Lowville and Beaver River Railroad

The Lowville and Beaver River Railroad (reporting mark LBR) is a short-line railroad[1] that was owned by Genesee Valley Transportation (GVT) of Batavia, New York from 1993[2] to Wednesday, January 24, 2007.[3] Map [4]

Lowville and Beaver River Railroad
Industryrail transport
PredecessorUtica & Black River Railroad
FoundedSeptember 17, 1903
Headquarters
Lowville, New York
,
United States
Area served
Northeastern New York

The Lowville & Beaver River runs from an interchange, with GVT subsidiary Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad (MHWA) at Lowville, NY to Croghan, New York.[5]

Beaver Falls station in Beaver Falls, New York. 14 July 2019

History
Lowville and Beaver River RR crossing the Black River near Lowville, NY May 1991.

The Lowville & Beaver River Railroad was originally part of the Utica & Black River Railroad (U&BR). The U&BR reached Lowville in 1868 and Cartage in 1871. There was an 11-mile branch line from Lowville through Beaver Falls to Croghan planned in 1880 but it was not built.[6]

In 1903 James P. Lewis backed the short line to serve his mills at Beaver Falls.[7] The Lowville & Beaver River Railroad was open on January 13, 1906.[8][9][10]

The L&BR was dieselized in 1947, while #1923, their remaining steam locomotive, was last used on standby service in case the diesel needed repairs. It last operated in January 1957.[11] The locomotives of the L&BR were numbered 10, 12, 51, 1912, 1923, 1947 (Diesel), 1950 (Diesel), 1951 (Diesel) and 8, a Shay owned by the Railway Historical Society of Northern New York.[12][13] All of the diesels are GE 44-tonners.

From 2010 to 2012, Lewis County and GVT negotiated the sale of the LBR infrastructure to the county. Plans called for the LBR route, which was offered for $425,000, to be used for a museum train operated by the Railroad Society of Northern New York, which had been based in Croghan in the mid-1990s. The MHWA route from Lowville to Carthage was also to be sold to the county and converted to a rail trail.[14] On April 30, 2012, however, the county decided against purchasing the infrastructure.[15]

River Marine Inc. of Cape Vincent, NY recently purchased the former Carthage train depot[16] on Mechanic Street. River Marine also owns the railway yard in Lowville, NY.[17] Ronald J. Trottier the owner of River Marine Inc. plans to lease the railroad between Cartage and Lowville. His plan is to run tourist trains and rail bikes, human-pedal-powered open air vehicles that ride the rails.[18]

The #1923 steam locomotive, an Alco 2-8-0, has been preserved as part of the Steamtown, USA National Historic Site, Scranton, PA.[19]

Infrastructure

The 16.8 km long route of the LBR runs from Lowville through the valley of the Beaver River via New Bremen and Beaver Falls to Croghan. In Lowville, there is a connection to the MHWA route to Carthage, which is part of a connection formerly running from Utica to Clayton on the St. Lawrence River, but whose section from Lowville south to Lyons Falls was closed in 1964. The LBR has a small depot in Lowville.[20]

The branch line crosses the Black River on a 1,100 foot long Warren swing through truss bridge.[21]

Operations

The MHWA Lowville-to-Carthage branch line has been virtually out-of-service since the mid-1990s and is currently, as of May, 2022 out-of-service. The L&BR was placed out of service after the paper mill in Beaver Falls closed on January 24, 2007. The future usage of the line is yet to be determined.

More Media related to Lowville and Beaver River Railroad at Wikimedia Commons

References
  1. Lewis, Edward A. (1996). American shortline railway guide (5th ed.). Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Pub. Co. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-89024-290-2.
  2. Shatrowsky, Gene. "The Lowville and Beaver River". gino.cdfw.net. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  3. Link, David H. (January 2007). "Last Train to Lowville". www.newyorktrains.com. Railway Historical Society of Northern New York. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  4. Genesee Valley Transportation. "Map: MA&N and L&BR railroads" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2012.
  5. "Lowville & Beaver River Railroad". Abandoned. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  6. "Black River Bridge". Bridges and Tunnels. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  7. CUTTER, A. M., WILLIAM RICHARD (1910). The History of New York State (2004 ed.). NEW YORK: Genealogical & Family History of Northern, NY. p. 753. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  8. "Our History". www.newyorktrains.com. 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  9. Gould, Emilie W. (28 August 2015). "Beaver Falls Grange Hall #554". National Park Service. United States Department of the Interior.
  10. "Lewis - Existing Railroad Stations in New York State". ny.existingstations.com. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  11. http://www.rgusrail.com/pascollection.html
  12. Trottier, Ronald J. "The L & BR Railway Historical Society". www.nygenweb.net. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  13. Avallone, Elaine M. (21 August 2021). "Riding the rails in Croghan for Iron Horse Day". NNY360. Northern New York Newspapers. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  14. VIRKLER, Steve (October 21, 2012). "Lowville and Beaver River Railroad". New York Outdoors Blog. Watertown Daily Times. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  15. Virkler, Steve (2 May 2012). "Lewis legislators abandon rails-to-trails plan". Watertown Daily Times. For the past several months, county officials have discussed buying the 10-mile Lowville and Beaver River Railroad line from Lowville to Croghan from the Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern Railroad Corp. for $425,000; the county then was to acquire the 17-mile Lowville Industrial Track from Lowville to West Carthage for $1. Under the proposal, the corporation, a subsidiary of Genesee Valley Transportation, Batavia, was to remove tracks from the donated spur so it could be developed as a recreational trail, with the Lowville-to-Croghan spur remaining intact to allow the Railway Historical Society of Northern New York possibly to operate a scenic railroad from its depot in Croghan.
  16. "Croghan Depot - Lowville & Beaver River Railroad, Croghan NY - Train Stations/Depots on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com. Retrieved 26 August 2021. Today the depot is the home of the museum maintained by The Railway Historical Society of Northern New York. The museum is well worth a visit but be sure to contact staff before your arrival. Outside of the museum you can view their Shay locomotive, a snowplow and a diesel speeder.
  17. Avallone, Elaine M. (27 August 2020). "Locomotive delivered to Lowville for proposed scenic rail line (VIDEO)". NNY360. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  18. Avallone, Elaine M. (June 22, 2018). "Carthage-area tourism-rail plans discussed". NNY360. Northern New York Newspapers. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  19. "Steamtown NHS: Special History Study". www.nps.gov. National Park Service. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  20. Fear, Douglas J. (November 1997). "New life in the North Country". Trains Magazine: 55. ISSN 0041-0934.
  21. "L&BR - Black River Bridge". Bridgehunter.com. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  • Virkler, Steve (4 October 2009). "Lewis eyes railroad for new trails". Watertown Daily Times.
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