The Railroads That Built the Finger Lakes: From Fallen Flags to Modern Short Lines

The Finger Lakes region of New York, once dominated by major railroads like the New York Central, now thrives through modern short line railroads that preserve its rich transportation legacy.

Named after a group of inland lakes that populate the region in New York State, the Finger Lakes is home to a wide variety of agricultural, commercial, and industrial businesses. Serving those businesses are a group of short line railroads utilizing the tracks built by their fallen flag predecessors who helped make the Finger Lakes what it is today.

For decades, railroads like the New York Central and Lehigh Valley hustled passengers and freight to and from the region, dominating the Finger Lakes railroad scene. However, this would all change in the 1970s.

Between the formation of Amtrak, the increasing popularity of transportation through airplanes, automobiles, buses, and trucks, increasing labor costs, declining industrial business, and the resulting formation of Conrail, the golden age of the railroads ended.
At the same time, however, a new era was ushered in with today’s modern short line railroads leading the way.

These are the stories of the railroads that built the Finger Lakes.