NYC models showcased at Ohio gathering

"Last Stop Willoughby: Remembering the CP&E Interurban Railroad" took place in Willoughby, Ohio on August 9 and 10, 2008. Visitors came to the Willoughby Historic District to recall the days of steam engines and electric trolleys. Meany learned about the Cleveland, Painesville & Eastern Railroad (CP&E), Willoughby’s own beloved electric trolley line that ran from 1895 to 1926. The CP&E car barn and power station remain; both seeing new life as a microbrewery and Italian restaurant. Models were on display as part of the event, including many examples of New York Central trains, as seen below. In the first photo, why yes, that is our very own Dick Croy, who was a super help with the recent Cleveland convention.

Vice President's Report

Vice President's Report
Posted following the Annual Directors’ Meeting, September 25-27, 2008

Your Board met on September 25-27, 2008, and made an amazing amount of progress! The Society is facing many challenges at this point, but the Board passed several resolutions to manage and resolve our difficulties and to move ahead. Any minor differences of opinion and methods to be utilized were discussed in a friendly and positive manner, and a consensus was reached on all points. All votes were unanimous.

Major challenges include:

The delayed Central Headlight issues. Due to the illness of our editor Charles Smith, Rich Stoving has stepped up and will immediately serve as editor. He will work to create and provide the issues needed to get back on schedule.

Our original plan for an Upstate New York convention to be situated in Utica met with multiple obstacles regarding pricing, dates, and including an Adirondack Scenic Railroad excursion. Utica is therefore not an option anymore Board members Howard Fine and Hugh Guillaume have gratefully and quickly come up with a superb alternate plan to hold our convention in Geneva, NY, on the weekend of April 16 through 19, 2009. It is planned to include some excursions on the Finger Lakes Railway and several more interesting attractions. Full confirmation of the dates and of the convention hotel will be presented forthwith. I may be able to arrange another Hickory Creek charter.

Our plans for the 2010 convention in Michigan have progressed exceptionally well, due to the comprehensive groundwork of members Dick Croy and John Martin. More details about this will follow.

The NYC drawing digitization is complete with nearly 14,000 drawings digitized. Grateful thanks go to directors emeriti Charlie Smith and John Reehling. Our immediate project is to provide all members with an index that will depict exactly what each drawing relates to. Director Tom Gerbracht has spent many hours creating and composing this index for our benefit, and it should be available shortly.

Thanks to some generous friends and members, we now have the resources to move ahead with photograph and negative digitization, and arrangements are being finalized to begin this long-awaited project.

Respectfully,

Bill Strassner,
Vice president, NYCSHS

Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway

The Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway (TH&B) existed from 1892 through 1987 as a separate railway serving the Hamilton, Ontario area. It joined the lines of its corporate parents, the Canadian Pacific Railway and the New York Central. It was established largely as an alternate route for the businesses in the Hamilton area to ship their products to Canadian customers in Toronto, Montreal, and the west and to American customers via the New York Central and its subsidiaries. The railway also owned a subsidiary company to operate a rail ferry between Ashtabula, Ohio and Port Maitland, Ontario. The TH&B Navigation Company was chartered in 1916 and operated the Maitland No. 1 until 1932.

The TH&B was jointly owned after July 1895 by the CPR and NYC (and its successor, Penn Central) until 1977, when CP Rail bought the remaining shares and became full owner of the railway. The TH&B was integrated into the operations of its parent in 1987, losing its distinct identity as a separate railway.

Source: The Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway Historical Society

Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad

The Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad was chartered in 1875. The railroad linked the "steel centers" of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Youngstown, Ohio by 1879. The New York Central took an interest in the road early on, and by 1879 had a 15 percent interest. In 1881, the Pittsburgh, McKeesport & Youghiogheny was opened as a joint venture between the P&LE and the NYC. This line constituted the majority of trackage south of Pittsburgh. By 1889, NYC took full control of the P&LE.

The P&LE owned a one-third stake in the coal-hauling Monongahela Railroad. The P&LE also controlled stakes in the Montour Railroad and the Lake Erie & Eastern. In 1934, the Baltimore & Ohio negotiated trackage rights over the P&LE between McKeesport and New Castle. B&O's long-distance passenger trains were also moved to the P&LE's station in downtown Pittsburgh.

The P&LE remained a highly profitable part of the NYC system, through to the Penn Central years. After Penn Central declared bankruptcy in June 1970, the P&LE was able to emerge as an independent railroad years later. In 1993, as the steel industry was in decline, the entire P&LE was acquired by CSX Transportation.

Map of the P&LE

See also: Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Historical Society