Steam Saturday: My First A&A Visit

I made my first visit to the Arcade & Attica short line railroad in New York State on July 17, 2010. It was part of an outing held by the Forest City Division of the Railroad Enthusiasts.

I was in a party that traveled in a van that stopped at Bort Road near North East, Pennsylvania, while en route to Arcade, New York. That was my first visit there. We drove along the GE Erie test track but nothing was out running at the time.

We wrapped up the outing by driving up to Amtrak’s station in Depew, New York, which serves Buffalo.

The star attraction on the A&A was 2-8-0 No. 18, which had been built by Alco in 1920. We rode the first excursion of the day from Arcade to Curriers, and stuck around to photograph No. 18 leaving town for its second trip.

In both images No. 18 is pulling up to couple onto its train and will run tender first back to Arcade.

The two images above were made at Curriers during the layover. There is not much to see there, but the locomotive’s runaround move proved to be of interest to some passengers.

Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders

The Agent’s Bay Window

The Arcade & Attica depot in Curriers, New York, is in part a museum. Although not restored to its former glory, there are exhibits of historical significance.

One room in the one-story wood station resembles old school railroading when small towns like this had agents.

Many depot had bay windows so that the agent could look down the tracks in both directions to watch for arriving trains.

The restoration of this agent’s desk is incomplete. I doubt that the agents back in the day had three red lanterns. The typewriter might be authentic but the agent would have had other tools as well.

Nonetheless it has a historical feel that harkens back to a time when steam locomotive power was a daily regularity and not a novelty for tourists.