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The Erie Railroad

The Erie Railroad is sometimes forgotten as a classic fallen flag because of its disappearance over a decade before most other lines began to fall. Until its merger in 1960 with the Lackawanna Railroad (to form the Erie Lackawanna) the Erie Railroad was another mid-sized Class I in the East Coast-Midwest market stretching from New York/Jersey City to Chicago. Throughout its existence the Erie Railroad was troubled with bankruptcies and organizations but it was able, through the 1950s, to find a degree of success in a market extremely saturated with many other, and larger carries (such as the New York Central, Pennsylvania Railroad and Baltimore & Ohio just to name a few).

The Erie has its beginnings dating all of the way back to 1832, just five years after the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, when it was chartered that year by the Governor of New York, De Witt Clinton as the New York & Erie Railroad to build a rail line in the southern part of the state linking Piermont, New York with Dunkirk on Lake Erie. It was finally able to complete this main line by 1851. Over the years it acquired, leased, or built new lines and by the late 19th century it had reached points such as Buffalo, Rochester, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis.

Having said that, gaining access to these new markets was a very labor intensive and difficult task because of two reorganizations (as the Erie Railway in 1859 and Erie Railroad in 1895) and a proxy fight by Cornelius Vanderbilt (of New York Central fame) to take over the Erie in the mid 1860s (which ultimately failed and the Commodore lost all of his holdings in the railroad).

By the turn of the 20th century things began to look up for the Erie Railroad although it did suffer one final reorganization (in 1941). Under the guidance of Frederick Underwood the railroad carved out a living in the hotly contested New York-Chicago market and after the Van Sweringen brothers (of Chesapeake & Ohio and Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad fame) gained ownership of the Erie in the mid-1920s, propelling the railroad to even further heights. Unfortunately the brothers passed away in the 1930s so it is hard to tell just what the Northeast rail map would have looked like had they lived and been allowed to foresee whatever plans they had for the many properties under their control (they were excellent railroad managers).

Unfortunately for the Erie Railroad, while during and just after World War II traffic was prosperous, this was short-lived and by the 1950s an already competitive New York-Chicago market began to become even more so when other modes of transportation such as trucks and planes began to eat away at traffic. – As a side note about its passenger operations, they were meager at best because the railroad was much slower in nearly every major market to the likes of its larger competitors, although many of its trains soldiered on until nearly 1970 under the Erie Lackawanna banner. - During this time along with its long-time competitor, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, the two railroads began to see a benefit of merger and thus started to merge duplicate operations in the 1950s resulting in a joint merger in 1960 as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad.

While somewhat successful the merger and the savings it brought could not stave off the Northeast’s biggest problem starting in the 1960s, simply too many railroads vying for a smaller and smaller traffic base as manufacturing centers slowly began to dry up in the region.

While the new railroad soldiered on and attempted to become part of the Norfolk & Western Railway’s system, Hurricane Agnes of 1972 changed everything and the storm wreaked havoc to EL’s lines and forcing it into bankruptcy.

Already in a precarious financial situation and being turned down by a possible purchase by the Chessie System the company eventually entered bankruptcy protection and opted to be included in the new Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail), which already was being formed to pick up the pieces of several other bankrupt lines in the region, most notably the disastrous Penn Central Corporation. Sadly, after the EL folded into the Conrail system most of the Erie Railroad through Ohio and points west were outright abandoned in favor of PRR and NYC routes and today few traces of the railroad in these areas can be found.

Please Click Here To Return To The Main Fallen Flags Section

Erie Railroad Diesel Locomotive Roster

For an all-time diesel locomotive roster of the Erie Railroad please click here. Also, for an excellent listing of EMD-built diesel locomotives, including those owned by the Erie please click here. Lastly, please click here to locate preserved Erie diesel locomotives.

