The Old NYC Peanut Line.

I have been wondering about the old peanut line. My hometown is Bloomfield NY, The Old peanut line went through town. I've start doing some research about it and there has been some questions I have. But I have also been looking up stuff and not much information. Although there is some cool pictures of the trains on the old line. So now I'm hoping that some of you guys can give me some information!! My questions are: What was the reason of having the Peanut Line? What industries that the NYC served during the time of the Peanut Line? When was the last train to run the Peanut line? Where does the line comes from and goes to? When did the line closed? What if the Peanut Line was still here? Who would've been running the line today? Information will be a big help!!

There isn't a whole lot of info on the Peanut and not a lot in the way of photos. It's best days were well behind
it by the middle of the 20th Century. The line connected Niagara Falls with Canandaigua by way of Batavia and
and P&L Junction. I'm thinking the traffic on this line was mostly produce.

This line just became redundant with the parallel track the NYC already had with the Main Line that connected
with the Niagara Branch at Buffalo. The Auburn Road also served Canandaigua and the Falls Road Branch connected
with Niagara Falls.


Basically, the Peanut was just too redundant with not enough online business to sustain it.

Charlie

charlie6017 wrote:There isn't a whole lot of info on the Peanut and not a lot in the way of photos. It's best days were well behind
it by the middle of the 20th Century. The line connected Niagara Falls with Canandaigua by way of Batavia and
and P&L Junction. I'm thinking the traffic on this line was mostly produce.

This line just became redundant with the parallel track the NYC already had with the Main Line that connected
with the Niagara Branch at Buffalo. The Auburn Road also served Canandaigua and the Falls Road Branch connected
with Niagara Falls.


Basically, the Peanut was just too redundant with not enough online business to sustain it.

Charlie

Thanks for the information! Charlie!!!

The segment from Holcomb to Caledonia was removed somewhere about 1939. I think someone once posted the exact abandonment date on here but I don't have it written down so 1939 is real close anyway. A couple years later, they were thinking about abandoning back to Canandaigua but the local Superintendent, Karl Borntrager, convinced the locals to adjust the taxes and keep shipping. This is described in his book "Keeping The Railroad Running". So that segment lasted into the 1970's, again someone on here will probably have the exact date of abandonment.

If you're really looking for tidbits, I'll try to get you the exact date of a wreck in about 1946 or so. A plow extra was leaving Canandaigua westbound, hit a huge drift of ice and snow just west of Buffalo Street. The plow went up and over the bank and was pretty much destroyed and several men were hurt.

A VERY tiny part of the line is still used today by Finger Lakes Ry. West of Rt 332, the track goes onto the old Peanut roadbed, and stays on that until just past Gibson St where it rejoins the old Auburn Road alignment.

Last I knew, the Peanut ROW is in use from near Gibson St. to just south of the intersection of Rt 332 and Parkside Dr (you can clearly see the tracks from 332), and the chemical plant there (PACTIV?) still receives shipments.

I was told by members of the Bennett family that the fur farm occasionally received hoppers of feed to the Agway in town.
Back in the day, asparagus were shipped from Ionia to NYC in such quantity that the station there picked up the moniker "Asparagus Junction", a name used now by the antique shop that occupies the station. (Which is for sale for anyone out there with an extra $250K...way over priced!)

I was wondering where the name Asparagus Junction came from. I didn't know that this area produced a lot of asparagus. Where were the tracks in relation to the station in this view?

Ionia, NY by statPaige, on Flickr

dj_paige wrote:Last I knew, the Peanut ROW is in use from near Gibson St. to just south of the intersection of Rt 332 and Parkside Dr (you can clearly see the tracks from 332), and the chemical plant there (PACTIV?) still receives shipments.

No, that's not the case. See my post just above yours - the Peanut ROW is used from 332 (by City Hall) to just past Gibson St. The dogleg at Gibson St is where FGLK leaves the Peanut, goes back on the Auburn Road, and continues to Pactiv. Before 1978, that line continued, crossing and then re-crossing 332 and winding up at Victor Insulators. The Peanut is obliterated from that dogleg to the far end of the school, but can be seen again from the north end of the school parking lot curving generally northwest.

I believe that Genesee Valley Transportation is using a short piece of the Peanut Line in Batavia.

Wasn't it's first use for passenger traffic to and from Niagara Falls?

A couple of tid bits on the Peanut. In Victor,NY if you go south on Rt 444 ( Maple Ave) you first cross the LV Main ( today Ontario Central) then up the hill you go to
Railroad St. If you turn left and head down the street you come to a restaurant/bar called Mickey Finns. (an excellent eatery btw). This is/was an old NYC freight house.
The row runs parallel to the street and if look you west at the crossing of Maple you will see some old rail cars. A plow maybe, a caboose and what ever. This track (org Peanut)
goes about 500 ft or so before swinging down on a connector to the LV main. There is or was a customer on this connection. The OC stores equipment there too. And....

The T-way exit 48a ramp under the road is on the row alignment. A convenient place to put the exit as the bridge over the Peanut was already there.

In Clarence a rather nice rail trail was constructed that the locals enjoy.

Here's a short history from right near Bloomfield (Honeoye Falls)
http://www.crookedlakereview.com/articl ... heret.html
JS

No, no, no, guys, you're still getting this wrong.

The line running from Pactiv, through Victor, Powder Mill Park, Pittsford and up to Brighton was the Auburn Road. The Peanut never went to Victor.

The Peanut came off the Auburn Road at Canandaigua, crossed North Street WEST of Pactiv, and curved west to Holcomb. From there - prior to about 1938 or 1939, it went through Honeoye Falls and on to Caledonia, coming into town by Jones Chemical.

The only part of the Peanut still in service in the Canandaigua area is the quarter mile or so from the Rt 332 crossing to just past Gibson St.

med-train wrote:I believe that Genesee Valley Transportation is using a short piece of the Peanut Line in Batavia.

A very tiny bit in Batavia, just alongside the north edge of Elmwood cemetary..
today its just a short spur serving that industry north of cemetary..

And the Peanut crossed over the "old mainline" in the vicinity of the current DLWR roundhouse, so might be some
Peanut trackage in that area as well..although realistically thats is probably all "old mainline" trackage..

Then they are running a second set of Peanut trackage from Walnut street over to the West end of the line,
and the "old" enginehouse inside the "Majic Corregated" factory..

Batavia map:

http://gold.mylargescale.com/Scottychao ... tavia.html

Scot

OK, here's the info on the plow wreck. It was March 1946. The crew was supposed to use a wooden plow from Canandaigua but could not find it, so the track foreman decided to use a steel one which was there. Power was 2 H5 steam locos, crew was Cndr Art Kraft, brakemen A.K.Lee and F. Suhr, engineers Fred Sweatman and George Fisk, firemen's names unavailable. As Suhr tells it, he was in the plow with the track gang and as they crossed North St there was a left hand curve ahead with a high bank, filled with snow and ice. He gave the engine a stop sign out the window. The section boss asked why and Suhr said they would not get through the cut. The guy got mad as Suhr was a young kid, and the track guy said there would be no problem. The engines backed up, took a run at it. The plow climbed the bank and overturned and most of the guys in it wound up in the hospital. If they had been using the wooden plow they were scheduled for it likely would have disintegrated and killed them all.

If anybody gets to the local library there and can find a news article about it, fill us in with additional details. Next time I talk to Frank I'll pick his brain more but he's in Florida for another month or so.

Thank you for the information. This would help me to know the Peanut Line little bit better.