SCL
Seaboard Coast Line
This 1985 Carstens Classic is a pictoral history of the Seaboard Coast Line focused on Florida!
Black and yellow SCL locomotives arrived with the 1967 merger of Atlantic Coast Line with the Seaboard Air Line railroad. From phosphates to Florida orange juice, from long passenger runs and special circus moves to a diverse fleet of diesels; You’ll
enjoy 116 pages of quality black and white photography.
THE NEW YORK & LAKE ERIE APPROACHES MILEPOST 36 NEAR GOWANDA, NY, ON SEPTEMBER 8, 2013. In Search of Big Foot Expand your
railroading library, order today!
A CARSTENS CLASSIC!
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Carstens PUBLICATIONS, INC. 54 OCTOBER 2013 •
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SHORT LINES HAVE A CHARM all their own, and there are many reasons we are drawn to them. It could be interesting territory, like a signature trestle or some downtown street running. Perhaps it’s the specialized type of traffic carried, such as timber products or iron ore. More often than not, for many the draw is motive power. A large number of short lines depend on the secondary market for their equipment, resulting in vintage diesels getting a second lease on life long af- ter the Class I’s have deemed them surplus. In the northeast, there’s a pretty good chance this means Alcos. More than 40 years after the American Locomotive Company plant in Schenectady closed down, their lo- comotive products continue to earn a living day in and day out on a number of smaller railroads throughout the east (and some- times the west, such as Arizona’s Apache Railway, which we profiled in the September 2013 issue of RAILFAN & RAILROAD). Even though I have lived in New York State nearly my entire life, there are still many corners I have not yet thoroughly ex- plored. Not more than two hours away from me is an area that defies definition, tucked under Buffalo and the eastern shore of Lake Erie to the north, bordered by Pennsylvania to the south and west. Through this region ran a number of Erie Railroad lines, as man- agement changed its mind several times over about where to establish a Great Lakes port, and how it would fit in to their New York-Chicago trunk route. As a result, by the time Conrail was estab-
lished, there were a number of small branch lines in the area that became candidates for new operators. The New York & Lake Erie was established in 1978 to operate the for- mer Erie route between Gowanda and the connection with the so-called Southern Tier main line at Waterboro. Included was a 12-
mile branch from Dayton to Cattaraugus. The tracks are owned by Cattaraugus County, and are out of service below Conewango Valley. At one time, the NY&LE operated a regu- lar passenger excursion season along with their freight operations. The railroad quickly became known for their eclectic collection of Alco locomotives, some painted in an attrac- tive rendition of C&O’s blue, gray, and yel- low, with passenger cars painted to match. Like any short line, business went through the usual ups and downs until flooding in 2009 knocked out a good portion of the line through the valley. The excursion season was abruptly cancelled, though freight continued to operate as needed. In my mind, the NY&LE had achieved Big Foot status: Everyone had heard of it, some knew its cur- rent whereabouts, and yet others had actu- ally snapped a rare photo of it.
Some rumblings about possible Septem- ber excursions were heard as early as this past June. Crews continued to clear brush and make other repairs to the southern end of the line. Soon, the NY&LE’s official Face- book page sprang to life and announced a se- ries of weekend excursions to celebrate the filming of Robert Redford feature The Natu- ral on the railroad 30 years ago. What’s more, the NY&LE’s rare FPA’s would be pulling the trains. This was all the encour- agement I needed to go exploring. Sunday morning dawned bleak as I plot- ted a course west from Rochester with my friends Dave Scheiderich and Joe Nugent. The forecast called for clearing as the day went on, so we crossed our fingers and forged ahead. We passed through Buffalo and headed south for Hamburg. We turned off the Thruway and headed east through the heart of Seneca Indian Territory towards the railroad’s headquarters at Gowanda. This
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