Lowville and Beaver River Railroad

The Lowville and Beaver River Railroad (reporting mark LBR) is a short-line railroad owned by Genesee Valley Transportation (GVT) of Batavia, New York. The Lowville & Beaver River runs from an interchange, with GVT subsidiary Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern Railroad (MHWA) to Croghan, New York. (The MHWA Lowville-to-Carthage branch is currently (as of January 2007) out-of-service.)

History

The Lowville & Beaver River was started in 1906. The L&BR was dieselized in 1947, while #1923, their remaining steam locomotive, was last used in regular service in 1957. The locomotives of the L&BR were numbered 10, 12, 51, 1912, 1923, 1947 (Diesel), 1950 (Diesel), 1951 (Diesel) and 8, a Shay owned by the Railway Historical Society of Northern New York. All of the diesels are GE 44-tonners. In 1993, the L&BR was purchased by Genesee Valley Transportation. The #1923 steam locomotive, an Alco 2-8-0, has been preserved as part of the Steamtown, USA National Historic Site, Scranton, PA.

Operations

The line has been virtually out-of-service since the mid-1990s. It may be eventually turned into a combined rail/trail/tourist rr operation, if current negotiations between local governmental bodies and GVT can be finalized.