Buffalo Creek Railroad
 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Erie Lackawanna Railway, Lehigh Valley Railroad |
| Headquarters | Buffalo, New York |
| Reporting mark | BCK |
| Dates of operation | January 25, 1869–April 1, 1976 |
| Successor | Conrail |
The Buffalo Creek Railroad was a terminal and switching railroad that operated on the waterfront area of Buffalo, New York. The company was in existence from 1869[1] to 1976, operating on 5.66 miles with a total trackage of 34.22 miles.[2][3] It was formed by the Lehigh Valley Railroad and New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company (Erie Lackawanna Railway) which each owned 50% of the company.[1]
The railroad primarily served the grain elevators in present-day 'Silo City'[4] and adjacent area of Buffalo, including that of General Mills. The site was advantageous due to its location on the Buffalo River and the eastern coast of Lake Erie.[5] Before the re-dredging of the Welland Canal in the 1950s, access to Lake Ontario and points further east were limited to large ships coming from in the Midwestern United States. As a consequence Buffalo hosted at one time the world's largest cereal packaging plants,[2] and offloaded, milled, and shipped grain across the eastern United States.
The 'Crik', as it was nicknamed,[3] switched for the grain elevators. The railroad connected with seven major railroads.[2] In addition, the railroad owned a fleet of over 1,700 40-foot boxcars for transporting flour.
The railroad was taken over by Conrail in 1976.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b United States Interstate Commerce Commission (1928). Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Reports and Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States. L.K. Strouse.
- ^ a b c "Buffalo Creek Railroad". Penney Vanderbilt and KC Jones: All About Railroads. 2017-06-07. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ a b c "BCK History & Locomotives". www.trainweb.org. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ Franz, Justin (2021-07-21). "Historic Flour-Carrying Boxcar Returns to Buffalo". Railfan & Railroad Magazine. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
- ^ Dietz, Paul (2021-03-04). "'Flour-by-rail' to be recognized in redevelopment of Buffalo neighborhood". Trains. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Buffalo Creek Railroad at Wikimedia Commons