The Rochester and Southern Railroad , a subsidiary of
Genesee & Wyoming Inc., is a
class III shortline that runs from the city of
Rochester in Monroe County to
Silver Springs,
NY. The RSR started in 1986, when the
B&O sold off its Buffalo and Rochester branches. The trackage was purchased by
Genesee & Wyoming Inc., and split into two railroads, the
Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad
The Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad is a Class II railroad operating in New York and Pennsylvania.
The BPRR is owned by Genesee & Wyoming. Its main line runs between Buffalo, New York and Eidenau, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. Here, conne ...
and the Rochester and Southern Railroad. The Rochester branch was scrapped from Silver Springs south to
Machias, New York.
The RSR interchanges with
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
twice in Rochester, at CP-373 on the
Rochester Subdivision The Rochester Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of New York. The line runs from Solvay, New York, west to Churchville, New York, along the former New York Central Railroad water level route. At its east ...
and at
Genesee Junction on CSX's
West Shore Subdivision
The West Shore Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of New York. The line runs from Fairport, CP-359, west to Churchville, CP-382, along the former West Shore Railroad mainline. Both of its ends are at the ...
, where the RSR also interchanges with the
Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad
The Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad is a short line railroad that operates in Livingston County and Monroe County in New York, United States. The railroad interchanges with CSX at Genesee Junction in Chili, New York, the Rochester and Sou ...
, another shortline. Until 2003, the RSR also interchanged with the
Genesee and Wyoming Railroad
The Genesee and Wyoming Railroad was a flagship short-line railroad owned by Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
The G&W Railroad was the small Western NY salt-hauling railroad that ran between Retsof, New York, and Caledonia, New York, only long, and beg ...
, also owned by GWI, in
Caledonia
Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Great Britain () that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland. Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all ...
as well as with
Norfolk Southern
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway (U.S.), Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the ...
's
Southern Tier Line
The Southern Tier Line is a railroad line owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. states of New York and Pennsylvania. A mostly former Erie Railroad line, it is suggested that the line runs from Suffern, New York northwest to ...
in Silver Springs. Since 2003, the G&W railroad ceased to be, and was made part of the Rochester and Southern.
Trackage
In Rochester, the RSR mainline splits into two lines just north of the Chili Avenue (
NY-33A) grade crossing: the Belt Line, which runs north into the heart of the city; and the Lincoln Park line, which runs parallel to the CSX mainline until the Brown Street underpass, where it turns south and crosses King and Canal Streets. After crossing Canal St., the track leads to Morse Lumber, an online customer, as well as the former entrance to the
Rochester Subway, which has since been fenced off. The RSR made deliveries of paper to
Gannett Newspapers through the subway until 1996 when the printing operations were moved to
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, a suburb of Rochester. The subway has not seen use since and likely never will again, as the city of Rochester has plans in place to fill this section of the tunnel with dirt. Heading north up the belt line, the track snakes to the north, passing over the
Falls Road Industrial Track, then to the east and back to the north, to parallel CSX's
Charlotte Branch. Just after the Lexington Avenue underpass, a switch off the Belt Line leads down to another former connection with old subway trackage. However, unlike the connection off Canal St., this connection was built in 1976 after the city of Rochester filled in the old subway cut from Lexington Ave. to Brown St. to save on bridge maintenance. Further north, the RSR runs through the center of
Kodak Park, crossing West Ridge Rd. (
NY-104) before heading north to its terminus at Matthews and Fields Lumber, another online customer, on Stonewood Avenue.
Heading south from the Chili Avenue grade crossing, the first notable area of trackage is the Brooks Avenue yard. Continuing south, the RSR interchanges with CSX at
Genesee Junction, where there are three online customers served by the RSR.
STB Decision: 3/31/1997 - FD_33375_0
/ref> 12 miles farther down, the Rochester and Southern passes through P&L Junction, its connection point with the GNWR. The line then continues south to Silver Springs, where the RSR interchanges with the Southern Tier Line in the heart of Silver Springs.
Since the merger with G&W RR, the RSR operates their track from Caledonia south to Retsof, New York
Retsof is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of York in Livingston County, New York, United States. The community, situated southwest of the city of Rochester, is off New York State Route 63 approximately one mile east o ...
. There, the old G&W engine shops are still used for the GWI locomotive fleet. From Retsof, the RSR continues south via ex-DL&W/EL track to Mount Morris (village), New York
Mount Morris is a village in the town of Mount Morris in Livingston County, New York, United States. The village population was 2,986 at the 2010 census, out of 4,465 in the entire town. The village and town are named after Robert Morris.
The ...
, where there is a new American Salt mine. From there, the line continues south to Dansville, NY, where two new companies occupy the former Foster-Wheeler plant: Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...
an
American Motive Power
A portion of the line from Mt Morris to Dansville is via the Dansville and Mount Morris Railroad
The Dansville and Mount Morris Railroad is a short line railroad located in Dansville, New York.
The Dansville and Mount Morris Railroad first opened in the 1870s. It extended the entire length from Dansville to Mount Morris, New York.
The lin ...
- specifically this is from a connection in Groveland, NY between the DL&W and the DMM south to Dansville.
Notable mileposts
*0.0 Lincoln Park Line end
*1.9 Jct. with CSXT at CP-373
*2.4 Belt Line Junction
*3.5 Brooks Avenue Yard
*6.1 Jct. with CSXT and LAL at Genesee Jct.
*19.5 P&L Jct. - Caledonia
*50.9 Silver Springs - Jct. with NS - End track
History
The trackage owned today by the R&S, except for the GNWR subdivision, was constructed by the Rochester and State Line Railroad, which began operations on January 28, 1878, between Rochester and Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...
(a town that is now on the RSR's sister railroad, the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad
The Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad is a Class II railroad operating in New York and Pennsylvania.
The BPRR is owned by Genesee & Wyoming. Its main line runs between Buffalo, New York and Eidenau, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. Here, conne ...
). The name changed to the Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad in 1881 and was absorbed into the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway
The Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh Railway was one of the more than ten thousand railroad companies founded in North America. It lasted much longer than most, serving communities from the shore of Lake Ontario to the center of western Penns ...
in 1886. The line was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
in 1932, which maintained ownership of the line as the Chessie System
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated und ...
and CSX before the line between Rochester and Silver Springs was sold to GWI in 1985. Operations under the new railroad, the Rochester and Southern, began in 1986.
The RSR main line to Silver Springs formerly continued along the B&RP/B&O lines through southern Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
and northern Allegany counties through Machias Junction and beyond Ashford Junction. The line between Silver Springs and Machias was abandoned and later removed in the early 1990s after sister line B&P took over operation of the southern portion of the line.
References
The Greater Rochester Railfan Page
External links
Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rochester Southern Railroad
New York (state) railroads
Genesee & Wyoming
Spin-offs of CSX Transportation
1986 establishments in New York (state)