Cortland-Cincinnatus Branch, Erie and Central New York Railroad

                                                             USGS map of Erie and Central New York Railroad


     In 1870 a charter was granted to the "Utica, Chenango, and Cortland Railroad Co." to construct a railroad from Cortland to Cincinnatus. Bonds totaling $259,000 were sold to the townships through which the railroad would extend. The allotted funds were exhausted due to other expenses, and for 25 years the railroad bed was idle. The Erie & Central Railway Company purchased the project in 1891 and the lying of rails was started. The first passengers were carried on an excursion train in 1897 and were greeted by a large number of McGraw residents upon arrival of the train known as the "Gee Whiz", perhaps because the last stop before Cincinnatus was Gee Brook. According to a timetable dated Oct. 12, 1897, there were four daily trains running from Cortland to Cincinnatus and four trains making the return trip to Cortland. In its heyday, which was about 1901, the Cincinnatus branch carried 29,756 fares for that year. In 1913, the branch was leased to the Lackawanna and later the Erie & Central merged into the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.

Mary Kimberly, Historian,
Village of McGraw
November 14, 2005

Reference:
http://www.mcgrawschools.org/tfiles/folder826/VillageProfile.pdf



Western New York Railroad Archive statistics:
Station                               Mile

Cortland Station                    0
Cortland Junction                 .5
McGraw                              4.2
Maybury's                           5.5
Solon                                  8.4
East Freetown                  11.7
White's Mills                     15.1
Gee Brook                        16.6
Cincinnatus                      18.6

All mileage measured from Cortland.
Passenger service was discontinued January 16, 1939.
Abandonment was authorized September 26, 1961.
Operation was discontinued December 29, 1961.

Reference:
Western New York Railroad Archive, with special thanks to Richard F. Palmer who provided information to archive. Richard F. Palmer is co-author of Cortland County Traction--The Story of Cortland's Trolley System.
http://wnyrails.org/railroads/dlw/dlw_stns_cincinn.htm

Photo of Delaware, Lackawanna & Western train heading to Cincinnatus--courtesy of Neil Bennett and McGraw Historical Society. Left click on photo and rear of photo to enlarge.

See photo of Cortland Junction (near the end of South Franklin Street) dated 2002. Credit due "Railfan.net Erie Lackawanna Email List Photo Archive."
http://www.railfan.net/lists/erielackphoto.cgi?erielack-09-10-02/nysw4004cj.jpg

Overheard at the station: A frustrated passenger who rips up the schedule and claims that D., L. and W. really means "Delay, Linger and Wait."