The first railroad that makes up part of today's FGLK system wound its way
across the northern Finger Lakes region in 1840, the Auburn & Rochester Railroad.
The A&R became the Rochester & Syracuse Railroad in 1850, and was finally
consolidated into the all-powerful New York Central system in 1853.

For well over a Century, from the 1850's to the 1960's, this line would be known
as the New York Central's "Auburn Road", a meandering branch line between
Syracuse and Rochester, just to the south of the New York Central mainline.

Today, most of the "Auburn Road" makes up the East-West mainline of the FGLK, 
from Syracuse in the east to Canandaigua in the West. (Auburn Road tracks
between Canandaigua and Rochester no longer exist.)

The next railroad that is today part of the FGLK arrived in 1851, the Canandaigua
& Corning Railroad.  After several name changes, the route became part of the
Northern Central Railroad, and eventually became part of the Pennsylvania
Railroad's Elmira branch.

The PRR Elmira branch was used to haul coal from the PA coal fields to Lake
Ontario freighters at Sodus Bay, and is famous for being one of the last holdouts
of PRR steam, (or ANY steam for that matter) in the North East, with steam
locomotives operating on the branch as late as 1957.

Today, a remnant of the PRR Elmira branch is operated by FGLK between
Watkins Glen and Penn Yan.

And the third major Class-1 railroad making up today's FGLK system was the
Lehigh Valley Railroad, which opened its mainline to Buffalo in 1892. 
Today the FGLK operates two disconnected segments of former LV mainline,
from Geneva south to the Seneca Army depot, and from Shortsville, through
the LV's Manchester yard, to Victor.

The NYC and PRR merged in 1968 to form Penn Central, and PC in turn became
the largest portion of Conrail in 1976. The LV was also absorbed into Conrail
in 1976, (but Conrail abandoned and never operated the LV mainline across
Western New York.)

Conrail operated the former NYC and PRR lines around Geneva from
1976 to 1995 as its "Geneva Cluster"

In 1995 Conrail sold its "Geneva Cluster" to the newly formed Finger Lakes Railway.
 
 

Finger Lakes Railway operates its first train on July 23, 1995.
 
 

1995- July - FGLK starts up with three GP9 locomotives, 1701, 1702 and 1703,
           and a few leased units.

            The FGLK owns and operates (in 1995) two seperate routes, a remnant of the
            former NYC "Auburn Road" between Solvay (Syracuse) and Canandaigua.
            and a piece of PRR Elmira branch between Watkins Glen and Penn Yan.
            The two routes are connected via trackage rights on Conrail between
            Geneva and Himrod Junction.

            A third piece of FGLK trackage is the remnant of former LVRR mainline
            from Geneva south to the Seneca Army depot, however this line is not
           used on a  regular basis.

            FGLK's main access to the outside world is Conrail, which it interchanges
            with at Solvay, Lyons, Geneva and Himrod Junction.

            FGLK also interchanges with the Susquehanna railroad at Solvay, and with
            the small Ontario Central at Shortsville,
            (FGLK is the ONCT's only access to the outside world.)

           FGLK is jointly owned by Farmrail System,Inc.
           Genesee & Wyoming Inc.
           and two individuals.

1998 - A fourth GP9 joins the roster, number 1751, which had previously been
          leased from the B&P until purchased outright in 1998.

1998 -FGLK purchases four ex-VIA Rail passenger coaches for a planned excursion business.
            Due to delays at the border, the cars did not arrive until 1999.
            passenger excursions begin in Autumn 2001.

199? - The 5th unit arrives, GP10 1801, the "Mountain Laurel" unit.

1999- June - Conrail ends its sucessful 23 year reign, when it is sold and split-up
           beween CSX and Norfolk Southern.  Instead of one major Class-1 railroad
           in central and western NY, there are now two.

           NS takes over, from Conrail, the former Erie "Southern Tier Main" 
           between Binghamton and Buffalo, and also operates the former NYC
           "Fall Brook Sub" between Corning and Lyons, passing through Geneva.
           FGLK has trackage rights on NS (and Conrail before it) to access the two
           seperate parts of its system.
           FGLK and NS interchange at Himrod Junction and Geneva.

           CSX takes over the original New York Central mainline from Conrail, 
           continuing the NYC mainline as a major American rail route.
           FGLK interchages with CSX at Lyons and Solvay.

1999- June - the all-EMD all-GP streak is broken by the arrival of three GE B23-7
           locomotives. 1979, 1989 and 2004. (later numbured 2301, 1989 and 2303.)
           These are former Conrail units. The roster now stands at eight units.

200? -  A Fourth GE arrives, U23B 2211. (later 2201)
            The roster is up to 9 units.

2001 - October - FGLK begins passenger excursions, using four ex-VIA Rail coaches
             which were purchased in 1998. (Only two of the four are used in 2001, "Geneva" and "Seneca")

2001 - FGLK purchases its first two cabooses, 201 and 202, both are former PC transfer cabooses
            and are converted into Remote  Control units for operation in the Solvay area.

