Abandoning the former BR&P through Orchard Park

Would anyone know from ware in orchard park are they going to tear up ....will they leave the tracks in place by orchard park station ..Thanks

Speeder full of workers have removed trees and brush on the line from springville north to Jewett Holmwood Rd. in Orchard Park which is one mile south of the OP depot. From Jewett Holmwood Rd. north to Buffalo the line is in good shape. I believe the Historical Society asked for the line to remain infront of the OP depot. I guess we will know for sure by sometime next year as the scrappers work north.

The ROW rails have been cut and pulled at the Springville depot. So much for historic preservation... let's hope that the preservation folks in OP aren't "asleep at the switch."

dragonflys wrote:The ROW rails have been cut and pulled at the Springville depot. So much for historic preservation... let's hope that the preservation folks in OP aren't "asleep at the switch."

Ya know - the ROW doesn't belong to the museum. It's private property. Down the road when the ROW is being parceled out, they can buy it and lay down their own rails.

Hey if the line stays in front of orchard park station why ....then did not the folks in springville do the same for there station

mallard wrote:Hey if the line stays in front of orchard park station why ....then did not the folks in springville do the same for there station

Likely because they need the trackage to service the customer(s) in OP - present and possibly future.

Actually, the customer in OP is north of West Quaker Street/20A. It is a lumber yard. So, technically, the B&P need not leave any trackage south of the lumber yard. We all hope they do leave it in but it isn't needed for any revenue service. Ideally B&P would leave everything in as far south as Jewett-Holmwood Road but their legal people might advise otherwise. Who knows.

erie2937 wrote:Actually, the customer in OP is north of West Quaker Street/20A. It is a lumber yard. So, technically, the B&P need not leave any trackage south of the lumber yard. We all hope they do leave it in but it isn't needed for any revenue service. Ideally B&P would leave everything in as far south as Jewett-Holmwood Road but their legal people might advise otherwise. Who knows.

We will see how this plays out in time, with hopes that they are able to preserve the trackage at the OP depot and not leave the scar like they did at the Springville Depot.
: /
picture of the scar to follow.

Well... they're only abandoning to MP 8.4 - where exactly is that?

MP 8.4 is located approximately one-half mile north of the Orchard Park Depot where Route 20A crosses the railroad. 84 Lumber, the line's sole customer, is located just north of the 20A bridge. The OP Depot is located at MP 8.9 and technically the line has been abandoned past the station since this past November. The WNYRHS has been working with the B&P, STB, NYS Parks and Historic Preservation and Erie County to keep the tracks on the ground past the depot as the depot is currently on the National Register of Historic Places. We have been told that apparently there is agreement to keep the rails in place from Jewett Holmwood Road at MP 10 to MP 8.4. We are holding our collective breath until we see the scrappers leave town and the rails left on the ground. We desparately wanted to maintain our connection to the outside world at OP to allow for movement of equipment in and out of the depot from time to time. We will be working with the railroad, parks and county to work out a final agreement to allow us to access to the trackage.

Its' a sorry sight to see this historic line being ripped up. We had lobbied the NYS Parks folks to entertain acquiring the 27 miles of trackage to develop a scenic railroad excursion line, similar to the Cuyahoga Scenic operation, but to no avail. Unfortunately the railroad has had severe maintenance issues over the years as many part of the line were built on areas of unstable soil leading to many washouts and soil slumps over the years, especially south of Cascade Bridge. The cost of restoring and maintaining this railroad were far beyond the ability of the operation to make a profit, at least in the eyes of the parks folks.

The NYS Parks are strictly looking at acquiring the ROW for a rail-to-trails conversion, but the towns of East Aurora, Colden, Concord and Ashford have all past resolutions opposing the trails. The Town of Orchard Park and Village of Springville are in favor of the trails. Perhaps this is why the rails were removed at the Springville Depot. The NYS Parks needs to have all of towns along the line to be in favor of the trail before they can use the Environment Protection Funds to purchase the land. The will be apparently taking the next year to study the acquisition and try to convince the towns to support the trail.

In the meantime, there is a defacto trail as the scrapping process has opened up the entire 27-miles to snowmobiles, 4-wheelers, etc, and while they will technically be trespassing, noone will be able to enforce the laws.

Joe Kocsis
President
WNYRHS, Inc.

I better get out with a camera and start taking pictures while there is still something to photograph. Really is very sad. I am only 23 but i remember riding this line on a wnyrhs trip, i cant remember how young i was but it was a long time ago. I grew up in OP maybe a mile from the tracks and went to elementary school at south davis where our playground was in sight of the thorn ave crossing and i would watch the trains pass. My grandfather would also take me fishing right next to the catt creek bridge and it was always a good day when the trains passed overhead.....I am thankful to at least have a memory of trains on this route.

I have a difficult time understanding who disagrees with the park folks regarding an "excursion train" in Western NY, and whether it would make money or not. Had this line been viable in any way, it would have been rescued years ago.

Dave Becker

SVL Depot ROW::The scrappers took out the siding and switch North of the depot. The rolling stock rests on it's own little rails (private property).

dragonflys wrote:SVL Depot ROW::The scrappers even took out the siding that the rolling stock rests on.

I dunno. I'm just a railfan here, certainly not an expert in railroading, but those look like rails and ties under the rolling stock to me.

That equipment was moved in by road and was not connected to the line. They are sitting on their own little pieces of rail.