability brought by the wider gauge. By the time of its reorganization in 1878, the Erie had built a third rail along the entire mainline from Buffalo to Jersey City. This project all but brought the railroad to bankruptcy.^[8]

New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad: 1878–95[]

The Erie Limited, which traveled between New York-Chicago

Erie system map, circa 1884

The Erie still did not see profits and via bankruptcy was sold in 1878 to become the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad.

The work of converting the railroad to standard gauge was continued, and on June 22, 1880, the entire trackage of the Erie was converted to standard gauge.^[8]

In 1886, it was reported that the Erie and the Philadelphia and Reading Railway shared ferry services between their two Jersey City terminals, the larger being Pavonia Terminal, and Fulton Ferry in Brooklyn, New York for 11 round trips on weekdays and Saturdays, and four round trips on Sunday.^[9] In 1889, it opened a new bridge across the Hackensack River improving service to its terminals.^[10]

Erie Railroad: 1895–1960[]

By 1893, the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad went into bankruptcy reorganization again and emerged in 1895 as the Erie Railroad.^[1]

Jamestown, New York station, about 1909

Westbound Passenger Timetable of the Erie Railroad Main Line (New York to Susquehanna) under United States Railway Administration Effective 1919-04-06

George W. Perkins brought Frederick D. Underwood into the Erie Railroad in 1910. During the eastern railroad strike of 1913 Underwood agreed to accept any ruling made by mediators under the Newlands Reclamation Act. One of the demands made by Erie employees was a 20% increase in wages. Erie management had refused a wage increase but compromised by asking employees to wait until January 1915 for any advance. Union leaders agreed to make this an issue which Erie management would settle with its own men. However, W.G. Lee, president of the brotherhood of railroad trainmen, asserted that the only way "to deal with the Erie is through J.P. Morgan & Company, or the banks". Underwood responded from his home in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, saying "I am running the Erie Railroad: not George W. Perkins, nor J.P. Morgan & Co., nor anybody else."^[11]

In mid-1920s the successful Van Sweringen brothers gained control of the Erie, improving operations (such as standardizing the railroad's locomotives and rolling stock) and bottom-line earnings. Unfortunately, both brothers—who at the time owned several other railroads—died at an early age but had they lived the shape of railroads in the east would likely look very different today.^{[citation needed]}

An Alco RS3 with Erie Railroad markings at Hoboken terminal, September 3, 1965

Despite the ravages of the Great Depression, the Erie managed to hold its own until it entered bankruptcy on January 18, 1938. Its reorganization, accomplished by December 1941, included the purchase of the leased Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railroad, swapping high rent for lower interest payments, and the purchase of formerly subsidized and leased lines. The reorganization paid off, as the Erie managed to pay dividends to its shareholders after the dust had settled.^[1]

In 1938, the Erie Railroad was involved in the famous U.S. Supreme Court case of Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins. The Erie doctrine, which governs the application of state common law in federal courts, is still taught in American law schools today.

Erie Western Electric Railway, Toledo, Ohio

On September 15, 1948, the Cleveland Union Terminal Company allowed the Erie to use the Union Terminal adjacent to Terminal Tower in lieu of its old station.^[12] Also that year the Erie purchased a share of the Niagara Junction Railway, along with the New York Central and the Lehigh Valley.^[13]

Steam last operated on the Erie on March 17, 1954, when the fires were dropped on K-1 class Pacific locomotive No. 2530, used on a commuter run between Jersey City and Spring Valley, New York.^[14]

The Erie prospered throughout the mid-1950s, but then began an irreversible decline. The company's 1957 income was half of that in 1956; by 1958 and 1959, the Erie posted deficits. The business recession that occurred in the 1950s led the Erie to explore the idea of doing business with the nearby Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The first result of this was the abandonment of duplicate freight facilities in Binghamton and Elmira, New York. Between 1956 and 1957, the Erie shifted its passenger trains from its Pavonia Terminal to the DL&W's newer Hoboken Terminal. Also, the DL&W's mainline between Binghamton and Elmira was abandoned in favor of the Erie's parallel mainline in 1958. These successful business consolidations led to merger talks (which, at first, also included the Delaware and Hudson Railroad); on October 17, 1960, the two railroads merged to create the Erie Lackawanna Railroad.^[1] Erie's large repair facility in Hornell were closed when Conrail took over in 1976 and operations were consolidated at the Lackawanna's Scranton facility. However, the merged railroad only survived for a decade and a half before continued decline forced it to join Conrail in 1976.

