The Scottsville and LeRoy Railroad was a horse-drawn short-line railroad running from Scottsville to Caledonia, in New York State, in the United States of America. It was chartered in 1836 and ran until 1840, when changes in the canal system reduced demand. The eight-mile long line used wooden rails, which were a continual source of derailments.
Origins According to historian George Slocum: Horse cars were used upon this road for two seasons, principally to bring flour and plaster from the mills upon its line to Scottsville for shipment. Forty thousand dollars was expended and lost in this venture. This road was exclusively a Wheatland undertaking; its corporators and stockholders were residents of this town. In its inception the building of this road was no visionary scheme. It was intended by its projectors to push on to Batavia and the west, and to connect at Canandaigua with the road then in process of construction from Auburn to that village. Those engaged in this project were men of enterprise and broad views, and were eminently worthy of if they did not achieve success. The following text comes from History of the Town of Wheatland, by Carl F Schmidt, 1953.
Farmers were raising large crops, and more and more land was being cultivated. They wanted better means to get their products to the growing eastern markets than hauling their products to the river warehouses or to Rochester by ox teams. A letter written by Donald McKenzie of Caledonia to the "Genesee Farmer" in 1832, suggested a railroad from LeRoy, through Caledonia, Mumford, and Scottsville to Rochester.
"After a long and general acquaintance with the western part of this state, I am convinced that a railroad from LeRoy to Rochester, along the valley of Allen's Creek (Oatka) and the Genesee River, would be a public benefit, were it to serve no other purpose than to facilitate the forwarding of materials for the building of other railroads in the western district. The inexhaustible quarries of building stone of the first quality on the banks of Allen's Creek and adjacent region, the abundant supplies of gravel for horse paths, of water lime, of bog lime, plaster of paris, oak, pine, and cedar are found in various parts of Caledonia, LeRoy and Wheatland would then be easily conveyed to other sections of the State where other railroads were being built.
The consequences of which would be a great reduction in the price of these necessary materials for constructing railroads. It is worthy of remark that there are strong indications of coal and other minerals in this region, and that the oak timber is of superior quality. There are also an abundance of water privileges, where plaster, water, lime, etc., can be prepared.
D. McKENZIE."
This period in local history saw the Tonawanda Railroad built from Rochester to Batavia. Plans to route it through Scottsville, Caledonia, and Le Roy on its way to Batavia were not adopted when the decision fell in favour of a more direct route. This contributed to increased support for the Scottsville and LeRoy Railroad proposal.
On December 3, 1835, an agreement was signed in which a number of people agreed to pay Powell Carpenter, Philip Garbutt, John McNaughton, and E. H. S. Mumford for the purpose of getting surveys and estimates for the route of a railroad along Oatka Creek from Scottsville to Mumford. The next meeting by the people of Wheatland interested in such a railroad, was held in the home of Mr. Boughton December 24. Powell Carpenter was chairman and J. P. Sill was secretary of the meeting.
Mr. Alvin Savage, who made the survey of the contemplated route, reported that the building of the railroad was practicable. A new committee was elected, consisting of Powell Carpenter, Abraham Hanford, William Garbutt, E. H. S. Mumford, Philip Garbutt, and Clark Hall.
Another meeting was held January 9, 1836, at the house of George Ensign in Scottsville. A motion was passed "that the memorial in circulation to be presented to our Legislature for an Act on Incorporation in behalf of the contemplated Scottsville and LeRoy Railroad Company be so altered that Caledonia village be inserted and mentioned as one of the places by which said railroad shall pass."
A contract was made with William Wallace on March 5, 1836, to act as engineer and to begin work as soon as the weather permitted. He was to receive $3.50 per day for his services.
Establishment of a corporation A charter was obtained in May for the construction of a railroad from Scottsville to LeRoy. According to some sources (e.g., Early American Railroads, Franz Anton Ritter von Gerstner's "Die innern Communicationen," 1842–1843), the original intention had been to go as far as Batavia, a distance of twenty-six miles. Powell Carpenter, Abraham Hanford, Philip Garbutt, E. H. S. Mumford, Clark Hall, Ira Carpenter, Thomas Halsted, Nathaniel Clark, Donald McDonald and Thomas Brown were named as incorporators. The capital stock of the corporation was $200,000.00 which was divided into shares of fifty dollars each.
In April 1836, by Legislative enactment, a group of Wheatland men were authorized to form a company to construct a railroad from Scottsville to Canandaigua. It was proposed to connect this railroad at that point with the road, then in process of construction, from Auburn to Canandaigua. The section of the railroad from Canandaigua to Rochester had been completed as far as the Pittsford hills, and according to an old letter, "Rochester folks had partly given up the Geneva and Canandaigua Railroad because they could not get over the Pittsford hills. They dreaded the consequence of exploring the route by Mendon and the Honeoye valley for fear of its branching across the Genesee River to intersect the Caledonia and LeRoy Railroad to Batavia." Another letter written by Eliphalet Murdock dated January 29, 1837, said in part: "The ground for a railroad from Buffalo to Batavia is all bought in and building will commence next summer, and I learn that the road from Auburn to Geneva and Canandaigua and Rochester is to come down the valley of the Honeoye outlet and if so we shall only have to cross the Genesee River to open the communication from Buffalo to Albany if these improvements go into effect of which I think we have a fair prospect. The great thoroughfare of the state by railroad will pass through this place and if so here will be a chance for speculation."
