| Dansville
& Mount Morris Railroad
DMM
history and timeline:
1868
- The DMM began in 1868 as the Erie & Genesee Valley Railroad
Company.
The company originally intended
to
build from Burns, NY, on the Erie Railroad, through Dansville and on
to Mount Morris, to a connection with
another
Erie line to Rochester.
1871
- With financial help from the Erie, the line is completed between
Dansville
and Mount Morris.
(the
line between Burns and Dansville was never built.)
The
original route between Dansville and Mount Morris was 15 miles long.
1871
- December 12, 1871, the first train arrives in Dansville! using a
borrowed
Erie engine from Mount Morris.
For the next 20 years, the line is leased by, and is essentially a
subsiderary
of the Erie.
1891
- with a reorgnization, the line is renamed the Dansville & Mount
Morris
Railway Company.
This
marks the beginning of the DMM as an independant railroad.
Up until this point, the railroads only connection to the outside world
was with the Erie at Mount Morris.
As
an independant company after 1891, the DMM now attempted to connect
with the two other local railroads,
the
DL&W at Groveland, and the WNY&P (later PRR) at Mount
Morris.
The
PRR connection was made, but the Erie threatened to terminate the
connection
at Mount Morris if the
DMM
interchanged with the DL&W.
1933
- At the request of the Foster-Wheeler company, who desired better and
more reliable rail service,
(and
who hinted they might be forced to leave Dansville is this
connection
was not made)
a
connection with the DL&W is finally made at Groveland, connecting
to the wye at the Lackawanna's
Groveland
Station yard. This connection was ordered by the ICC, over
the
continued objections of the Erie.
1939
- passenger service ends on the DMM.
1940
- The Erie rips up its track between Avon and Mount Morris. The Erie
states
one of the reasons
for
abandonment of this line was the DMM connection to the DL&W,
siphoning
off Erie traffic.
1940
- DMM removes its original mainline between Mount Morris and Sonyea (3
miles)
ending
its original connection to Mount Morris. The last train to run
the
full route between Mount Morris
and
Dansville on the original mainline was January 24, 1940, four days
after the Erie formally abandoned
its
Avon - Mount Morris route.
1943
- DMM abandons and removes its original line between Groveland and
Sonyea.
(4 miles)
the
DMM shrinks by about half between 1939 and 1943.
now
the DMM is an 7.8 mile route between Dansville and the DL&W
connection
at Groveland.
1956
- Last steam operations on the DMM, and the arrival of Diesel #1.
1960
- The Erie and the DL&W merge to form the Erie Lackawanna. The DMM
connection at Groveland
is
now EL.
1963
- EL abandons the former DL&W mainline between Wayland and
Groveland.
no
more trains over Dansville Hill. Rails removed in 1965.
1963
- DMM builds a new enginehouse in Dansville. has one GE diesel on the
roster.
1976
- April1 , 1976 - EL is absorbed into the Conrail system. DMM's only
connection
to the outside world is
now
Conrail at Groveland.
1982
- Genesee & Wyoming takes over the Conrail trackage (former
DL&W
mainline) between Greigsville
and
Groveland. DMM now connects to the G&W at Groveland.
1985
- July 23, 1985, the DMM is aquired by the Genesee & Wyoming
company,
ending 94 years of the
DMM
as an independent railroad. G&W now extends from P&L
Junction
(Caledonia) to Dansville.
1986
- October 1986 , the DMM's last two locomotives, GE 44ton switchers #1
and #2,
are
sold to the Bay Colony railroad of Massachusetts. (In
1986 I was a teenage railfan over in Waverly, NY..I caught
the
two DMM locos heading east through Waverly! at the time I had no
idea
what they were or where they were from.
I
didnt learn that until decades later! 
)
2001
- the DMM trackage is embargoed by G&W between Groveland and
Dansville.
2002
- (approximate date) the G&W ceases to exist as a separate
railroad,
and is merged into the larger
Rochester
& Southern system, which is also a "G&W Family"
shortline.
the ancestral DMM tracks
between
Groveland and Dansville are now R&S.
