Do any archives of the Buffalo & Susquehanna RR exist anywhere? Does anyone hold any materials on this railroad, which later was taken over by the B&O? I'm specifically seeking information on the B&S's passenger equipment. Thanks for any tips.

I have a book on the B&S published by the late Paul Pietrak. It has an apparently-complete locomotive roster. I don't think that it has too much on the passenger equipment.

The station in Galeton, Pa still stands (or it did recently), but is in disrepair. There might be records in the building, dating back to the B&S days, although I don't know for certain. The building has not been accessible to people interested in historic preservation, as far as I know.

JR

Hi,

I have found a whopping 36 pages of information on the B&S from 1893 to 1929.

A lot more than I expected.

RMOG – Rand McNalley Official Railroad Guide
ORER-Official Railway Equipment Register
OG – Official Guide of the Railways (evolved through many different titles starting in 1868)
MOODYS – Moody's financial repoers on Railroads

189810rmog 0252.jpg
189903orer 085.jpg
190102og 503.jpg
190303orer 085.jpg
190503orer 086.jpg
191107og 0398.jpg
191107og 0399.jpg
191307og 0400.jpg
191307og 0401.jpg
1916 06 og 0377.jpg
1916 06 og 0384.jpg
1916 06 og 0385.jpg
191603og 0370.jpg
191603og 0371.jpg
191711og 0388.jpg
191711og 0389.jpg
192010og 0414.jpg
192010og 0415.jpg
192110og 0112.jpg
192110og 0113.jpg
192501orer 0402.jpg
192503og 0122.jpg
192503og 0123.jpg
192512og 0438.jpg
192512og 0439.jpg
192604orer 0402.jpg
192701og 0092.jpg
192701og 0093.jpg
192711og 0096.jpg
192711og 0097.jpg
1929moodys 0890.jpg
1929moodys 0891.jpg
1929moodys 0892.jpg
1929moodys 0893.jpg
1929moodys 0894.jpg
1929moodys 2001.jpg

Each file is about 300-600 Kbytes for a total a bit over 17Meg.

If you'd like all the files, please contact me at edgarcorny >at< gmail >.< com

Folks,

From back-channel talk and my personal knowledge of Brother Laepple, I know that he has the basic information and history of the railroad (as do I).

What he seeks is first-hand, original-source info on the passenger cars the line had, to advance possible restoration on a possible car in question. I mean, he has access to the RR Museum of Pa. archives, and if he's asking here, I'm not sure just who CAN help him....... though I'll try in a few hours........

Subsequent to my initial post, I have learned that the state archives in Harrisburg has some original B&S documentation, including photos that may be helpful. I will make a trip up there after the holidays and check things out. Thanks to those who posted replies.

B&S cranes from John C. LaRue, Jr.

BUFFALO & SUSQUEHANNA RAILWAY (1893 – 1932)
Wkr A1 1909 ORER
S-Sh A12 1909 ORER
IW 60 S-Wkr B1 1904 To B&O X49
Un S-Der B14 ICC
Der no # 1909 ORER

The passing of Noted B&S historians Paul Pietrak and William Reddy certainly makes your quest more challenging. The folks at the Western New York Railroad Historical Society may be worth contacting, as Paul Pietrak lived in nearby Hamburg, NY.

Page 130 of the Pietrak book lists several sources from which the text was generated, as well as a listing of individuals that helped with the book (pg 129). Many of the individuals mentioned may have passed, but it's a start.

I am aware of two B&S passenger cars that survived at least until 1988. One is in the RR Museum of PA.
Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad Buffet Coach No. 35 Barney & Smith 1906 acquired 12/1997 as a gift from Sloan Cornell.

The second is Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad business car #10, Barney & Smith, 1897, 75 foot, (as advertised on Pg. 60 of the May-June 1988 issue of L&RP), location at that time was Cumberland MD. The phone number listed in the ad is no longer in service.

Kevin Moore, Pittsburgh PA

As the former Archivist at the RR Museum of PA, I can share with you exactly what the extent of RRMPa's holdings are for Buffalo & Susquehanna RR materials.

The bulk of the B&S Archives is split between the RRMPa in Strasburg and the PA State Archives in Harrisburg. It mostly consists of business ledgers, maps, structures drawings, reports, day books, accident files, valuation data, some employee records, etc. There are also some B&S negatives in the holdings at Harrisburg.

All of these records were kept in a backyard shed for many years in Galeton, Pa., at the residence of retired WAG superintendent Leonard Ferguson. In 1985 the B&S records were initially placed on loan to RRMPa, and later the loan was converted to a gift.

Because the records were kept in a shed there was considerable mold and mildew damage. Thanks in due part to the longtime efforts of our former Bureau Archivist Bob Dructor, the records were meticulously cleaned, arranged and described from 1996 until 2009. In 2000, the B&S records were transferred from the Museum's boiler room where they had been stored on metal utility shelving for many years (with some drawings from the PRR Chief Engineer's Office now in MG-286 at Hbg), into the then-new Archives Annex (formerly the basement wood shop), replete with Space Saver high-density moveable shelving. The collection remains there today, safe and sound.

RRMPa also has many of Paul Pietrak's personal collection of negatives of B&S views used in the research and compilation of his books, including many more views not used in his publications. I know this because I personally collected these images from him about fifteen years ago. Pietrak also signed the copyrights and reproduction rights to many of his books to the RRMPa as part of the same donation.

An inventory of MG-427 Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad Records at both Strasburg & Harrisburg can be found by searching the PA State Archives website under Manuscript Groups (MG's) which will reveal the full title listing of same.

