| Founded | 1902, deceased ~1950 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Buffalo, NY |
| Service area | Urbanized areas of Erie and Niagara Counties, NY |
| Service type | Public Transit |
| Destinations | Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Lockport City, Tonawanda |
| Hubs | Shelton Square, Court & Main, Niagara Falls Terminal, Lockport Terminal |
| Fleet | Streetcar, Bus, Interurban |
| Operator | International Railway Company, International Bus Company, International Traction Company. |
The International Railway Company (IRC) was a transportation company formed in a 1902 merger between several Buffalo-area Interurban and street railways. The city railways that merged were the West Side Street Railway, the Crosstown Street Railway and the Buffalo Traction Company. The suburban railroads that merged included the Buffalo & Niagara Electric Street Railway, and its subsidiary the Buffalo, Lockport & Olcott Beach Railway; the Buffalo, Depew & Lancaster Railway; the Hamburg Railway; the Buffalo, Gardenville & Ebenezer Railway; the Buffalo, Hamburg & Aurora Railway; and the Niagara Falls Park & River Railway. Later the IRC acquired the Niagara Gorge Railroad (NGRR) as a subsidiary, sold in 1924 to the Niagara Falls Power Company. The NGRR also leased the Lewiston & Youngstown Frontier Railroad.
The IRC maintained streetcar networks in Buffalo, NY; Niagara Falls, NY; Niagara Falls, ON and Lockport, NY.[1]
Contents |
Besides the streetcars, the IRC network was well extended in Western New York. Lines radiated out of Buffalo, NY.
The ex. B&NF (Buffalo and Niagara Falls) line ran from Buffalo, through the Tonawandas and Wheatfield to Niagara Falls, ON. This line interchanged with the Niagara, St. Catharines & Toronto in Niagara Falls, ON, the Niagara Gorge Railroad in Niagara Falls, NY and the Buffalo & Lake Erie Traction in Buffalo. This line was later abandoned between Tonawanda and LaSalle in Niagara Falls, following the opening of Buffalo & Niagara Falls High Speed Line in 1918. The B&NF high speed line was abandoned in 1937.
The BL&OB (Buffalo, Lockport and Olcott Beach Railway) left the B&NF in North Tonawanda, NY on tracks leased from the Erie Railroad. This line went up to Lockport, where the Lockport streetcars were IRC. Also the IRC met the Buffalo, Lockport & Rochester here. The BL&R (Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester) ran to Rochester, NY. From Lockport, the line continued through the town of Newfane to Olcott, where the IRC maintained an amusement park. IRC trolleys met steamers from Rochester, Youngstown, Hamilton and Toronto in Olcott at the Olcott Beach docks. In 1937 the IRC abandoned the line North of Lockport, and ended passenger service south of Lockport. IRC returned operations of the line to the Erie Railroad in 1948. A portion of the BL&OB was reopened in 1983 as part of the Somerset Railroad.
The BD&L (Buffalo, Depew and Lancaster) interurban line ran from Buffalo, NY to Lancaster, NY. In Lancaster, NY a line branched off to Depew, creating a loop line. This line was abandoned in 1937.
The BG&E (Buffalo, Gardenville and Ebenezer) railway ran from Buffalo, NY to Ebenezer, NY. It was abandoned in 1937.
The BH&A (Buffalo, Hamburg and Aurora) Railway ran from Buffalo, NY to Orchard Park, NY. The original intention was to reach East Aurora, NY. East Aurora was never reached.
The Niagara Falls Park & River Railway opened in 1893. It ran from Chippawa, ON to Lewiston, NY. A connection was made across the international border at Niagara Falls with the B&NF. The NFP&R became part of the IRC in the 1902 merger. This line is best for when the Prince of Wales visited the line in 1927. This, with the Niagara Gorge Railroad from the Niagara Gorge Belt Line. The IRC and NGRR (Niagara Gorge Railroad) met in Niagara Falls, NY and Lewiston, NY. The Park & River line was abandoned in 1932, following the expiration of the lease of the right-of-way in Queen Victoria Park.
