History

For a condensed history of the Atlantic & Great Western, see the Timeline of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad.

The Atlantic and Great Western Railroad began as three separate railroads centering Jamestown, NY, Meadville, PA, and Franklin Mills, OH. These roads were the Erie and New York City Railroad, the Meadville Railroad, and the Franklin and Warren Railroad. The owners of the three railroads had been working closely together since an October 8, 1852 meeting in Cleveland to plan an expansion of the "Great Broad Route" through their respective areas. On March 12, 1862, general control of all three companies was placed under a central board made of two directors from each of the companies. The Ohio Board was represented by Marvin Kent and W. S. Streator; the Pennsylvania Board by William Reynolds and John Dick; and the New York Board by A. F. Allen and T. W. Kennard. William Reynolds was elected President of the Board. The line reached Cleveland on November 18, 1863 and was connected to the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad in Dayton on June 20, 1864; thus linking St Louis with New York via a six-foot gauge line.

On August 19, 1865 an agreement was drafted to merge the three separate companies into the Atlantic and Great Western Railway Company. On October 5th of that year the new company issued a $30 million mortgage to pay off the outstanding mortgages on various companies included in the merger.

The Company went into the hands of a receiver, Robert B. Potter of New York, on April 1, 1867. Potter operated the railroad until December 1868 when it was leased for 12 years by the Erie Railroad. Jay Gould, then president of the Erie, arranged to have the company again placed into receivership, this time with Gould and W. A. O'Doherty. This receivership was transferred to Reuben Hitchcock of Cleveland in November 1869. In February 1870, the Erie again leased the company, pending foreclosure. The foreclosure took place and the property was purchased on July 26, 1871 by Gen. George B. McClellan, William Butler Duncan and Allen G. Thurman. A deed for the property was finalized on October 3, 1871.

In May 1874, the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad was leased again by the Erie, at terms very generous to the A&GW and it's backer James McHenry. On December 10, 1874 the new president of the Erie, Hugh M. Jewett, repudiated the lease and the company went into the hands of a new receiver, J. H. Devereaux. This action lead to a series of lawsuits between McHenry and Jewett which brought shame to both companies. On January 10, 1880 the property was again sold at foreclosure and was reorganized as the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad Company.

Venturing slightly outside New York State, I have included articles from the Crawford (PA) newspaper describing the completion and the running of the first train on the A&GW in that area.

In 1864/65 the A&GW began grading the Buffalo Extension of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad through from Randolph to Buffalo through Napoli, New Albion, and Otto as a route into Buffalo independent of the Erie connection at Salamanca. During the winter and spring of 1864-65 considerable work was done in grading, but the work was soon abandoned. See the Newspaper Articles page for an article on this proposed line.

The Erie Railroad was not the only potential eastern connection for the A&GW. This 1871 letter from Sobieski Ross to General George B. McClellan proposes connecting the A&GW with the "Pine Creek Route".

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