A collection of documents from the Lehigh Valley Railroad

Unless otherwise noted, these papers were collected in the early 1980's from a shanty at the Lehigh Valley Railroad's "Niagara Jct." in Depew, NY. A couple times each year, I would walk through the junction and just watch as the whole place fell into disrepair... and then things started being vandalized. On this particular visit, I noticed that the shanty door had been knocked off its hinges. When I looked inside, I saw a mess of papers strewn about the floor... these are the ones I managed to pick up. The next time I paid a visit to the Niagara Junction, I found the shanty burnt to the ground.

Timetables

  • LVRR, Timetable No. 10 (Aug-10-1975) [20.1MB]
    The final Lehigh Valley Railroad timetable. As a kid, I used to help out my dad at Aurora Cleaners in Depew, NY. One of the customers worked for the railroad, and I used to talk to him about trains when he came by on Friday afternoons. One day, he gave me this timetable and pointed out that, folded between the pages, was this "Last Train Order from the LVRR."
  • Various timetable pages [2.8MB]
    A collection of timetable pages. The first few scans are from Conrail GO204 (01-31-1982), while the other pages are from the West Shore's GO709, which includes the Caledonia and Oakfield Secondary tracks.

    • Blueprints

  • LVRR, Niagara Falls Branch track plan (Aug-28-1973) [3.8MB]
    The track plan for the Niagara Falls branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.
  • LVRR, Niagara Junction private highway signal crossing (Sept-04-1964) [1.8MB]
    Blueprints related to private crossing on East leg of Wye at Niagara Jct.
  • LVRR, Cemetery Road (Oct-18-1974) [4.2MB]
    Track plans and blueprints for Cemetery Road crossing in Lancaster, NY.
  • LVRR, Lehigh Lake Erie Branch (Jan-06-1971) [1.0MB]
    Track plans for the Lehigh Lake Erie Branch.
  • LVRR, Niagara Junction (Jun-30-1917) [1.0MB]
    1917 blueprint for Niagara Junction.

    • Various Logs

  • Conrail, Logbook for Amherst-Villa Road crossing (Sep-1978 through Aug-1982) [6.0MB]
    Highway grade crossing protection logbook for Amherst-Villa Road crossing along the Niagara Branch, in Cheektowaga, NY.
  • Conrail, Signal test reports for Niagara Branch, (Sep-1978 thru Dec-1978) [3.5MB]
    Signal test reports for Niagara Falls Branch and vicinity, part 1.
  • Conrail, Signal test reports for Niagara Branch, (Jan-1979 thru Jun-1979) [7.7MB]
    Signal test reports for Niagara Falls Branch and vicinity, part 2.
  • Conrail, Signal test reports for Niagara Branch, (Jul-1979 thru Dec-1979) [5.0MB]
    Signal test reports for Niagara Falls Branch and vicinity, part 3.
  • Conrail, Signal test reports for Niagara Branch, (Jan-1980 thru Apr-1980) [3.1MB]
    Signal test reports for Niagara Falls Branch and vicinity, part 4.

    • Orders, Bulletins

  • LVRR, Last Train Order (Mar-31-1976) [0.2MB]
    The last completed train order for the LVRR. This was given to me along with the final timetable. This train order is dated 9:13PM, March 31, 1976 and signed by Vince Tabone, one of the Niagara Jct. operators at the time. Conrail would officially take over operation of the Lehigh Valley railroad less than three hours later, at midnight, on April 1, 1976.
  • LVRR, General Order 1002 (Dec-2-1975) [1.0MB]
    General Order No 1002, which describes (and diagrams) the new signal arrangement between Sugar Creek Interlocking and Laceyville. Paul J. Templeton notes that this was the last Buffalo Division G.O. published before the advent of Conrail.
  • Conrail, Bulletins (May-1980) [1.2MB]
    A series of Conrail bulletins from May, 1980. The first item has to do with temporary speed restrictions on the Niagara Branch.

    • Miscellaneous Papers

  • LVRR, Maintenance of Way Time Report (Mar-1964) [0.7MB]
    A filled in time report from 1964 showing hourly rates for several employees.
  • Conrail, Material Requisition forms (Nov1977-Mar1980) [1.9MB]
    Material requisition forms for maintenance of the Niagara Falls branch.
  • LVRR, Sheldon Avenue Phonebooth notes [0.1MB]
    These two signs were tacked to the wall of the LVRR phonebooth on Sheldon Avenue in Lancaster, NY. I always liked the penciled in notes: "If Sam will answer within 20 minutes, you are lucky." To which someone else added "He has to finish his accordion solo."
  • LVRR, Depew/Lancaster track drawing [0.2MB]
    A hand-drawn/colored diagram of the Depew/Lancaster segment of track.
  • Various Freight Waybills, Nov1973 [2.3MB]
    A collection of freight waybills for various railroads.

    • All of the papers I collected have been donated to the Williamsville Depot preservation project.

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