Olean, Bradford & Warren Railroad: January 2011

Historical Railroads of the Oil Country

Olean, Bradford, & Warren Railroad (1877-1898)

The Olean Bradford & Warren was planned as a three-foot gauge line running from Olean, NY to Warren, PA via Bradford PA. Warren never contributed to the construction and, as a result, the only work done between Bradford and Warren was an initial survey. The Olean-Bradford section, a total of 23 miles (12.5 miles in NY; 10.5 miles in PA), ran in two states and was incorporated with two separate charters. Work began on October 8, 1877 when a gang began grading the line starting in Bradford for Olean. On February 8, 1878 the last spike was driven and the road was put into operation.

The road was profitable and very active, mostly in support of the oil industry in the area. In 1879, the OB&W ran 7,140 freight trains and 21,598 passengers trains and had total earnings of $72,000. By 1881, revenue climbed to almost $110,000. On June 11, 1878, the Pennsylvania section was sold to the Buffalo, New York, and Philadelphia Railway. The BNY&P purchased the New York section on December 8, 1881. In 1883, the BNY&P and the two dependent lines were absorbed as divisions into the new Western New York and
Pennsylvania R.R., which operated the lines till their closure. It was absorded by the Pennsylvania RR in 1900. The owners always operated the road as the Olean, Bradford and Warren, although WNY&P engines and rolling stock also traveled the line.

There were stations at Olean, Two-Mile, Four-Mile, Rock City, and Knapp Creek, and in Pennsylvania at State Line, Fullerton, Bells Camp, Derrick City, and Bradford. The road’s orginal motive power included two Brooks 4-4-0 Americans (# 1 and # 6), a Baldwin 4-4-0 (# 4). Of these, 1 and 4 were sold in 1882. Four Brooks 2-6-0 Moguls (numbers 2, 3, 5, and 7), provided the road with most of its power. In 1878, the line had 7 boxcars and trucks for 19 more. Photographic evidence shows at least two passenger coaches, the “Olean” and the “Allegany,” a baggage-postal car, and several flat cars. At Bradford the OB&W linked to two other lines of the WNY&P network: the Bradford R.R. and the Bradford Bordall, and Kinzua R.R. It shared an interchange with the standard gauge Erie Railroad. At Olean, the line shared dual guage track with the Pennsylvania R.R. to serve a tannery and connected to the Olean R.R. another subsidary of the WNY&P.

Operations continued until August 6, 1896, when the last regular train ran. In 1898, the Olean, Rock City & Bradford Electric Railway Company acquired the OB&W right-of-way and converted the track to standard gauge. This traction line and its successors under a variety of names continued service until September 27, 1927, when the track was finally torn up.

Kendall & Eldred Railroad (1877-1898)

The Kendall & Eldred connected to the OB&W at Tarport (East Bradford). It was a narrow gauge line chartered in Pennsylvania in 1877 to build an 18 mile long railroad due east to the town of Eldred. Construction started in April 1878, and operations began on July 30, 1878. Stations were located in Tarport, Lafferty, Sawyer City, Dallas City, Summit City, Prentice Vale, and Eldred; shops and yards were shared
with the OB&W at Bradford. The K&E was operated in conjunction with OB&W, and the two shared crews for both passenger and freight operations. The K&E was sold in 1883 to the WNY&P.

The K&E’s four Brooks 2-6-0 Mogul engines (numbers 1 to 4), purchased from 1878-79, were transferred to the the OB&W to become its engines 8, 9, 10, and 11. K&E #13 a Brooks 4-4-0 American, purchased new in 1880, continued to operate under the old name and number till sold to the Diamond Valley RR in 1890. Photographic evidence shows that the line had flat cars and several boxcars; as well as two passenger coaches and a baggage car. At Eldred, the K&E linked to the Bradford, Eldred, & Cuba, another narrow gauge line.

Regular service on the line ended in December, 1893, but the line was not wholly abandoned until 1898.

