The Somerset Railroad was a railroad that operated in

Niagara County, New York Niagara County is in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 212,666. The county seat is Lockport. The county name is from the Iroquois word ''Onguiaahra''; meaning ''the strait'' or ''thunder of waters''. Niag ...

. It was operated by CSX Transportation. The railroad was built with the primary objective of providing coal to the Kintigh Generating Station, also known as the Somerset Power Plant, a 675 megawatt coal-fired

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an el ...

located in Somerset, New York. The railroad was built in 1983 by the New York State Electric and Gas Co. using new and old

rights of way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

. From

Lockport, New York Lockport is both a city and the town that surrounds it in Niagara County, New York. The city is the Niagara county seat, with a population of 21,165 according to 2010 census figures, and an estimated population of 20,305 as of 2019. Its name d ...

, it runs on the defunct International Railway Co. (IRC)

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...

line opened in 1900 under the name Buffalo, Lockport & Olcott Beach (BL&OB) which became part of the IRC in 1902. From

Newfane, New York Newfane is a town in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 9,666 at the 2010 census. The name was suggested by an early settler. The Town of Newfane is in the north-central part of the county, north of the City of Lockpo ...

, the SOM sweeps off the IRC (abandoned in 1937) to the

Hojack Line The Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad was a railroad that grew, in stages, from Rome, New York to Watertown and then to Ogdensburg, New York and Massena, New York. The original Rome and Watertown Railroad terminated in Cape Vincent, NY on ...

Appleton, New York Appleton is a hamlet in the town of Newfane in Niagara County Niagara County is in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 212,666. The county seat is Lockport. The county name is from the Iroquois word ''Ong ...

(Township of Newfane, Niagara County, NY), to West Somerset in the Town of Somerset. It then swings off on new trackage to a series of spurs and a loop at the Kintigh Generating Station. Although the Somerset Railroad owned 428 rotary-dump

gondola The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, ...

cars,

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. ...

provided their motive power and operated the railroad. Prior to the acquisition of Conrail by

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

and CSX in 1998, Conrail provided motive power. The Somerset Railroad right of way includes 15.59 miles (25 km) of trackage, known as the Somerset Secondary.

Unit Unit may refer to: Arts and entertainment * UNIT, a fictional military organization in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' * Unit of action, a discrete piece of action (or beat) in a theatrical presentation Music * ''Unit'' (a ...

coal trains leaving from

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, whi ...

, run to

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

, followed by Buffalo, then north to the Niagara Branch, where they swing off onto the

Lockport Subdivision The Lockport Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The line runs from Lockport (city), New York, Lockport west to a junction with the Niagara Subdivision east of Niagara Falls, ...

, and finally in Lockport onto the Somerset Secondary. Even though the Somerset Power Plant owned its own gondolas, CSXT Hoppers were a regular sight at the plant. The coal cars were unloaded using a

rotary car dumper A rotary car dumper or wagon tippler (UK) is a mechanism used for unloading certain railroad cars such as hopper cars, gondolas or mine cars (tipplers, UK). It holds the rail car to a section of track and then rotates the track and car together ...

at the power plant. Also on the line in Lockport is a chemical plant, Vanchlor, which receives anhydrous

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous wa ...

via the railroad. The first train on the line ran in November 1983. Power was provided by four Conrail GE B23-7s, with 1926 as the lead unit. In March 2020, ''The New York Times'' reported that the Kintigh Generating Station would shut down. The Somerset plant closure was direct result of Governor Andrew Cuomo's plan to reduce carbon emissions in New York state. Shortly after the plant closure, that October CSX filed for abandonment of the line as the plant was the only customer. In late spring 2022, the line was torn up by CSX from just past the chemical plant spur all the way to the power plant. This was the second time the Hojack right of way was abandoned. Prior to line abandonment all Somerset rail cars were loaded by CSX and sent to scrap.

References

* The Greater Rochester Railfan Page
Somerset Railroad
Retrieved August 7, 2004.

* ttp://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/SM-Somerset_Railroad_Sub CSX Somerset Railroad Sub
CSX Albany Division Timetable
{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerset Railroad New York New York (state) railroads Transportation in Buffalo, New York Non-operating common carrier freight railroads in the United States Railway companies established in 1983 American companies established in 1983

See also

References