A preliminary survey of the route was made by Wallace, but no further action toward any construction was even taken.
Completion Financial difficulties intervened, delaying completion of the Scottsville to Caledonia link until September 1838. The Scottsville and LeRoy Railroad was, most likely, completed as far as Mumford in 1837 and extended as far as Caledonia late in 1838. Steven's survey of the village of Scottsville indicates that the railroad started in front of E. T. Miller's warehouse and continued across the "millyard," in front of the mills, about one hundred and fifty feet south of Main Street. It then gently curved and ran southwest through Scott Crescent; crossed Caledonia Avenue and followed the embankment near the south line of the Catholic cemetery. It continued through farms and fields until it reached the highway just east of the McVean house. The railroad continued on the highway to the store of Philip Garbutt, where it passed in a depression under the platform in front of the store. The railroad tracks were on about the level of the basement floor, thus permitting the loading and unloading directly into the basement store room. The railroad curved southward across the fields, on an embankment, and rounded a hill almost parallel with the tracks of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. At Wheatland Center it met the highway and then ran on the south side and parallel to the highway to Mumford. At a point about due north of Smith Street it turned sharply south, crossed the creek on a bridge, and continued south in a straight line through Smith Street. It then followed the east bank of Spring Creek, passed Donald McKenzie's saw mill, to the grounds of the old Caledonia school.
Construction Ties were laid with grooves cut into the top surfaces, to hold the oak timbers or stringers to keep them from spreading. On the stringers were spiked the narrow strips of oak, about one inch by three inches, which served for the tracks. No iron was used except at the highway crossings. It was the rails that eventually caused the most trouble and many accidents. The rails were never completely covered with iron and wore out rapidly, causing many derailments. Since the wood rails could not be securely spiked down, heavy loads forced the ends to spring up with such force as to penetrate the floors of the cars.
Agreements were made with George Sheffer, Clark Hall, and William McKenzie, son of Donald McKenzie, to furnish the four by six green white oak timbers. (For estimate of the building of the railroad see Appendix No. 15.)
Ebenezer Beck was one of the principal contractors on the road. William Cook was one of the grading contractors, and Jefferson Edmunds was the contractor for building the bridge over Oatka Creek at Mumford.
The rail line from Scottsville to Caledonia ran approximately eight miles, with the tightest curve having a radius of 1,200 feet. Grades were mild, with the severest between Caledonia and Mumford at 36 feet per mile, or 1 in 147 (0.68%).
The roadbed for the line was fairly easy to build and had neither high embankments nor deep cuts through rock, which helped builders given the lack of available blasting materials. The bed averaged twelve feet in width, with cross-ties set an interval of four feet. The bridge across Oatka Creek was one hundred feet long and rested atop two masonry abutments and three piers.
By one accounting, the total cost, including land, labour, and rolling stock (eight freight cars), was around $4,000 a mile, for a total of eight miles and $32,000.
Horse cars were used on this railroad. The cars had no brakes and the wheels were made of pieces of planks bolted together. The axles were of iron similar to the axles used on wagons. Thomas Kane of Scottsville is said to have run the Scottsville and LeRoy Railroad, and he was the engineer, conductor, train-starter and brakeman.
The railroad had two passenger coaches, nearly square in shape, and painted a lead color. The passenger coaches were seldom used except by Clark Hall, of Halls Comers (now Wheatland Center) on Sundays, when he, his family, and friends would ride to Scottsville to attend church.
The people of LeRoy had several meetings to consider building the railroad from the town line to their village. A survey was made, but the people refused to act. Mr. Tomlinson tried to interest the people in extending the railroad from Caledonia to Tomlinson's Mills, south of LeRoy and thence to Batavia, but that also failed to materialize.
Operation The railroad was a success for several years. It carried flour from the mills at Caledonia, Mumford, Wheatland Center, and Garbutt to Scottsville. Here the cargo was transferred to the boats in Oatka Creek, behind the mills. The boats then passed through the creek to the Scottsville-Genesee River Canal and then into the river.
James R. Clark of Caledonia was an enthusiastic supporter of the railroad. With confidence that it would be continued to LeRoy that he named his tavern (now the home of Mrs. F. F. Keith) the Railroad House. A year after the railroad's completion, Clark approached William Garbutt, who was president at the time, with a proposition to take over the railroad. Garbutt laid the petition before the board at its next meeting in Mumford, and Clark was given a lease of the road and rolling stock for a term of years.