Rochester Junction station

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Rochester Junction

Rochester Junction station platform in July 2024, facing east.

General information

Line(s)

History

Opened

1892

Closed

May 12, 1959

Former lines

Preceding station		Following station
Batavia toward Buffalo	Main Line	Jim Thorpe toward New York or Jersey City
Rush toward Buffalo	Main Line	Mendon toward New York or Jersey City
Terminus	Rochester Branch	Rochester Terminus

Rochester Junction station was a Lehigh Valley Railroad station in Mendon, New York. The station was at the junction of the Lehigh Valley's main line and its Rochester Branch, which provided access to Rochester, 13.2 miles (21.2 km) to the north.^[1]^[2]

The station opened in 1892. This original building remained in use for four years until it was replaced by a larger structure. The Lehigh Valley disassembled the first station and moved it to Lima, New York.^[3]

Buses replaced trains over the Rochester Branch on September 6, 1950.^[4] Rochester Junction was one of many stations which lost its passenger service on May 12, 1959, when the Lehigh Valley eliminated 60% of its remaining passenger trains, including all but one round-trip west of Lehighton, Pennsylvania.^[5]^[6] The Lehigh Valley continued to use the building for storage until a fire destroyed it on April 22, 1973.^[7] A local Boy Scout troop constructed a replica of the freight house on the former station site in 2013.^[8]

Notes

^ Official Guide of the Railways. New York: National Railway Publication Co. March 1950. p. 149. OCLC 6340864.
^ Chait 2015, p. 72
^ Leavy 2002, p. 64
^ "Lehigh Train Rolls Away, for Good". Democrat and Chronicle. September 7, 1950. p. 25. Retrieved August 5, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Archer 1977, pp. 274–275
^ "Famed Train Ends Its Runs". Democrat and Chronicle. May 12, 1959. p. 22. Retrieved August 5, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Fire Razes Old Station". Democrat and Chronicle. April 23, 1973. p. 13. Retrieved August 5, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Taddeo, Sarah (August 1, 2013). "Boy Scout sees train station project finished". Democrat and Chronicle. p. B3. Retrieved August 5, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.

References

Archer, Robert F. (1977). The History of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Berkeley: Howell-North Books. ISBN 978-0-8310-7113-4.
Chait, Richard (2015). Rails in Rochester and Monroe County. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-5325-8.
Leavy, Michael (2002). Around Lima. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-0983-9.
Ham, Diane (2021). Rails to Trails: Rochester Junction Then and Now. Mendon, New York: The Mendon Foundation. ISBN 978-1-7377-5370-4.

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