BR&P Dispatcher's Office
East Salamanca, New York

East Salamanca was a major operational hub of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway in Western New York.  In its heyday the BR&P had a large yard, roundhouse, locomotive repair shop, dispatcher's office, YMCA, and passenger station in East Salamanca.

The 1910 postcard below shows the dispatcher's office and depot in East Salamanca.  According to a March 7, 1912 newspaper account "Fire this morning destroyed the BR&P office building situated shortly south of the station at East Salamanca and so rapid was the progress of the flames that those in the upper story of the structure were obliged to make their escape through windows.  ......    Dispatchers James Garin and M.F. Costello and Caller Louis Frenz were also in the upper story at the time and descended by means of a ladder to the ground.   .....The building was a two story frame structure and in it was contained much valuable electrical apparatus including the new equipment of the telephone dispatching system of the Rochester and Buffalo divisions of the road, the system on the latter division having been in operation only since Monday.  .....Today the dispatchers are working at the telegraph offices at the north and south ends of the yards...."

Some reports describe there being dispatchers in East Salamanca during World War II, but there is no mention of the dispatcher's office being rebuilt.  The dispatchers may have moved to the second floor of the larger passenger station.

This 1910 postcard shows the BR&P dispatcher's office in the foreground and the passenger depot in the background.  Note that the passenger depot is smaller than usually shown in photos.  The YMCA buildings are visible behind the passenger station.
This 1910 postcard shows the rear side of the dispatcher's office building and the roundhouse.

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