(The following story by Rick Miller appeared on The Times Herald website on May 30.)
OLEAN, N.Y. — The Southern Tier Extension Railroad Authority and its short line operator Western New York & Pittsburgh Railroad are on track with plans to revitalize the region’s rail service.
The Rail Authority is made up of representatives from Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany and Steuben counties. The WNY&P is a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Industries.
Since 2001 when the four-county Rail Authority took over the 145-mile former Erie Lackawanna segment from Corry, Pa. to Hornell, nearly $29 million in public and private money has been invested in the line’s rehabilitation, said Tom Barnes, senior regional economic development coordinator for the Salamanca-based Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board.
Norfolk Southern Corp., which acquired the line from Conrail, transferred ownership to the Rail Authority for a 10-year period. Otherwise, the unprofitable line would likely have been torn up. The Rail Authority in turn sub-leased the line to WNY&P. The line now connects service between Meadville, Pa. and Hornell.
After the extensive rehabilitation of the rail line, Norfolk Southern has recently been using the line on a daily basis to run coal trains formerly routed through Buffalo between the Monongahelia coal fields south of Pittsburgh and Hornell where it meets back up with the Southern Tier Mainline at Hornell.
William D. Burt, WNY&P president and chief operating officer, said the Norfolk Southern trains are moving loaded coal trains between Meadville and Hornell in eight hours, while the empty return trip is made in about seven. “Our estimate is that they are saving close to a day over routing the cars through Buffalo.”
The coal cars, which can be seen daily, go to three coal-burning power plants that produce a significant amount of electricity for central and northern New York, Mr. Burt said.
“We’re interested in handling more business and we think there is additional business that could move over this route.” said Mr. Burt, a Cuba native who remembers watching freight trains race over the line as late as the 1960s.
“We’re still handling local business and making progress,” he added. “We’re working with other potential customers as well.”
When WYN&P took over operation of the line, there was one local customer — Monofrax of Jamestown. Now, besides Monofrax, the line moves freight for Bush Industries of Jamestown, coal for Jamestown Board of Public Utilities and Lord Corp., a Saegertown, Pa., chemical manufacturer.
Mr. Burt said, “We’ve gone from one customer to over 10. We are attracting economic development interest. We’re giving the region back a railroad they can use to help pitch economic development.”
There are transloading facilities in the Olean area and other rail sidings in Allegany County. “We’re working very hard to develop additional businesses in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties,” Mr. Burt explained.
“It looks like a good bet, but it’s far from a home run yet,” he said of the line’s long-term prospects. “We’re working hard though to make it a home run for the region.”
Mr. Burt cringes at the sight of rain clouds that seem to follow the rail line. Last summer a series of cloudbursts plagued the line with washouts. Drainage between Olean and Belmont will be improved during major work planned for this summer. “We’ve got to improve the drainage so we’re not getting clobbered every time there’s a cloudburst.”
Donald Rychnowski, executive director of the Southern Tier West Regional Planning and Development Board, which oversees the Southern Tier Extension Railroad Authority, said they have targeted $15 million in federal funding over the next three years to further rehabilitate the line.
“We are working closely with federal representatives to meet this target,” Mr. Rychnowski said.
Over the next five years, the total for rehabilitation funding should approach $25 million — public and private.
“It’s really a public-private partnership,” Mr. Rychnowski said. “WNY&P has contributed a good portion of the private rehabilitation funding as well. Southern Tier West has been working on this since the mid-1980s.”
The public investment includes lost property taxes to municipalities in New York. While municipalities gave up the property taxes when the authority took over the line, Norfolk Southern probably would have torn up the track and they wouldn’t be receiving any taxes anyway. The region would be without an important economic development tool, Mr. Barnes said.
In Pennsylvania, railroads do not pay property taxes.
Mr. Barnes said the Rail Authority is willing to help local companies improve their access to the rail line by either a rail siding or transloading facility such as the one in Olean.
As a short haul railroad, WNY&P can concentrate on offering competitive shipping solutions, Mr. Barnes said. “As a small company, they understand that their future is tied to the companies of our region. The short line is an important part of the transportation system.”
After nearly three years, is the shortline about where the Southern Tier Extension Railroad Authority hoped it would be?
“We’re definitely on the right road,” Mr. Barnes said. “Western New York & Pittsburgh has met all its performance targets to date. We’re real happy about it and think they are doing a great job. This is a high and wide line capable of hauling a lot of big products. It can once again become an economic development force in our region. We’re in a global marketplace and companies in our region need to be connected to global markets. It is essential to have both highway and rail transportation systems.”
Besides WNY&P, the region has two other shortlines — the New York & Lake Erie, based in Gowanda, and the Buffalo & Pittsburgh, which operates the north-south line through Salamanca.