The New York, Ontario and Western Railway was the first class-one

railroad in the United States to be abandoned in its entirety. Whereas

other rail lines were closed gradually, the federal government closed down

the railroad on March 29, 1957, for its failure to pay employee withholding

taxes. The railroad went into bankruptcy in 1937 after its main shipping

commodity, coal, was rapidly replaced by oil for home heat. As time passed,

the interest in this abandoned railroad grew, and much of the company’s

records have been recovered and preserved. Today, with 750 members, the

Ontario and Western Railway Historical Society Archives Center houses

this unique corporate record collection. In addition, there are extensive

private collections of everything from locomotives, passenger cars, lanterns,

and tools to company passes and railroad police memorabilia.

Joe Bux has had a lifelong interest in trains. He joined the Ontario and

Western Railway Historical Society in 1970, became its first archivist,

and acquired and catalogued much of the society’s present collection. He

has served as the society’s chairman of the board of trustees for the last

10 years.