2004? - Two more B23-7 units arrive, FGLK 2304 and 2305.
             These are the two units that began life as Southern Railway high hoods,
             and the "front" of the units was the long-hood end, in typical SOU and
             N&W fashion. Their noses were later chopped, giving them both an
             unusual looking custom low nose, and "front" was changed to the "cab end".
             The roster reaches Eleven units.

2004 - October -two new coaches arrive! the coaches formerly used on the Niagara & Western NY
             excursion railroad, which operated between Medina & Lockport, NY for one season only (2002)
             These two coaches were built for the Norfolk & Western in 1916, and will become FGLK 1642
             and 1643. They were intially stored in Geneva for a private owner, for a few years, then purchased
             by FGLK.

2005 - FGLK purchases its 7th passenger car, a full baggage car, with plans to convert it
             into an open air observation car.

2005 - The other two (of four) ex-VIA Rail coaches,  "Canandaigua" and "Cayuga" , purchased in 1998,
             are refurbished, repainted and placed in service.

2006 -  The first unit leaves the FGLK roster. 1801, which spent its entire FGLK
             career in its Mountain Laurel paintscheme, is sold to the Seaview Railroad 
             of Rhode Island, who gives it a sparkling new paintjob in 2007.
             The roster drops from eleven to ten units.

2006 -  FGLK purchases it third caboose, the former G&W 1003, which becomes FGLK 203.

2007 - FGLK takes over the Ontario Central from previous owner Livonia, Avon
            & Lakeville. The former ONCT trackage stretches 13 miles from Shortsville
            to Victor, and is a remnant of Lehigh Valley Railroad mainline. The ONCT
            Alco RS36 goes "home" to the LAL, leaving behind the leased GSRX EMD SW9.

2008 - March - GP9 1702 returns to previous owner, Farmrail, after 13 years serving
           with FGLK. 1702 was one of the three original FGLK units, at the startup in 1995.
           1701, 1702 and 1703 all originally came from corporate relative Farmrail.
 

2008 - Yet more B23-7's arrive, FGLK 2306 and 2307 arrive on the property, 
           for now remaining in the paintscheme of their former owner the
           Providence & Worchester.
           Bringing the current roster to 11 units.

           As of July 2008, 10 units are operating, and one (2304) is OOS in Geneva,

2009 - April, B23-7 2305 heads over to Fort Edward, NY, north of Albany, for some FGLK contract                   
             work. (FGLK is not leasing the unit..FGLK is doing the work!)

2009 - April or May, about two weeks later, FGLK 1703 joins her sister 2305 in Fort Edward.
   

2009 - May 9th, FGLK 2308, FGLK's 14th unit arrives in Geneva.
              former Camas Prairie Railnet B23-7 number 7.          
           Making 12 units on the FGLK roster. (1703 and 2305 are in Fort Edward, and 2304 is still OOS.)

2009 - June, FGLK 2304, which has been OOS in Geneva for two years, returns to service!

2010 - March - news first hits the internet that a new FGLK locomotive is on the way!
             to become FGLK 2309

2010 - April - It is confirmed as TWO new units! FGLK 2309 and 2310. Two B23-7's, originally
             Santa Fe units. The units will arive still wearing their original ATSF yellow & blue Warbonnet paint!
             These will be FGLK's 15th and 16th units, and will make 14 on the active roster.

             Thanks to Mike Rujak, for the first photos of the new units, taken at Mingo Junction, Ohio
             on March 16, 2010:  Photo of 2309 - Photo of 2310.

All-Time B&O roster
An unofficial Finger Lakes Railway Website
A history of Rochester Railroads
ATSF B23-7 data
Auburn & Rochester Railroad history
CSX photo archives, B23-7 roster.
Diesel Shop FGLK roster
Diesel shop - B23-7 production roster
Diesel shop Seaboard roster
Don's Depot - Farmrail info
EMD Builder number data
Finger Lakes Railway photos on NErail
Finger Lakes Railway - Official site
FGLK on Wikipedia
Illinois Central Gulf roster
Joe Shaws FGLK photos
Locophotos data for FGLK 2309
Locophotos data for FGLK 2310
Northern Central Railroad history
Railpace magazine, October 1995 issue. (article by Tom Trencansky, the first magazine article about the FGLK.)
Railroad.net - the New York State forum (thanks everyone! :)
Rochester Railfan FGLK page
RRpicturearchives Farm Rail Photographic Roster
RRpicturearchives B&P Photographic Roster
RRpicturearchives P&W Photographic Roster
Roster information direct from the railroad,
My own notes and photographic record over the years, and..
The Internet

Many thanks to everyone who put all those great webpages together, and thanks especially to the
Finger Lakes Railway itself, and the on-line railfan community, who are always willing and able to
share SO much knowledge.

Thanks! I couldnt do it without you!
-Scot

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