Year-end mileage operated, including C&E but not NYS&W/WB&E: 2451 route-miles, 6013 track-miles in 1925; 2320 route-miles, 5395 track-miles in 1956. NJ&NY adds 46 route-miles in 1925, 39 in 1956.

The former Erie tracks between Hornell and Binghamton were partially damaged in 1972 by Hurricane Agnes.

Lines operated[]

A map from 1960 shows that the Erie had some control over the former Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway and the New York Central from Lawrenceville to Newberry Junction near Williamsport, PA.^[28]

Passenger service[]

Erie Railroad passengers at Rutherford station, circa 1940

One of the Erie's electric commuter trains on its Rochester Branch, ca. 1911

The Erie Railroad operated a number of named passenger trains, although none were as well-known or successful as others like the Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited or New York Central Railroad's 20th Century Limited. Some of the Erie's most well known trains included the Erie Limited, Lake Cities, Pacific Express, Atlantic Express, Midlander, Southern Tier Express and Mountain Express. All of these had their western termini in Chicago, except the Mountain Express which terminated in Hornell, in the Southern Tier of New York.^{[29]: 52–53}

The Erie operated an extensive network of commuter routes in northern New Jersey and the lower Hudson Valley of New York. Most of these routes became part of Conrail along with the rest of Erie Lackawanna's rail operations in 1976. The New Jersey routes are now part of NJ Transit's Hoboken Division, originating and terminating at Hoboken Terminal. The Hudson Valley routes are now part of Metro-North Railroad.

In addition to its steam and diesel services the Erie also operated an electric commuter rail line to its terminal station in Rochester, New York. The station was one of the Erie's few electrified railroad stations,^[30] and the railroad became one of the first to provide electric commuter services in 1907.^[31]

Company officers[]

Hugh J. Jewett, President 1874–1884.

Heritage unit[]

As part of the 30th anniversary of Norfolk Southern Railway being formed, NS decided to paint 20 new locomotives into the paint scheme of predecessor railroads. NS #1068, an EMD SD70ACe, was painted into Erie Railroad's green passenger scheme. It was released on May 25, 2012.

See also[]

• List of Erie Railroad structures documented by the Historic American Engineering Record

Notes[]

References[]

Further reading[]

• Ackerman, Kenneth D. (2011). The Gold Ring: Jim Fisk, Jay Gould, and Black Friday, 1869. (excerpt)
• Meyer, B.H.; MacGill, Caroline E. (1917). History of Transportation in the United States before 1860 (PDF). pp. 366–72.
• Mott, Edward Harold (1908). Between the Ocean and the Lakes: The Story of Erie. New York: Ticker Publishing Co., 1908.
• Reynolds, William; Gifford, Peter K.; Ilisevich, Robert D. (2002). European Capital, British Iron, and an American Dream: The Story of the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad. The University of Akron Press.

Primary sources[]

• Daniel C. McCallum, "Superintendent's report: 1856" in Shafritz, Jay; et al., eds. (2015). Classics of Organization Theory. Cengage Learning. pp. 47–48. ISBN 9781305688056.; another copy in Chandler, Alfred D., Jr. (ed.). The Railroads: The Nation's First Big Business.
• Scanned issues of the Erie, Lackawanna, and Erie-Lackawanna magazines, primarily for employees
• Mott, E. H. [Edward Harold] (1882). The Erie route: a guide to the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railway and its branches, with Sketches of the Cities, Villages, Scenery and Objects of Interest along the Route, and Railroad, Steamboat and Stage Connections. Map and Illustrations. The author is identified as "Of the General Passenger Department of the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad". Taintor Brothers.
• Erie Railway Tourist, 1874. "The management of the Erie Railway Company presents the Tourist to its patrons, friends, and the general public, in this form, to introduce a more intimate and detailed knowledge of the beauties, advantages, and resources of its line. The route of the Erie Railway is peculiarly rich among American railroads in the variety and extent of its scenery."

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Erie Railroad.

• Erie page by the Erie Lackawanna Historical Society
• Presidents of the Erie Railroad
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. NY-124, "Erie Railway, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania"