Standardization of the gauge

[jgallaway81]

Okay, we all know from Ed's book that standardization of the BA&A occured in 1895. But also, according to the book, th erailroad was out of service for roughly a year under the Attica & Freedom, and a further year under the BA&A while they relaid the tracks.

My question stems from the use of narrowgauge equipment by the BA&A.According to a picture on pg18 in the book, NG #7 was purchased from the Olean, Bradford & Warren. The OB&W's page @ wnyrails.org says their #7 was sold to the BA&A in 1895. So, did the BA&A buy a couple NG engines for actual service, or were they used exclusively as construction engines for the purpose of relaying the railroad?

Any information regarding the NG & SG rosters of the BA&A.

Also, Pat, do you know which engines of the TV&C were sold to the A&F after its inception in 1891? Further, with the forclosure and change to the BA&A in 1894, how long did the A&F actually operate?

[BSOR Patarak]

As many researchers will tell you, early locomotive rosters tend to be a mess. Mainly due to the fact that the older the railroad you are interested in, the less first hand information there is. With that said, the early A&A stuff is no different. There are a couple of rosters floating around for the various related railroads. The first would be that listed in Ed Lewis's A&A book. Another would be the next book on the A&A published by the Western New York Railway Historical Society, this I'd call the "brown book". It has a slightly more detailed roster for the TV&C and also added one for the BA&A. Other sources of rosters would be the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society. They've collected rosters for most all railroads in the US. These rosters tend to be collected from older sources, well researched and made at a time when more 1st hand information was available.

Now, the problem is, at best the rosters are a guess on the early stuff. All sources mentioned above had research that went into them. Most likely they even shared or copied portions of the rosters from each other with what ever "new" information was available. From the research I've done, having retraced the sources of many rosters, I can see where things were well mixed together. I've looked through countless photos, newspaper clippings, historical society newsletters, Poors manuals and state railroad commissioners reports to come up with as complete of a roster as I can.

It appears that the Attica and Freedom purchased TV&C #1 in October of 1893. It was a 4-4-0 Brooks (C/N 436). This engine again changed hands in February 1896, after the A&F closed and the BA&A standard gauged. It may have been on the property at some point. It is doubtful that the BA&A actually owned any narrow gauge engines. It is more likely that they leased or rented one for the construction. Some rosters list a leased national 4-4-0 to the TV&C. It has also been put into the BA&A rosters as leased. In the end, the TV&C didn't have a good cash flow, a rental may have fit their needs if the other power was in bad shape. The picture captioned in Lewis's book of this #7 is thought to actually be of the TV&C, and not the BA&A as stated. Newspaper clippings from 1894-1896 Wyoming County Heralds do not seem to indicate that any revenue narrow gauge trains were handled by the BA&A, only construction. The picture of #7 clearly shows box cars...in fact, the front one or two look like standard gauge Erie cars on narrow gauge trucks with narrow gauge cars behind in tow. The BA&A would not have had any kind of car transfer set up at it's south end for such a move.

As for rosters, the Lewis Book TV&C seems pretty close to what I have. For some reason, I don't show a number 6, only a 7. Then was the 7 a purchased engine or again the leased National in question? Another wrench in the whole works is the fact that the TV&C had joint management with the Erie and other narrow gauges in the Bradford area. They tended to trade equipment between the lines as needed also.

[BSOR Patarak]

TV&C #3 went to the Bradford, Bordell and Kinzua in 1891
TV&C #4 and #5 show as going to the BB&K also, but not until 1893

When the TV&C shut down, the locomotives were most likely sent to the Bradford Roundhouse. Many of these oil field narrow gauges were under joint management and shared facilities. At least one of the TV&C locos was stored at Bradford and was destroyed in a fire there. This was probably #3 and happened around 1892.