2003
- Foster Wheeler in Dansville closes. This was the only remaining
customer
for the line between Dansville and
Mount
Morris. The future of the line looks grim, and talk is going
around
that the tracks will be taken up.
(in
the 1980's and 90's, traffic to and from Foster Wheeler was already
*very* sporadic and uncommon..
only
a few train movements a year.)
2006
- January 31, 2006 - American
Motive
Power (AMP) recieves its first locomotive at the former
Foster-Wheeler
plant
in Dansville! the DMM route lives again! AMP rebuilds
locomotives. in 2006
and 2007, dozens of older
locomotives
have been rebuilt there, here is a small
sampling. (goto page 2 for photos)
2007
- Bringing us up to the current day. Trains still run between Dansville
& Mount Morris. Today the line is
part
of the Rochester & Southern system, a Genesee & Wyoming
family
shortline. Tracks between
Dansville
and Groveland are original DMM, tracks between Groveland and
Mount Morris are original
DL&W.
AMP in Dansville is the only customer south of Mount Morris.
Surviving
DMM locomotives, and all-time roster.
Steam
The DMM owned 11 steam locomotives
during
its history.
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Photo |
Road
No. |
Wheel
Arr. |
Year
Built |
Builder |
Status |
Location |
Heritage |
Notes |
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?? |
4-6-0 |
1880 |
Schenectady |
scrapped |
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Ex -
PRR "Unaka" |
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2 |
4-4-0 |
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scrapped |
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5 |
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1902 |
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scrapped |
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purchased
new |
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6 |
4-4-0 |
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scrapped |
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7 |
4-2-0 |
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scrapped |
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9 |
4-6-0 |
1895 |
Schenectady |
scrapped |
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Ex -
LS&M 254 |
B/N
4563 |
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Ex -
NYCRR 5093 |
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with
DMM 1910 - 1933 |
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10 |
0-6-0T |
1904 |
Alco |
scrapped |
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Ex -
Chestnut Ridge Railway. |
B/N
29660 |
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with
DMM 1924-1930 |
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55 |
4-4-0 |
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scrapped |
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111 |
4-4-0 |
1865 |
Danforth-Cooke |
scrapped |
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Ex -
DL&W 111 |
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Ex -
Morris & Essex 17
"Hackensack" |
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304 |
4-6-0 |
1905 |
Alco
Brooks |
preserved |
Steamtown |
Nee
NKP 44 (1905) |
B/N
38831 |
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Scranton,
PA |
To
AC&Y 304 (1923) |
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To
DMM 304 (1929) |
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To
Myers Steel & Supply
(1957) |
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To
Nelson Blount (Steamtown
Vermont) -1963 |
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To
Steamtown Scranton (1985) |
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565 |
2-6-0 |
1908 |
Alco |
preserved |
Steamtown |
Nee
DL&W 565 (1908) |
B/N
45528 |
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Scranton,
PA |
To
DMM 565 (1936) |
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To
Black River RR. (1960) |
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various
private
owners (1968-1985.) |
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To
Steamtown Scranton (1985) |
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Diesel
The DMM owned 2 Diesels
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Photo |
Road No. |
Model |
Year Built |
Serial # |
Status |
Location |
Heritage |
Notes |
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1 |
GE 44 ton |
10/1956 |
32664 |
?? |
Michigan |
Nee Dansville & Mount Morris #1
(1956) |
last GE |
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to Bay Colony 411 (1986) |
44ton built |
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to Adrian & Blissfield - stored
in 1985
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Phase Vc |
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to
Charlotte Southern No. 3 in 1998
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In
use on the Charlotte Southern dinner train - 2016
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2 (2nd) |
GE 44 ton |
09/1949 |
30250 |
?? |
New Jersey |
Nee Bath & Hammondsport D-1 (1949) |
Phase IV-b |
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to DMM #2 |
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to Bay Colony 410 (1986) |
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to Southerrn RR of NJ 410 (1998) |
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Scrapped by the SRRNJ, June 2012
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Railbus
The DMM owned
one
gasoline railbus, #300.
originally
equipped
with a White engine, it later recieved a Buick engine.
scrapped in
1937
after the end of passenger service.
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