Among my numerous eccentricities is my love of railroads and railroading. Fortunately my family has humored me, and we have managed to ride on a large variety of tourist trains in years past. This year it appeared that my streak of consecutive summers with memorable excursions was about to be a victim of the corona virus.
When we first talked about spending a week at Chautauqua, I decided to promote a day on the Arcade and Attica Railroad. We had ridden on that line sometime in the middle 1970s, and I was ready for a repeat trip. When Covid-19 hit, the railroad suspended their season of passenger excursions. However, a month ago, I checked their website and was pleased to learn that they were back in business, on a reduced schedule basis. We quickly made a reservation for their single midweek run, on Wednesday.
In the grand scheme of things the Arcade and Attica ranks near the bottom of my railfan adventures. It would be foolish to compare it with the White Pass and Yukon Route, the Durango and Silverton, or the Cumbres and Toltec. Nonetheless, to paraphrase a popular saying, “The worst day on a railfan excursion is better than the best day without one”. This year in particular it was a welcome diversion, one that I enjoyed immensely.
My daughter Elizabeth was my companion for this trip. We drove south to I-86 and then followed it east about twenty-five miles to Randolph, then veered northeast through Little Valley, Ellicottville, and Machias another forty miles or so to Arcade. The drive itself would have justified making the trip. The countryside in western New York state is quite picturesque — rolling hills, attractive farms, and sufficiently wooded to make it interesting.
We found the train station right in the middle of Arcade, with a string of passenger cars alongside it. While Elizabeth was picking up our tickets, I commented that I would like to visit the rest room. She promptly handed me a spray can and instructed me to squirt sanitizer on everything that I touched. Old dog, new tricks!
The station had an excellent display of railroad artifacts; we had just enough time to look at them. When the conductor called “All Aboard”, we joined the throng at the loading platform. It was beginning to sprinkle, so I instinctively pushed forward. Elizabeth, queen of “social distancing”, immediately pulled me back. Once the crowd had loaded, we got on and found our way to assigned seats in one of the cars.
It appears that the railroad had limited participation to about twenty five percent. There were sixty seats in our car, with fifteen occupants. I believe the same ratio was true for the other three passenger cars in the train. We were seated far enough apart to satisfy most guidelines for social distancing. An exception was a toddler who spent the whole trip running from car to car, with his father in close pursuit.
Although the Arcade and Attica owns two steam locomotives, neither of them is available for operation this summer. Number 14 is a 4-6-0, built in 1917 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. It is currently in storage; the railroad cannot afford the necessary “expensive overhaul to comply with federal safety standards”. Number 18, built in 1920 by the American Locomotive Company in Paterson, New Jersey, is undergoing a full rebuild in a shop in Syracuse.
Our train was pulled by one of their four Diesel-Electric switchers, Number 113. It was built by General Electric in Erie in 1959 and equipped with weighted trucks that make it an industrial 80-tonner. A covered gondola car completed our train. The railroad has a total of six passenger cars, currently reserved for excursion service.
The Arcade and Attica has a history that parallels the Chartiers Valley Railroad. In 1836 a railroad connecting the two towns was proposed. Three reorganizations later the line was finally completed in 1881. Unlike the CVRR, it was originally a narrow gauge (three feet) line. In 1895 the track was replaced at standard gauge.
After several additional failures, the line was re-organized as the Arcade and Attica in 1917. It served the Tonawanda Valley between the two towns, with connections with other railroads at both ends. In 1941 the acquisition of a 44-ton Diesel-Electric locomotive from General Electric reduced operating costs enough to prevent another bankruptcy.
Scheduled passenger service was terminated in 1951. Severe washouts in 1957 took out the track between North Java and Attica; that portion of the line was never restored. In 1962 the railroad acquired steam locomotive Number 18 and initiated passenger excursions, which generated enough revenue to make up for a decline in freight revenue.
At about the same time Borden began to produce the non-dairy creamer, Cremora, at its plant in Arcade. The railroad did a good business with them, hauling raw materials and the finished product to its junctions with other railroads. Today the railroad’s best customer is the Reisdorf Brothers feed mill in North Java. According to the conductor, they make one freight run a week, primarily to serve the feed mill.
Our trip ran nearly due north to the hamlet of Curriers, where we paused for a rest stop and to purchase hot dogs before returning to Arcade. I would have been happy for us to make the run all the way to North Java and back. Apparently the shorter round trip (about two hours) is more popular with their customers.
It interests me that a working railroad supplements its freight business with special passenger excursions. Most of the other lines we have travelled rely on massive volunteer help and/or financial support from some governmental organization.
Wouldn’t it be great if the Pittsburgh and Ohio Central were to adopt the same philosophy and run excursion trains up the Chartiers Valley from Carnegie to Arden! I would volunteer to function as conductor/tour guide.