In 1937 the IRC discontinued all inter-urban rail service, and replaced much of it with buses. On July 1, 1950, the remaining streetcar lines in both Buffalo and Niagara Falls, NY ended, also replaced by buses. Within the same year, the Niagara Frontier Transit (NFT) took over all remaining IRC operations. In 1974 NFT and Grand Island Rapid Transportation, were merged into a public Corporation, named the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority (NFTA).
The NFTA opened the subsidiary light rail rapid transit line known as Metro Rail along Main St. in Buffalo, from the Lackawanna Terminal to the South Campus of UB. Much of this same route travelled the previous 8-Main streetcar line only 35 years earlier.
see Routes of City of Buffalo Streetcars for more information
Buffalo was the city where a majority of the streetcar service by the IRC was offered. They IRC also offered service in a number of other localities in Western New York and Southern Ontario.
After the first decade of the 1900s, the International Railway Company began assigning numbers to their services, in addition of the naming of the route according to the primary street(s) the car travelled on. Many of the route numbers assigned continued to most historical routes to this day. There appears to be no logical numbering scheme for the routes.
Routes with shortened or abbreviated names in parentheses are the original assignment to the route that it served. These services were slowly changed to the numerical format used by the IRC after being taken over from other companies.
Although the terminal point for the majority of west side streetcars, the streetcars that used Main Street clearly made the street live up to its name.
In addition to Shelton Square being the origination point for the Grant, Niagara, and Elmwood streetcar lines, there were also a number of routes that passed through Shelton Square to continue either south towards the docks and harbor, or north toward the northeast sections of the city. The Main streetcar shared trackage with the Parkside-Zoo (or Kenmore) streetcar, the Kensington street car, the West Utica and East Utica streetcars. During the busy weekday, four to five minute headways between cars on each line made was common to see streetcar after streetcar lining Main Street once departing Utica Street.
This practice carried into the mid-1980s, until the opening of the Metro Rail line.
| Car Line | Route Numbers | Began Service | Ended Service | Car Type | Terminals | Streets Travelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19th Street | ||||||
| Main Street | ||||||
| Pine Avenue | ||||||
| Buffalo Ave | ||||||
| Riverview | ||||||
| 11th Street | ||||||
| Sugar Street
(Hyde Park) |
The International Railway Company (IRC) utilized many of the vehicles from the companies it had absorbed at the early 1900s, and by 1910 found itself looking for replacement vehicles.
Two major car types became the backbone of the IRC's equipment force.
These streetcars were purchased from the J.G. Brill Company between the years of 1911-1913. The cars were created using the input of Mitten Management, a company that provided the management structure for the International Railway Company.
One notable feature this car was known for was the P.A.Y.E. (pay as you enter) entrance, marking the start of changing Buffalo area streetcars to operate with a one-person crew. With this style of entrance, the operator of the car was responsible for handling collection of fares in addition to his normal day-to-day operating of the streetcar.[2]
The Peter Witt streetcar, long known to be in many major cities with streetcars, were purchased between 1917 and 1919 to supplement the service being primarily offered with the earlier purchased Nearside car. These cars were built by Kulman Car Co. of Cleveland, Ohio. The Peter Witts were delivered on their own wheels and under their own power. This was done over a series of interurban railways' trackage that connected Cleveland with Buffalo.[2]
Two specific cars were available to those needing funeral cars. The Elmlawn and Greenwood were their names. Both burned in 1916, and were replaced with new cars of the same names - these were used until 1922, when they were converted to regular passenger use.
Limousine service had not quite become readily available when dignitaries came to visit the area, and the International Railway Company had cars specifically for that purpose.
The Ondiara car of the International Railway Company, and the Rapids car of the Niagara Gorge Railway were two cars that were used when the Prince of Wales visited the area September 10, 1927 during the dedication of the Peace Bridge (between Buffalo and Fort Erie).
In 1902, when the International Railway Company began absorbing many of the responsibilities of the Buffalo streetcar system, they dealt with a number of varied color schemes that existed with the past companies.[3]
Previously, you could look at many of the cars and immediately know the company that was operating the service.
Toward the end, many of the streetcars left in service were painted an orange color as the primary color, with a darker green accenting the car. This color scheme existed until the end of streetcar service in 1950, although the buses operated by the IRC at the end were painted a bright red color with silver and black accents.
To this day, there are many views from the past that are still visible in the Western New York Area linking its heritage to today's time.