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With the 72 Class. track Bison Yard as the crown jewel of Erie Lackawanna's Buffalo area freight operations, the Buffalo Division
conducted brisk interchange with the connecting railroads entering Buffalo from many different directions. Both the Black
Rock and Niagara Falls branches provided connections with Canadian National and Chesapeake and Ohio's Canada Division operations,
while the railroad connected with the Lehigh Valley Railroad, Baltimore and Ohio via the Buffalo Creek Railroad. Connections
were made with Penn Central by means of interyard transfer runs operated by each railroad. Until October, 1962, passengers
on the Erie Lackawanna's Buffalo Trains could make direct cross platform connections with the Nickel Plate Road. This was
switched to Babcock Street in October, 1962 and lasted until October, 1965 when Norfolk and Western terminated the Buffalo
passenger trains from the west. On local freights, the versatile EMD GP7 and GP9 fleet often worked just about everywhere
on the Buffalo Division, except for the Lockport Branch, whose rails were so light that only Yard type switcher diesels were
allowed on that line. In addition to EL transfer runs to and from Fort Erie, the Black Rock Branch gave Norfolk and Western
St. Thomas Division trains direct access to Bison Yard, a luxury enjoyed by the Wabash previously. It was on the Buffalo Division
that one could also see run through power of several different railroads mixe with EL power on some trains, particularly the
Apollos and the Transcontinentals. The Apollos were later transferred to the Lehigh Valley Railroad, which operated them as
solid piggyback trains.
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Buffalo Division Freight Schedules
Table 1. Niagara Falls Branch
285 275 Stations 284 272
0830 2039 Main Street 1600 0400
0900 2100 North Tonawanda 1530 0330
0930 2130 Niagara Falls 1500 0300
Table 2. Groveland Branch
249 Stations 248
2000 Groveland 1930
---- Mount Morris ----
2100 Greigsville 1830
---- B&O Junction ----
---- East Bethany ----
----- North Alexander ----
This run originated at Bison Yard as Train 248 and ran extra from Bison Yard to Greigsville where it assumed its schedule
and was usually powered by EMD F3 and F7 cab units,usually in sets of four, though GP35s also caught this run during the railroad's
final years.
Table 3. Attica Branch
Westbound
247 297 Stations
--- 1800 Rochester
0900 1900 Avon
1030 2045 Batavia
--- 2100 Attica
Eastbound
298 246 Stations
0100 ---- Attica
==== 1255 Batavia
0230 1430 Avon
0315 ---- Rochester
PRINCIPAL FREIGHT CONNECTIONS;Buffalo;CN,N&W,B&O,PC,THB,SB,BCK;Niagara Falls and Lockport;PC, Niagara Falls,Buffalo;
C&O;Silver Springs;B&O;Batavia;PC,Caledonia;PC,G&W,LV,B&O.
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