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Chautauqua Rails to Trails
One of the many benefits of utilizing the trail system created and maintained by Chautauqua Rails to Trails is an appreciation of our county’s railroad history. A day that lives in infamy is Christmas Eve, 1872, when a Buffalo, Corry and Pittsburgh train went off the trestle, causing the passenger car to fall 25 feet, crash and burn. Twenty lives were lost. Many descendants of the victims keep that dark day in mind even today.
Carl Belke, Chief Operating Officer of the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad, has commissioned the creation of a sculpture utilizing a wheel, ties and rail and has installed it at the site of the wreck near the Prospect Station trailhead in the Town of Portland, between Mayville and Brocton. A dedication and unveiling ceremony will take place on Sunday, October 22 at 2:00 p.m. There will be a short program. Parking is available at the Prospect Station trailhead, which is located at the intersection of Prospect Station, Fish and Barnes Roads. The address is 6830 Barnes Road, Westfield, NY. Refreshments will be provided, and the public—trail and train lovers alike—are invited to attend.
