Rochester and Southern Railroad
Encyclopedia
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
and the Rochester and Southern Railroad. The Rochester branch was scrapped from Silver Springs south to Machias, New York
.
The RSR interchanges with CSX twice in Rochester, at CP-373 on the Rochester Subdivision
and at Genesee Junction on CSX's West Shore Subdivision
, where the RSR also interchanges with the Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad
, another shortline. Until 2003, the RSR also interchanged with the Genesee and Wyoming Railroad
, also owned by GWI, in Caledonia
as well as with Norfolk Southern's Southern Tier Line
in Silver Springs. Since 2003, the G&W railroad ceased to be, and was made part of the Rochester and Southern.
) 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
, 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. 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
. 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
, 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
and American Motive Power. A portion of the line from Mt Morris to Dansville is via the Dansville and Mount Morris Railroad
railroad - specifically this is from a connection in Groveland, NY
between the DL&W and the DMM south to Dansville.
(a town that is now on the RSR's sister railroad, the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad
). The name changed to the Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad in 1881 and was absorbed into the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway in 1886. The line was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
in 1932, which maintained ownership of the line as the Chessie System
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.
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
to Silver Springs
Silver Springs, New York
Silver Springs is a village in Wyoming County, New York, United States. The population was 844 at the 2000 census.The Village of Silver Springs is within the Town of Gainesville...
, 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
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 and Wyoming Industries. Its main line runs between Buffalo, New York and Eidenau, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. Here, connections are made to the city center via the...
and the Rochester and Southern Railroad. The Rochester branch was scrapped from Silver Springs south to Machias, New York
Machias, New York
Machias is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 2,482 at the 2000 census.The Town of Machias is an interior town in the northeast quadrant of the county. It is northeast of the city of Salamanca.-History:...
.
The RSR interchanges with CSX twice in Rochester, at CP-373 on the Rochester Subdivision
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 Syracuse west to Buffalo along the former New York Central Railroad main line. At its east end, west of downtown Syracuse, the line becomes the Mohawk Subdivision...
and at Genesee Junction on CSX's West Shore Subdivision
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 North Chili, CP-382, along a former New York Central Railroad line. Both of its ends are at the Rochester Subdivision; it provides a southern bypass...
, where the RSR also interchanges with the Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad
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...
, another shortline. Until 2003, the RSR also interchanged with the Genesee and Wyoming Railroad
Genesee and Wyoming Railroad
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. is a short-line railroad holding company that owns or maintains interests in 63 railroads throughout six countries , and operates more than of owned and leased track, with more than under additional track-access arrangements...
, also owned by GWI, in Caledonia
Caledonia (village), New York
Caledonia is a village in Livingston County, New York, USA. The population was 2,327 at the 2000 census. The name refers to Scotland.The Village of Caledonia is located inside the Town of Caledonia and is southwest of Rochester, Monroe County....
as well as with Norfolk Southern's Southern Tier Line
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. The line runs from Suffern, New York northwest to Buffalo, New York mostly along a former Erie Railroad line. From Suffern to Sparrowbush along which...
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-33ANew York State Route 33A
New York State Route 33A is an east–west state highway mostly located in Monroe County, New York, in the United States. The route is just over long and serves as an alternate route of NY 33 between the town of Bergen in Genesee County and the city of Rochester in Monroe County...
) 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
Rochester Subway
The Rochester Subway or Rochester Industrial and Rapid Transit Railway was an underground rapid transit line in the city of Rochester, New York from 1927 to 1956. Contemporary photos show it used single streetcars, like Boston's Green Line, as a light rail line, with a large portion underground...
, 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 (town), New York
Greece is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town had a total population of 96,095. The town motto is "Discover the Promise."...
, 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
Kodak Park
Eastman Business Park, formerly Kodak Park, is a large manufacturing and industrial complex in the city of Rochester, New York, in the United States. The complex is run by Eastman Kodak and is located north of downtown Rochester and south of Lake Ontario...
, crossing West Ridge Rd. (NY-104
New York State Route 104
New York State Route 104 is a long east–west state highway in Upstate New York, United States. It spans six counties and enters the vicinity of four cities—Niagara Falls, Lockport, Rochester, and Oswego—as it follows a routing largely parallel to that of the southern shoreline of Lake...
) 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. 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, New York
Retsof is an unincorporated community within the town of York in Livingston County, New York, United States. The community, situated southwest of the city of Rochester, is roughly centered around the junction between New York State Route 36 and New York State Route 63.It was founded by a man...
. 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 (village), New York
Mount Morris is a village located in the Town of Mount Morris in Livingston County, New York, USA. The population was 3,266 at the 2000 census. The village and town are named after Robert Morris....
, where there is a new American Salt mine. From there, the line continues south to Dansville, NY
Dansville, Livingston County, New York
Dansville is a village in the town of North Dansville in the eastern part of Livingston County, New York, United States. As of the census, the village population was 4,832. The village is named after Daniel Faulkner, an early settler. Interstate 390 passes next to the west side of the village.-...
, where two new companies occupy the former Foster-Wheeler plant: Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
and American Motive Power. A portion of the line from Mt Morris to Dansville is via the Dansville and Mount Morris Railroad
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....
railroad - specifically this is from a connection in Groveland, NY
Groveland, New York
Groveland is a town in Livingston County, New York, United States. The population was 3,853 at the 2000 census.The Town of Groveland is centrally located in the county, south of Geneseo.- History :...
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 SalamancaSalamanca (town), New York
Salamanca is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 544 at the 2000 census. The name is from a major investor in a local railroad....
(a town that is now on the RSR's sister railroad, the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad
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 and Wyoming Industries. Its main line runs between Buffalo, New York and Eidenau, Pennsylvania, north of Pittsburgh. Here, connections are made to the city center via the...
). The name changed to the Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad in 1881 and was absorbed into the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway in 1886. The line was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
in 1932, which maintained ownership of the line as the Chessie System
Chessie System
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway , the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , the Western Maryland Railway , and several smaller carriers. It was incorporated in Virginia on February 26, 1973, and it acquired the C&O on June 15...
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.