The Genesee Valley Canal Railroad opened in 1882 from Rochester to Hinsdale, near Olean, where it connected to the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railway. Much of the right-of-way was on the old Genesee Valley Canal (abandoned in 1878) except for the southern segment between Hinsdale to Olean since it closely paralleled the BNY&P. (Also, the old 12-mile branch of the canal from Mt. Morris to Dansville was not used by the railroad, as these places were already served by the Erie and Genesee Valley Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.) The GVCRR was immediately leased to the BNY&P.
Previously, the Rochester, Nunda and Pennsylvania Railroad had built a line roughly parallel to the canal between Mount Morris and Nunda, turning southeast to Swain's. In 1881 the part north of Nunda was abandoned, and on July 11 of that year, the company was consolidated into the Rochester, New York and Pennsylvania Railroad. That company opened a new line in 1882 from Nunda northeast to the new GVCRR at Nunda Junction, and the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railway leased it that year.
At the north end, the Genesee Valley Terminal Railroad was incorporated August 14, 1882, and in 1883 opened a branch from the GVCRR southwest of Rochester north to a junction with the New York Central Railroad main line at Lincoln Park, near the city limits. This allowed passengers on the GVCRR to gain access to the NYC passenger depot in Rochester.
Here is a timetable of the railroad:
MP | Station |
0.0 | Rochester |
5.8 | Genesee Jct. |
12.3 | Scottsville |
14.5 | Wadsworth Jct. |
23.9 | Fowlerville |
26.3 | York |
28.2 | Retsof Jct. |
33.1 | Cuylerville |
35.3 | DL&W Jct. |
36.9 | Mt. Morris |
45.2 | Tuscarora |
48.4 | Nunda Jct. |
56.3 | Portage Park |
57.7 | Portageville |
60.2 | Ambluco |
64.0 | Rossburg |
67.9 | Fillmore |
72.1 | Houghton |
75.1 | Caneadea |
78.5 | Belfast |
86.4 | Black Creek |
91.1 | Cuba |
98.7 | Hinsdale |
On September 1887 the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway acquired the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railroad and with it the GVCRR. In 1900 the Pennsylvania Railroad leased the WNY&P. A short branch from Scottsville west to Garbutt on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Rochester and State Line Railroad opened on September 16, 1907.
On November 15, 1912 the GVCRR and Genesee Valley Terminal Railroad merged to form the Pennsylvania and Rochester Railroad. That company was absorbed on February 28, 1916 into the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railway, still leased by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Under the PRR, this line was known as the Rochester Branch. Passenger service between Rochester and Olean was discontinued in 1941.
The original GVCRR route was abandoned in 1963, and today serves as the Genesee Valley Greenway, a rail-trail.