The Elmira, Cortland and Northern Railroad was a railroad in the state of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, in the United States. Its main line ran from
Elmira, New York
Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 cens ...
, to
Camden, New York
Camden is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 4,934 at the 2010 census.
The town of Camden contains a village also called Camden. The town is in the northwestern part of Oneida County and is northwest of the Ci ...
. It was formed in 1884 from the consolidation of other railroads and merged into the
Lehigh Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, w ...
in 1905. Under the Lehigh Valley, it was known as the Elmira and Cortland Branch. Almost all of its former line has since been abandoned.
History
The Elmira, Cortland and Northern Railroad (EC&N) was created on March 7, 1884 from the merger of two railroads, the Utica, Ithaca and Elmira Railroad (UI&E) and the Cazenovia, Canastota and DeRuyter Railroad (CC&D). The UI&E owned a line between Elmira and
Cortland, New York
Cortland is a city and the county seat of Cortland County, New York. Known as the Crown City, Cortland is in New York's Southern Tier region. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 17,556.
The city of Cortland, near the county's western ...
, which had been built in sections between 1871 and 1881. The CC&D's line extended from Cortland north to
Canastota, New York
Canastota is a village located inside the Town of Lenox in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 4,804 at the 2010 census.
The village of Canastota is in the southern part of the Town of Lenox. Canastota High School is loca ...
. The oldest segment,
Cazenovia, New York
Cazenovia is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Madison County, New York. The population was 6,740 at the time of the 2020 census. The town is named after Theophilus Cazenove , Theophile Cazenove, the ''Agent Gener ...
, to Canastota, had been opened by the Cazenovia and Canastota Railroad on December 7, 1869. The company extended south to
DeRuyter, New York
DeRuyter is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Madison County, New York, Madison County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 1,589 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Michiel de Ruyter, Michiel ...
, in 1878. The
New York, Ontario and Western Railway
The New York, Ontario and Western Railway, more commonly known as the O&W or NYO&W, was a regional railroad with origins in 1868, lasting until March 29, 1957 (the last train ran from Norwich to Middletown, NY on this date), after which it was or ...
closed the gap between DeRuyter and Cortland; the CC&D had trackage rights over this route and later leased it. The EC&N, via its wholly owned Canastota Northern Railroad subsidiary, extended its line north from Canastota to Camden in 1887. Financially troubled from the beginning, the company turned a small profit in 1889.
The much larger
Lehigh Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, w ...
had completed its extension through the
Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...
area to
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
, in 1892. Competition from the Lehigh Valley, particularly on coal, hindered the EC&N's growth. The potential of the EC&N to provider feeder traffic for its new line intrigued the Lehigh Valley, which purchased the company on February 20, 1896. A formal merger followed in 1905. Under the Lehigh Valley, the EC&N's Elmira–Camden line was known as the Elmira and Cortland Branch and managed as part of the railroad's Auburn Division.
Elmira and Cortland Branch
The line from Elmira to Camden measured . It interchanged with several other railroads, including the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...
,
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...
, New York, Ontario and Western Railway,
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
and the New York Central Railroad. The Lehigh Valley abandoned the section between Van Etten and
Spencer, New York
Spencer is a town in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 2,976 at the 2020 census. The town and its primary village are named after Ambrose Spencer. It lies on the western border of the county and is south of Ithaca. Inside ...
in 1933, as it was redundant to the parallel
Ithaca Branch
Ithaca most commonly refers to:
*Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey''
*Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca
*Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College
Ithaca, Ithaka ...
. A further abandonment occurred in 1935, between Spencer and
East Ithaca, New York
East Ithaca is a suburban community (and census-designated place) in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 2,231 at the 2010 census.
East Ithaca is a suburb of the City of Ithaca on its eastern city line and in the Town ...
. Abandonment of the section between
Horseheads, New York
Horseheads is a town in Chemung County, New York, United States. The population was 19,412 at the 2020 census. The name of the town is derived from the number of bleached horses' skulls once found there.
Horseheads is north of the city of Elmira ...
and Van Etten followed in 1938; thereafter, Lehigh Valley trains required trackage rights over the Erie to reach Elmira. Also abandoned in 1938 was the Canastota–Camden extension. Passenger service ended on the entire branch by 1941. The branch was cut back further, from Canastota to Cortland, in 1967. A washout in June, 1972 from
Hurricane Agnes
Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was the costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, from the Caribbean to Canada, ...
damaged the route between East Ithaca and
Freeville, New York
Freeville is a Village (New York), village in Tompkins County, New York, Tompkins County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 520 at the 2010 census.
The Village of Freeville is in the Dryden (town), New York, Town of Dry ...
, which the bankrupt Lehigh Valley decided not to repair. Later abandoned, in 1975, was the remaining track between Elmira and Horseheads. The sole remnant of the branch, between Freeville and Cortland, was incorporated into
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
in 1976. Conrail would abandon all but , within the vicinity of Cortland. This line is now owned by the
New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (or New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad and also known as the Susie-Q or the Susquehanna) is a Class II American freight railway operating over 400 miles (645 km) of track in th ...
.
Notes
References
*
*
* {{cite book , last=Trice , first=Herbert V. , title=The Gangly Country Cousin: the Lehigh Valley's Auburn Division , date=2004 , publisher=DeWitt Historical Society , location=Ithaca, New York , url=https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/11631
Predecessors of the Lehigh Valley Railroad
Railway companies established in 1884
Railway companies disestablished in 1905
Defunct New York (state) railroads