Standard plaster co railroad.

I recently heard about a small railroad in Indian Falls NY. Supposedly it was used by the standard plaster co to load gypsum from their mines and ship it to the West Shore RR which is roughly 3 miles north of where the mine was. The Railroad followed the towananda creek and (according to the open railway map) crossed the creek at some point. Most of my information is from a 1904 report by the state. I attached pictures of the report where it mentions the railroad I underlined the sentence,I also attached a screenshot of the open railway map of where the railroad was although I am not sure if this is a good source. If anyone has any information about the small Railroad or the mine itself it is greatly appreciated.

I've done lots of research. Nothing has been found, new or used, for motive power. That's not to say they didn't have something or they may have leased from the West Shore. It took a while but I was able to work with the Reservation. It really wasn't a viable operation, as eluded to in your screen shots. Mud and water and on and off operation. It didn't last long at all.

Charles

Thanks

Also forget to mention there was Supposedly a mill in black rock for processing l.

The New York State GIS Site does show what appears to be a road bed is the same place as shown on the map. A ramp rises up from the wide flat area on the Tonawanda Creek and the road bed continues along the escarpment where it reaches level ground. The crossing on Reuben Road is visible and roadbed ends along side the West Shore. It is a mystery how the Standard Plaster Co. got to track level with the West shore which was on a high fill in this area. There may have been some sort of loading facility and West Shore siding but the WS was double track from Oakfield west so it would seem there wasn't a lot of room on top of the fill. The GIS also shows a disturbed area on the west side of the Creek where the mine would have been. This whole operation apparently disappeared quickly. About 30 years ago, I talked with an older resident of the Reservation who remembered nothing of it. I've driven down Reuben Rd., which is now heavily wooded, a number of times and seen no trace. The whole area is within the Tonawanda Indian Reservation and not open to public exploration.

I know the west shore is now snowmobile trails and is open to the public. If there was a loading facility there is no trace of it now I've biked by many of times and have not seen anything.


P.S any chance you could link the map you are talking about?

My understanding is the loading was done at the mine area. You can see a runaround track on the 1904 County Atlas, which may or may not be accurate. That would allow the in and out of cars from the WS. The Atlas also just shows a single switch connection to the WS.

Using some elevation mapping tools, the land off the siding is higher than the WS in many places. Basically the grade is up from the WS.

All I know of this is what is in this thread. But it sounds like it was a spur, not an operating railroad (industrial or otherwise). Likely the crew came in off the WS, down that line and then returned to the main.

www.orthos.dhses.ny.gov should take you to the map page. From there you will have to zero in where you want to go and drop down to "Hillshade Map" in the choices given in the upper right hand corner. This will then show land features without vegetation or buildings. Things take a little time to download on this site. What part of the West Shore are you talking about? In Genesee County several parts of the right of way are in private hands and posted. On the Tonawanda Reservation a large section of the high fill west of the concrete highway culvertover Reuben Rd. , know as "Hooty's Bridge" has been bulldozed down to ground level. In Erie County there is a lengthy West Shore trail but it is for walkers and bikers not motorized vehicles.

On snowmobile maps of the area almost all of it is marked down, I have also see lots of bikers/walkers when I am there. Iv'e been all the way to the gypsum plant in oakfield and almost to the creek to the west.

From Wehrle Dr to Ransom Rd in Clarence, I have never noticed any snowmobile marks on the pavement. But on the other side of Rt5 [Main St] you can clearly see that snowmobiles are there during the winter. Lots of scratch marks.

A couple of years ago I rode my bike beyond the trail after Akron. I could ride it in some spots and walk in other spots. I only went as far as Jan's Smoke Shop on Bloomingdale. The ROW was completely covered by brush and trees behind the shop. No way to go but around. The scenery beyond Akron was really nice. I wanted to get out of the expansion of new neighborhoods. Wide open farmland from the WS RR is a great view.

Yeah I often do alot of insulator hunting on the section east of route 77.

Planeguysexploration wrote: ↑Thu Aug 20, 2020 4:25 pm Yeah I often do alot of insulator hunting on the section east of route 77.

I had to laugh at your post. It didn't dawn on me what you meant by insulator hunting so I had to look it up. I had a good laugh at myself for not knowing what that meant. I've never seen "insulator hunting" before. BUT, I have done the same thing years ago along the LVRR branch to Niagara Falls where the golf course is. They tore down several telegraph poles. I wish I had my F150 back then cuz then I'd have gone over and had them lift the pole onto the truck. That would really complete my short line RR.