The following information come from the unpublished notes of C. T. Arend of Jamestown, NY.
"To whom it may interest, I am writing this entirely from memory in the year 1977 from information gathered from my father, Martin N. Arend, who was employed as a conductor for several years prior to 1912 and from my employment as a construction lineman during the transition period from steam power operation of the Jamestown, Chautauqua and Lake Erie Railroad to the electric powered Jamestown, Westfield and Northwestern Railway in 1913.
The management of the JCLE consisted of:
C. J. Moynihan General Manager Wm. Pickard Assistant Manager Geo. F. Asper Superintendent Burt Harrison Conductor (Not in Seniority Order) Con Harrison " Martin N. Arend " Harry Barker " __ McCarthy " John Harrison Engineer Peter Johnson " Wm. Lepp " Ed. Jones " Lew Hoadly " Curly DeBell Brakeman __ Nohlquist " Dusty Rhodes " __ Pierce Fireman J. Smith " Burt Matson Baggage Agent, Jamestown D. E Lord Agent, Bemus Point Abner Dorman Agent, Dewittville Unknown Agent, Point Chautauqua and Westfield Tom Hannon Hostler __ Skeeno " John Gerran Section Foreman, Jamestown Godfrey Johnson " , Bemus Point Len Little " , Dewittville
Steam Engines: 4, 5, 9, 11 and 1 (Gas Electric)
Northbound freight trains were numbered 40-78 and southbound trains were 41-79. Dispatching was done by the towerman at Mayville where the JCLE crossed the Pennsylvania Railroad. A. R. Griggs was the last agent and was housed in a closed streetcar on a spur at the Jamestown Terminal.
I remember a long shed parallel to the main track at the roundhouse in which several open cars were stored. I understand that the cars were used as a train pulled by a steam locomotive to take picnickers to Midway Park. They were not practical as smoke and cinders drifted back on the passengers. I do not recall what became of the cars.
I recall an occasion when my father was the Conductor on a northbound passenger train leaving Jamestown at 5:00 pm and got as far as Mayville where the train was stopped by the snow. He was told by the General Manager, who was a New Yorker and had just assumed the financial worries of the JCLE, to come back to Jamestown, contrary to the crew's protests. They got as far as Wooglin, just south of Point Chautauqua, where they stayed for a week living off the farmers. They shoveled snow into the engine's tank to keep the engine alive to heat the coaches until they were shoveled out.
I also remember when, due to high water, it was necessary to wear hip boots and use a 3 foot rod with a hook on the end to reach the switch lever to make up the train in Jamestown and spot industries they served. This happened quite often in the spring. Also at this time the passenger train going north had a trainman ride on the engine pilot with a spike pole to shove logs out of the way. Coming south the train would stop at Clifton to give trainmen time to get on the pilot for the same purpose.
The JCLE had a wye just north of the roundhouse in Jamestown and at Main Street in Westfield with a tail track long enough to hold an engine and two cars to turn passenger trains.
In addition, the JCLE maintained a siding from Mayville to Chautauqua Institution, crossing the Pennsylvania Railroad at Mayville. They also had a freight house on Steel Street in Jamestown, reaching it by crossing Fairmount Avenue, and the Erie Railroad at Jamestown Tower. They also served the City Light Plant, H.P. Robertson, Harry Lyons Lumber Company, A.J. Jackson Feed Warehouse, and the Jamestown Veneer Plywood Company. The JCLE also served ice houses at Fluvanna, Bayview, and the Pittsburgh Ice Company at Mayville.
My father, Martin Arend, was one of the few that had passed the examination on the Pennsylvania Railroad, allowing him to use part of the PRR main line to get to Chautauqua when loading ice at Bayville. He could send and receive Morse code and a key and sounder were put in a box on a pole. This enabled him to get his orders from the dispatcher at Mayville when he was ready to take trains of ice to Mayville to deliver to the PRR.
Originally, in the late 1800s, the Jamestown and Chautauqua Lake Railroad terminated at Mayville, but later a branch was built from Clifton to Falconer to connect with the Dunkirk, Allegany Valley and Pittsburg (DAVP) Railroad. The DAVP connected with the New York Central at Westfield, giving them an outlet both east and west. To accomplish this, it is necessary to build a high grade in order to clear Fluvanna Avenue. The story is that the weight of this fill forced the soft undersoil into the river, making it difficult for the navigate.
This branch was used for only a few years when it was decided to extend the main line from Mayville to Westfield and the Falconer Branch was abandoned. Very little evidence remains of this effort except the grade.
The JCLE was preceded by the Chautauqua Lake Railroad, organized by Willard White and other eastern capitalists in 1880. Construction was started in 1885 and the first train on July 23, 1887 consisted of two engines, eight coaches, 800 passengers, and a German band.