Buffalo Creek Railroad

Buffalo Creek Railroad
Overview
Parent companyErie Lackawanna Railway, Lehigh Valley Railroad
HeadquartersBuffalo, New York
Reporting markBCK
Dates of operationJanuary 25, 1869–April 1, 1976
SuccessorConrail
1917 map of the railroad

The Buffalo Creek Railroad was a terminal and switching railroad that operated on the waterfront area of Buffalo, New York. The company was in existence from 1869[1] to 1976, operating on 5.66 miles with a total trackage of 34.22 miles.[2][3] It was formed by the Lehigh Valley Railroad and New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company (Erie Lackawanna Railway) which each owned 50% of the company.[1]

The railroad primarily served the grain elevators in present-day 'Silo City'[4] and adjacent area of Buffalo, including that of General Mills. The site was advantageous due to its location on the Buffalo River and the eastern coast of Lake Erie.[5] Before the re-dredging of the Welland Canal in the 1950s, access to Lake Ontario and points further east were limited to large ships coming from in the Midwestern United States. As a consequence Buffalo hosted at one time the world's largest cereal packaging plants,[2] and offloaded, milled, and shipped grain across the eastern United States.

The 'Crik', as it was nicknamed,[3] switched for the grain elevators. The railroad connected with seven major railroads.[2] In addition, the railroad owned a fleet of over 1,700 40-foot boxcars for transporting flour.

The railroad was taken over by Conrail in 1976.[3]

  1. ^ a b United States Interstate Commerce Commission (1928). Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Reports and Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States. L.K. Strouse.
  2. ^ a b c "Buffalo Creek Railroad". Penney Vanderbilt and KC Jones: All About Railroads. 2017-06-07. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  3. ^ a b c "BCK History & Locomotives". www.trainweb.org. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  4. ^ Franz, Justin (2021-07-21). "Historic Flour-Carrying Boxcar Returns to Buffalo". Railfan & Railroad Magazine. Retrieved 2024-02-04.
  5. ^ Dietz, Paul (2021-03-04). "'Flour-by-rail' to be recognized in redevelopment of Buffalo neighborhood". Trains. Retrieved 2024-02-04.