ERIE RAILROAD LANTERN ADAMS & WESTLAKE COMPANY ERIE RR 1895

Description

ERIE RAILROAD
This Vintage piece of Railroad History, made by
THE ADAMS AND WESTLAKE COMPANY
for the
ERIE RAILROAD
. This lantern is marked
THE ADAMS AND WESTLAKE COMPANY CHICAGO NEW YORK ERIE.R.R.
PATENTED MAY 28, 1895. The brass burner is marked
THE P & A MFG CO.
and is in good working condition. There is a crack in the burner, see photo 12. The Corning clear glass globe is embossed
E.R.R.Co
. MADE IN U.S.A. Cnx,
No cracks or chips
.
Please view photos and email with questions. Thanks for looking.
Erie Railroad
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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 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
.
Contents
1
History
1.1
New York and Erie Rail Road: 1832–61
1.2
Erie Railway: 1861–78
1.3
New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad: 1878–95
1.4
Erie Railroad: 1895–1960
2
Lines operated
3
Passenger service
4
Company officers
5
Heritage unit
6
See also
7
Notes
8
References
9
Further reading
9.1
Primary sources
10
External links
History
[
edit
]
New York and Erie Rail Road: 1832–61
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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 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
[
edit
]
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
[
edit
]
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
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.
Revenue freight traffic, in millions of net ton-miles.
Year
Traffic
1925
9474
1933
6318
1944
15004
1960
8789
[note 1]
Source: ICC annual reports
The former Erie tracks between Hornell and Binghamton were partially damaged in 1972 by
Hurricane Agnes
.