Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
History
As with most railroads, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern was the consolidation of many smaller roads. In Western New York, the first predecessor railroad was the Buffalo and State Line Railroad which was chartered in 1849 to build a line from Buffalo to the Pennsylvania state line near Erie. The Erie and Northeast Railroad was incorporated in 1842 to build from the city of Erie to the New York State line. The two companies cooperated closely and in 1857 they merged to form the Buffalo and Erie Railroad.
In June 1869 the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway absorbed the Buffalo and Erie, giving the company a continuous line from Buffalo to Chicago.
Around 1877 the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad gained the majority of the stock in the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. While nominally independent, the line was operated in conjunction with the New York Central. This lasted until 1914 when the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad merged with the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway to form a new New York Central Railroad.
For more information, see the Corporate History of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
Stations in Western New York
- Buffalo (Exchange Street Station)
- Lackawanna
- Blasdell
- Bay View
- Athol Springs
- Lake View
- Derby
- Angola
- Farnham
- Irving
- Silver Creek
- Waites Crossing
- Dunkirk
- Van Buren
- Brocton
- Portland
- West Portland
- Westfield
- Forsyth
- Ripley
References
- Wikepedia. "Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Southern_Railroad