The American Locomotive Company

Model Type	Road Number	Date Built	Quantity
Boxcab	20	1926	1
HH-660	302-305	1939	4
S1	306-321	1946-1950	16
S2	500-525	1946-1949	26
S4	526-529	1951-1952	4
FA-1	725A-735A, 725D-735D	1947-1949	22
FB-1	725B-735B, 725C-735C	1948-1949	22
FA-2	736A-739A, 736D-739D	1950-1951	8
FB-2	736B-739B, 736C-739C	1950-1951	8
PA-1	850-861	1949	12
PA-2	862-863	1951	2
RS2	900-913, 950-954	1949	19
RS3	914-933, 1005-1038	1950-1953	54

The Baldwin Locomotive Works/Lima Locomotive Works

Model Type	Road Number	Date Built	Quantity
DS-4-4-660	381-385	1946-1949	5
DS-4-4-750	386-389	1949	4
DS-4-4-1000	600-601	1946	2
S12	617-628	1951-1952	12
LS-1000	650-659	1949	10
DRS-4-4-1500	1100-1105	1949	6
AS16	1106-1120, 1140	1951-1952	16
DRS-6-6-1500	1150-1161	1950	12

The Electro-Motive Corporation/Electro-Motive Division

Model Type	Road Number	Date Built	Quantity
SW1	360	1948	1
NW2	401-427	1939-1949	27
SW7	428-440	1950-1952	13
FTA	700A-705A, 700D-705D	1944	12
FBA	700B-705B, 700C-705C	1944	12
F3A	706A-710A, 706D-710D, 800A-806A, 800D-806D	1947-1949	24
F3B	706B-710B, 706C-710C, 800B-806B	1947-1949	17
F7A	711A-712A, 711D-712D, 807A, 807D	1950-1951	6
F7B	711B-712B, 711C-713C, 807B	1950-1952	6
E8A	820-833	1951	14
GP7	1200-1246, 1400-1404	1950-1952	52
GP9	1260-1265	1956	6

General Electric

Model Type	Road Number	Date Built	Quantity
44-Tonner	26	1946	1

Erie Railroad Steam Locomotive Roster

For a more complete roster of Erie Railroad steam locomotives please click here. Also, for information regarding surviving Erie steam locomotives please click here.

Class	Type	Wheel Arrangement
C1 Through C3	Switcher	0-8-0
H20 Through H22 (Various)	Consolidation	2-8-0
J1, J2	Decapod	2-10-0
K1 Through K5 (Various)	Pacific	4-6-2
L1	Articulated	0-8-8-0, 2-8-8-2
M1	Articulated	2-6-8-0
N1 Through N3	Mikado	2-8-2
P1	Articulated	2-8-8-8-2T (Triplex)
R1 Through R3	Santa Fe	2-10-2
S1 Through S4	Berkshire	2-8-4

Notable Erie Railroad Passenger Trains

Erie Limited: Connected Jersey City with both Buffalo and Chicago.

Lake Cities: Connected Jersey City with Cleveland, Buffalo, and Chicago.

Pacific Express: (Jersey City - Chicago)

Atlantic Express: (Chicago - Jersey City)

Midlander: (Jersey City - Chicago)

Southern Tier Express: Connected Buffalo with Hornell and Jersey City.

Mountain Express: (Jersey City - Hornell)

Tuxedo: (Jersey City - Port Jervis)

(A deep thanks to the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University for allowing Ron Nixon's historic collection of the Erie to be featured here. Please note that the photos featured on this page feature their corresponding image number so that you may quickly and easily find more information about it from their website. To view Ron Nixon's entire collection please click here.)

For more reading on the Erie Railroad consider Mike Schafer's Classic American Railroads Volume III. This book, the latest in the series, was published in 2003 and follows up on his original titles, Classic American Railroads and More Classic American Railroads, both of which cover several fabled and well remembered fallen flags (of which the Erie is covered in the third volume). I own all three in this series and can attest to their high quality, so I am sure you won't be disappointed if you decide to purchase one. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit the link below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.

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