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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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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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 #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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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. |