The Lowville and Beaver River Railroad is a short-line railroad owned by Genesee Valley Transportation

Genesee Valley Transportation

The Genesee Valley Transportation Company, based in Batavia, New York, is a holding company for several short-line railroads located in New York and Pennsylvania...

 (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 '07) 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

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

, 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

Shay locomotive

The Shay locomotive was the most widely used geared steam locomotive. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive...

 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.