-K.R. Bell
Railroad Archivist
PA State Archives/PHMC
(Former RRMPa Archivist, 1997-2009)

A number of B&S fans are planning a get-together symposium in DuBois, PA this fall. Topics are tenatively planned to include overviews of the founding Goodyear family logging empire, the southern entensions, the related mining companies, relationships with connecting railroads, and corporate history including offshoot Wellsville Addison & Galeton and the abandonment of the various lines. It should be a busy two days, Friday August 4th and Saturday August 5th, 2017, if you have an interest in this line. Please contact Mike Schleigh for more info at dianne.sly ( a t ) gmail.com.

Nick

The WAG office building was built in 1896 by the B&S. It has a fireplace with the B&S insignia built into it.

http://www.tiogapublishing.com/potter_l ... b845a.html

WAG office needs $175,000 repairs
by Jason Przybycien jasonp@tiogapublishing.com May 4, 2017

Today, the former WAG office building needs an estimated $175,000 in repairs. Owner Randy Ferguson has agreed to clean up around the building to eliminate safety hazards while he seeks funding.

GALETON – The former Wellsville, Addison & Galeton Railroad office building is in disrepair. At the Galeton Borough Council meeting April 12, council gave owner Randy Ferguson 60 days to bring it back into compliance with the borough’s dangerous structure ordinance and Ferguson agreed.

He also hopes to restore the building, but is looking for help. He estimates the building needs $25,000 in roof work and $150,000 in other work to make it fit for commercial use. But he doubts he could make back that investment, given the Galeton economy.

“I’m not beyond partnering with someone to save it,” he says.

Background

The building is part of the town’s history, says Ferguson.

“This town was built on railroads and lumber,” he says.

The Buffalo and Susquehanna Railroad was the first to use the red brick building, he says. Smaller lumber railroads merged in 1893 to form B&S.

I believe that the maps posted here were taken from this book. if you like this try these links.

http://www.alleganyhistory.org/culture/ ... na-steamer

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locopi ... x?id=75754


Mr. Starr

They look a lot more like your typical Official Guide maps. Especially that page 384 bit.....

This one is from Page 26 in the brown softcover book on The BUFFALO and SUSQUEHANNA the railLine was 383.5 miles long .

Mr. Starr

I have two items worth adding to previous conversations in this thread:

1) There is indeed going to be a conference in DuBois, Pa on August 4-5 to discuss the B&S. We have a series of presentations/presenters in place, a venue selected, food chosen, flyers made, and local sponsors contributing. For being two months out we are in very good shape and are very optimistic about the quality of the event. The focus of the presentations will be the rarely-published southern extension from Sinnemahoning, PA to the mines at Sagamore, though the entire B&S system will be open for discussion.

If anybody would like a flyer and registration information regarding the conference, please send me a message on this website with your email address and I will pass the materials along.

2) I spent several years volunteering on Saturdays in the archives at the RRMPA in Strasburg, with the majority of my time working with the B&S collection. My work involved catalogging items, sorting items, and ensuring they were suitably stored. Before I moved back towards Pittsburgh, I was able to check and catalog about 95% of the collections estimated 30,000 train reports at the folder level (one month of reports from a single engineer or conductor). This catalog is part of the museum's online searchable database, and thus the names of approximately 180 engineers, firemen, brakemen, and conductors are able to be searched on the internet. I also spent many hours reviewing the Letter Books from Chief Engineer Henry Herden and his staff, including letters sent and received, during the massive construction years in the 1903-1906 era. Much of this material will form the basis of my engineering/construction/infrastructure presentation in August. There are many many more boxes of materials - as a previous contributor here stated, some are well-sorted and in good condition, while others are semi-quarantined with water damage and potential mold. One of my favorite sets to look through are the injury reports, which in many cases are extremely detailed descriptions of the hazards of working on and physically being near an active steam railroad in that era. I have a summary or two I'd be willing to share on here if there is any interest.

-Nick

Hi!
This is my first time ever posting to a forum but I wanted to affirm the efforts of a group of people who have been working for over a year-and-a-half to plan and produce the "Buffalo & Susquehanna RR Symposium" mentioned in the post on June 08, 2017. Those of us involved have been gratified by the amount of history, artifacts and information being brought together for this program on August 4 and 5, 2017. Our goal from the outset was to recover and preserve as much of the history of the B&S, its associated industries and communities, primarily from Sinnemahoning to Sagamore on a North-South corridor stretching through Elk, Cameron, Clearfield, Jefferson, Indiana and Armstrong Counties in Westen PA.
Contact information was given in njp54's post and I encourage anyone interested in attending to take advantage of that. The registration deadline is currently they must be postmarked by July 7, 2017. While forms can be sent via e-mail (PDF), all registrations must be sent by U.S. Mail, payment by check or money order only. The DuBois Area Historical Society is the sponsor of this venture and has been a wonderful group with which to work.
If you're a little lost geographically as to the location of the DuBois area where the symposium will be held, locate Interstate 80 on its East-West track through PA. Go to Exit 97 where it intersects with U.S. Route 219, the Clarion Inn (former Holiday Inn) is within sight of that point. For those of you who think in terms of RR routes, go with the original BR&P, now B&P main line from Riker through Larkeytown on North to Johnsonburg and beyond. The symposium venue is within a mile of that main, near the still-standing concrete tower at Falls Creek.
For myself, I love history and have enjoyed the planning and preparation while meeting new folks who share the same interests. But it is also a labor of love, my paternal Grandma was a telegrapher on the B&S and I'll be sharing our family story about some of her experiences and her marriage to my Grandpa who was a telegrapher and station agent on the Pennsy.
Hope this is all acceptable for my first post. Please consider joining our symposium, we'd be happy to welcome you for what should be an interesting and entertaining event. Thanks! LLJohns