The New York, Ontario and Western Railway

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 ...