In 1970, the Arcade & Attica acquired 14 used 40' single door steel boxcars, numbered them in the 510-523 series and put them in regular freight service hauling milk products for Borden, a customer in Arcade, New York. These cars were originally built in 1952 and are supposedly ex-New Haven cars. The Western New York Railway Historical Society (WNYRHS) has now acquired ARA #510 and given it a new, historically correct, light blue A&A paint scheme, although it still needs to be lettered. The society will use the boxcar for storage at its museum site in Williamsville, NY.

This is the second boxcar preserved for this short line. ARA #411 is part of a display train (diesel/boxcar/caboose) located in Arcade. That particular car is supposedly ex-Baltimore & Ohio.

There are also two Baltimore & Ohio boxcars at the depot in Orchard Park, New York which reportedly were once in service as Arcade & Attica cars. It's kind of amazing that, for a railroad that had to have a "modest" box car fleet at best, that quite a few of their cars have been saved.

Les

Note on the Ahead of The Torch website that Arcade & Attica boxcar # 510 has now been lettered. A partial photo was include on the AOTT website but not a full photo of the newly lettered car. Anybody got one?

Les

One or possibly two of these light blue 40' cars were stranded as storage cars north of Rt. 430 in Mayville, NY for many years after PC abandoned north of Mayville to Brockton.

They sure aren't there now, is this the car or one of them? The only image I can find that proves what I think I can remember is a Worthpoint slide and it shows the one light blue boxcar about 1977, when I remember it up there. I've got a shot...somewhere...

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ ... -441521245

This little fleet was remarkable because like the WAG, it long predated the IPD boxcar deal, these were shortline-owned regular interchange cars for regular outbound customer moves.
FYI the Bordens plant in Arcade (which I think made the original powdered Cremora coffee creamer) closed around 1970, so that explains the cars suddenly going out for sale as storage units.

And no, it's not your imagination that they had a vivid orange, white and black boxcar scheme, although I never saw it in the wild and I started my interest in steam about 1965 up there.
http://www.kingstonemodelworks.com/MRH/ARA1.jpg

Randy -

Thanks for the link to the photo of ARA # 517. The photo on AOTT only shows the left side of the car which is the reason I would like to see a shot of the entire car to see if the "Serving Arcade Industry" was put on the right side of the car.

Les

The A&A actually had three different sets of box cars that were interchanged for out bound shipments.

There was an ex B&O Type M-26, built in the mid 1920's. These were painted a red orange that had black ends and roofs. This series was numbered #401-#413. All of them were owned outright by the A&A. Due to their age and small size, they did not last long in interchange service. 8 of these survive in various places. For many years, all of them sat at the end of track at the Reisdorf feed mill. One is on display in Arcade, 3 are at shop for storage, 2 are still off track at Reisdorfs, 2 went to Orchard Park.

The next series was #501-509. This series was the cream orange with a lower white stripe. The had ARA in large letters and "Serving Arcade Industry". This fleet was leased specifically for Bordens. Once they closed, these cars were all returned. I am unsure of what these were prior to A&A, nor if any survived. These were considered "modernized" for the day, with no roof walks, shorter end ladders and wide doors. The lease on these was ended in July 1973, though the cars had already been returned by then.

The last series was the powder blue set, like the one restored at Williamsville. These were numbered #510-#523. Most wore "Serving Arcade Industry", but not all. This series were all ex New Haven cars and were also owned outright by the A&A. (The reason many of them stayed around too). These cars had the narrower 8 foot doors and were type XM. Bordens did not like these as well for dock loading, as it was tougher for the tow motors to get in and out for loading. #510 and 515 sat at Drakes Farm and Feed in Arcade for many years. They then went to Springville, NY to Langford, NY. #510 was moved to Williamsville. #517 and #518 sat in Mayville. Edwin Winter purchased them and they were moved to Hamburg. Riefler Concrete used them as the "Bargain Cars" and used them as warehouse storage/sales space. Both of these remain as storage cars at the Buffalo Southern Railroad's engine house. The blue paint is still plainly visible behind the box car doors. #522 was cut down to a flat car for use by the A&A. One end of the car stands as a makeshift garage at the Arcade engine house. #512 and 514 were purchased by the Shultz feed mill in Strykersville, NY. I am not sure if they are still around. 6 of the remaining cars were sold back to the leasing company (#511, 513, 516, 519, 520 and 521).

Many of these box cars were repaired and painted at Morrison Railway Supply in Buffalo, NY. The A&A used them quite often for equipment and supplies for many years. This company is related to the corporate beginning of the current Ebeneezer Railcar business at Buffalo today.

BSOR Patarak -

Thanks for the history of these various ARA box cars, including survivors. Very much appreciated.


Les

BSOR Patarak -

Finally saw a photo of the complete side of ARA 510 and the "Serving Arcade Industry" is NOT painted on the right side of the car.

Les