Is there any more haunting or evocative sound than a train whistle? Thanks to our region’s rich train history and legions of train enthusiasts and volunteers, the sounds are echoing in the hills. A train excursion is the perfect multi-generational family day trip.
October begins a new season for train rides with fall foliage and Halloween trips. They continue into November and December with special Santa and North Pole themed trips. This month’s train adventures involve a drive through country roads and hills ablaze with fall color. Driving to meet your train is a good reminder of how much of our region is quite rural.
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First train ride on my exploration of the area’s train excursions was the Arcade & Attica Railroad — the oldest continuously operating railroad under the same corporate identity in New York. It was declared a National Historic Site in 1981 and is marking its 105th anniversary this year. It is very proud of its place in railroad history.
The railroad has its origins in the Buffalo, Attica & Arcade Railroad, officially opened in 1880. The rails we were riding on were first spiked down in 1881 and standardized in 1895 to connect with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Trips depart from the train station on Main Street in Arcade for the 14-mile roundtrip run.
It is also the only railroad in the state offering steam locomotive passenger excursions. The steam locomotive was out for repairs this season, but train operators are confident it will be back next season and it is a very special experience.
The railroad is one of the last private common carrier railroads operating both freight and passenger service.
The rides became accessible to everyone after Jon Thomas Robertson of Cuba convinced Extreme Makeover-Home Edition to help make the train rides available to people using wheelchairs. With $10,000 donated by Sears, work was done to both the station and the cars in 2008. There is now space for up to six wheelchairs.
Four-year-old Gavin Shelley of Colden came dressed in a train engineer’s hat for his first train ride. The engineer’s hats (for sale in the station gift shop) were popular among the younger set on our excursion.
Train staff like welcoming children on their first train rides. Dean Steffenhagen, 24-year employee, supervisor and engineer, especially enjoys welcoming back returning passengers.
“I have even had four generations of one family on board,” he said. “Many of our passengers first came as children and return with their children or grandchildren.”
At the Curriers Depot everyone is invited to leave the train. There is a building where snacks are available as well as shopping for local honey with free samples and local jams and jellies, a small museum, and a wooden train for children to climb aboard. Restrooms are available here, too.
The best part is when the locomotive uncouples from the train, moves onto a siding and stops. Passengers are invited to take a closer look at the engine, take pictures, and talk with the crew as they prepare for the return trip.
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The next train excursion began in Gowanda, the town with the distinction of being in both
Erie and Cattaraugus counties. It is home to the New York & Lake Erie Railroad. This rail line dates to the early 1850s. In fact, on May 14, 1851, the first through train from Piermont-on-Hudson to Dunkirk, NY was run. It carried President Millard Fillmore, U.S. Senators, and the statesman Daniel Webster. Today there is a train car named after Webster.
The line later became part of the giant Erie Railroad and was eventually part of the Conrail system. Today, the railroad is called the “New York & Lake Erie,” a short line railroad formed in 1978.
The current line extends less than 50 miles of the former rail line. Like many of the short line railroads that were formed in the 70s and 80s, the railroad served as a carrier of freight for the businesses along the line and additionally, provided many passenger excursions over the years.
During our trip, Don Rogers, our friendly conductor, invited anyone who wanted to follow him for an adventure. Our small group of about a half dozen followed him through the rail cars to the last car where we could watch the winding tracks and experience up close riding through a stone tunnel.
The train trips stop in South Dayton, the self-appointed “Movie Capital of Cattaraugus County.” Robert Redford walked the streets of South Dayton for a few weeks in 1983 when The Natural was being filmed in Western New York. The locals were proud to say he was given his space while he was in the village.
The baseball and carnival scenes were filmed north of the railroad depot, a farmhouse was used for some scenes and local adults and kids got to be part of history by being extras in the movie.
Be sure to check out the ticket booth created for the movie on view inside the depot. Other movie memorabilia on display include a framed and signed photograph of Redford. He wrote: “To the folks of South Dayton. Thank you for having us.”
John Candy and Steve Martin hung around the train station in South Dayton to film scenes for Planes, Trains and Automobiles in 1987.
This railroad offers passenger excursion train rides through the countryside of Cattaraugus County with seasonal, holiday, and sightseeing event trains year-round.
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Next up on the train excursion schedule is the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum in Rush, about 20 miles south of Rochester. This is a museum with an operating train and calls itself “a museum in motion.” It is an all-volunteer operation with many talented and enthusiastic train fans. It is also home to the state’s largest collection of historic trains and is the largest operating railroad museum in New York.
The museum can trace its roots back to 1937 when a group of railroad enthusiasts met to celebrate their inclusion as the sixth new chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. As membership grew, the group began to collect various artifacts and host excursions on local rail lines that had not seen a passenger train in many years.
The first piece of historic rail equipment joined the collection in 1956 when Rochester Transit Corp donated a car from its recently closed Rochester Subway.
The group needed a permanent home and discovered an abandoned train station at Industry and acquired it from the Erie Lackawanna Railroad for $1 in July 1971. The group began to restore it, and by the end of the 1970s as restoration work on the depot was nearing completion, attention turned to acquiring historic trains to display. One of the first pieces to arrive in 1979 was an old wooden caboose. In 1981, it was joined by a diesel switcher from the Kodak Park Railroad.
Over the years the group built a restoration shop giving volunteers space to work year-round to restore and repair the vintage railroad equipment. In 2015, the campus was expanded by opening the Upper Yard to the public and then added an open-air car for the train excursions. Last year the group celebrated their 50th anniversary by renovating Industry Depot.
John Redden, a volunteer from nearby Fairport, is carrying on a family tradition with his love of trains. “I grew up in Olean and my father was a big train enthusiast,” he explained. “We both went to South Dayton and the train station there when the movie The Natural was being filmed.”
The train museum is generally open select weekends April through December. Pumpkin Patch Train Rides are featured this month and there will be Santa trains to the North Pole in December.
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The Medina Railroad Museum in the village of Medina along the Erie Canal offers another experience for train fans of all ages. A focal exhibit in the museum is one of the largest model train layouts in the country. It is 204 feet long by 14 feet wide. Construction began in 2001 and it is still in progress to this day.
The layout itself is an interactive timeline, displaying how transportation of goods in Western New York began with the canal in the 1800s and progressed to trains. Visitors can interact with the trains through push button controls.
The museum building is the second New York Central Freight House on this location and is one of the longest wooden structures built by New York Central. It was completed in 1905.
This month the museum is operating two-hour fall foliage train excursions through the countryside and along the Erie Canal. In November and December there are magical one-hour Polar Express rides to meet Santa — perfect for younger passengers. There is entertainment, hot chocolate and cookies, and each child receives a sleigh bell. Families are encouraged to wear their pajamas!
Travel Tip of the Month: For information on the Arcade & Attica Railroad visit www.aarailroad.com or call 585-492-3100. For the New York & Lake Erie Railroad visit www.nylerailroad.com or call 716-532-5242. For Rochester Train Rides visit www.rochestertrainrides.com or call 585-533-1431. For the Medina Railroad Museum visit www.medinarailroadmuseum.org or call 585-798-6106.
Deborah Williams lives in Holland, NY and is a veteran travel writer whose work has appeared in national and international publications. She is the recipient of the Society of American Travel Writers’ Lowell Thomas Gold Travel Writing Award.