Kane Oilfield Railroad (1886-1895)

The James Brothers Lumber Co. built the Kane Oilfield Railroad in 1886. It was 5.75 miles long, extending from East Kane south to James City and McKinley, then east to Lamont, all in what is today the Allegany National Forest. The road’s locomotive power was provided by #104, a 14-ton Class A T-boiler Shay built in 1884 for James Brothers, and by two used rod engines: #4, a Baldwin 4-4-0; and #7, a Baldwin 2-6-0. At Kane, connections made it possible to reach Ormsby PA by the Big Level and Kinzua R.R. and then on to Bradford on the Bradford, Bordell and Kinzua R.R., both narrow- gauge common carriers. Although a common carrier, the line was always mostly a logging road.

The Kane and Elk Railroad, itself also owned by James Brothers, absorbed the line's trackage and engines 104 and 7 (which kept their old numbers) on Sept. 4, 1895.In 1903 to 1904, the line was converted to Standard gauge, as was engine 104. As a standard gauge line, owned by members of the James family, it continued in operation until 1946.

Bibliography

Hilton, George, American Narrow Gauge Railroads (Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press, 1995); the standard reference work on American narrow gauge.
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Kilmer, Lawrence, Bradford & Foster Brook, Peg Leg Railroad: Plus Trains & Trolleys in McKean and Cattaraugus Counties (Interlaken: Empire State Books, 1993); the largest chapter of this book is actually on the Olean, Bradford & Warren.
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Stout, Robert E., The Kendall & Eldred Narrow Gauge Railroad (Olean: Olean News Press,1972); alsoo includes information and photos of the Olean, Bradford & Warrren
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Taber, Thomas Townsend, Sawmills among the Derricks: Kane, Kinzua Valley, Bradford, Crosby, Lewis Run, The Logging Railroad Era of Lumbering in Pennsylvania, 7 (Williamsport, Pa.: Lycoming Printing Co., 1975)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Guest Report on the Olean, Bradford & Warren

I am pleased to repost this report on the OB&W from the website of the President of the Rose Gulch and Portland R.R. I do so with thanks to him.

Over the years the Olean, Bradford & Warren Railroad HON3 layout has continued to blossom. Since its arrival at St. Albert Priory (Dominican House of Studies) in Oakland, CA it has been carefully attached to a fourth floor wall, had a run-around behind the wall added, a spur into a storage room to protect the motive power from curious fingers, and the addition of some impressive building fronts. Rolling stock also seems to continue to grow through the creative hands of the chief engineer.

Not to be outdone, a friar from the local area has joined in establishing a rail empire at St. Albert. Just a few paces from the Olean, Bradford & Warren is an HO scale layout representing the Southern Pacific and other southern California roads in progress. The layout is on two levels on a framework that seems to be about twenty feet long and about eight feet wide with a crawl-under access to the central control area. The layout is powered by a NCE DCC system with access points around the perimeter as well as in the central area. The double main line with sidings and a significant yard would allow for moving both freight and passenger service. I will await future developments as they present themselves (and I am able to observe ... distance makes things difficult).

Below are pictures of the Olean, Bradford & Warren Railroad and the other layout ... connected at one point so that some exchange can happen and it is possible for the new route's motive power to be stored in the OB&W storeroom.

Take note of the new buildings to the right on this scene of the rail yard.

These Log cars sit on the upper level waiting to be taken to the mill.

The Mill is ready to accept logs.

The engine house is now empty, waiting the return of the 4-4-0
Meanwhile below near the main line work card ready for duty as needed.

These trestles have always impressed me.
It is quite a task to deliver cars and pick up loads through this
switch-back of bridge-work.

The new HO layout is on two levels
This is just the start of the project

Everything can be controlled by the NCE control
The framework is solid.

Complex crossing poses electrical problems that took a while to overcome
This crossing involved both ascending and descending trackage crossing each other.

The upper yard is significant and will be expanded
to include a turntable capable of holding a "big-boy"

The Layouts are connected along the wall with careful attention to granting control to each layout without creating shorts or dueling controls. I am sure that both OB&WRR and the new one will add their own details in the future.

Olean, Bradford & Warren Railroad

Kendall Creek

Historical Railroads of the Oil Country

NY-PA Narrow Gauge Resource Links

Bibliography

Model RR Blogs

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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Guest Report on the Olean, Bradford & Warren

Passengers Carried: