GENESEE & WYOMING
This is where it all began. Now one of the largest shortline operators in the U.S., the original G&W began life in 1899 with one purpose....to haul salt from the mine at Retsof, NY north about 15 miles to P&L Junction where connections where made with the E-L, LV, B&O and PC. As the major railroads merged or retrenched, the G&W expanded to Rochester on the north and to Dansville, NY on the south. A collapse of the salt mine in 1994 (at the time the largest in N.America) lead to a period of dormancy until a new mine was opened in 2001 at a location 10 miles away in Hamptons Corners, NY. Around 2003 the original G&W was melded in to the operations of the connecting Rochester & Southern RR and now survives soley as the corporate name for a worldwide empire of railroads.
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C424m's #63 & 62 are at the R&S Brooks Avenue Yard office in Rochester, NY on August 10, 1986. D&H #461-463 were owned by the G&W to guarantee power for their salt train traffic and when Guilford tookover the D&H were returned to the G&W, where the leading '4' was dropped from their numbers. #61 was soon involved in a wreck involving some runaway cars at P&L Jct. and was retired. |
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GP38 #51, an ex Conrail unit (originally Penn Central) acquired in 1985 and SW1500 #47 rest outside the Retsof, NY shops on April 26, 1987. |
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MP15's #45 & 46 have a southbound train of empties near Wadsworth, NY on December 26, 1984. |
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Brand new MP15's #45 & 46 are sitting beside the shops waiting to be set up for duty. These were the first two EMD units that would begin the demise of the all Alco roster. November 30, 1980. |
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MP15's #45 & 46 pull their train out of the yard at Retsof, under the Route 63 bridge and will pass the hulk of Chicago & Western Indiana RS-1 #262 which served as a parts unit for the G&W's operating RS-1's. 8/15/84. |
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MP15's #45 & 46 bring a train of salt loads across the diamond with the Penn Central peanut line and into the yard at P&L Junction. Note the tilt board behind the units. Caledonia, NY on August 15, 1984. |
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RS-1 #42 is on work train duty headed northbound, having just crossed Route 36 near Taylor, NY on 8/15/84. This unit was the ex-New Haven #0670 acquired in 1964. |
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RS-1 #25 leads the G&W's two bicentennial units, S-4 #1776 (ex #36) and RS-1 #1976 (ex #30) out of the yard at Retsof, NY on November 24, 1976. Both also bore names of retired employees on their cabs. |
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RS-1 #43 is next to the shop building at Retsof, NY on May 10, 1981. This unit was once equipped for passenger service, as evidenced by the exhaust stack between the two top windows. |
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RS-1 #42 brings a train off the connection from the ex-DL&W mainline at Greigsville, NY. G&W acquired this line from Conrail in 1982 along with the connecting Dansville & Mount Morris RR at Groveland. 8/15/84. |
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S-4 #35 rests outside the G&W shops in August 1984.This was one of the last S-4's built and features a noticeable lip along the top of the front hood instead of a smooth corner. Notice bicentennial painted RS-1 #1976 inside the shop. |
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SW1001's #1000 & 1001 are coupled to remote control caboose #1003 which allows any locomotives connected to it to function via remote radio control. The units are at the new American Rock Salt mine in Hamptons Corners, NY the largest operating salt mine in the US, and the only new one opened in the last 40 years. July 21, 2001. |
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SW1500 #47 is at Retsof, NY on May 19, 1990. This unit came from the Houston Belt & Terminal in 1985 and today operates on the York Railway, another G&W line. |