Delaware-Lackawanna freight PT98 works at Cresco, Pennsylvania, on the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western main line. In the lead is a former Canadian Pacific M-630, painted in GVT’s corporate colors and lettered for D-L. Brian Solomon
Genesee Valley Transportation is a New York State–based railroad operator established in 1985. In its early years GVT initially functioned as a transportation logistics and railroad equipment–leasing company. In the late 1980s, as Conrail looked to shed surplus lines and secondary trackage, GVT developed into a railroad operator and bid for operation on potentially lucrative track segments. As a locally managed short line, GVT offered operating advantages not afforded by massive interstate Class 1 railroads. Unrestricted by complex labor arrangements, GVT was also in a better position to focus on small customers.
Delaware-Lackawanna freight PT98 works at Cresco, Pennsylvania, on the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western main line. In the lead is a former Canadian Pacific M-630, painted in GVT’s corporate colors and lettered for D-L. Brian Solomon
In 1989, GVT began its first railway operation on a short stretch of former Lackawanna main line in Buffalo that it called Depew, Lancaster & Western—a name that harkened back to the historic Delaware, Lackawanna & Western that merged with the Erie Railroad in 1960. Over the next seven years, GVT acquired operations on a variety of disconnected line segments and clusters, including Scranton, Pennsylvania–based Delaware-Lackawanna, and New York State operations such as the Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern. GVT’s most recent acquisition was the 45-mile Falls Road Railroad in 1996, which serves the former New York Central line between Lockport and Brockport and is named for the Central’s predecessor on that route.
GVT has largely operated its lines with a fleet of historic Alco diesels, ranging from 1950s-era RS-3s to large six-motor types, including those built by onetime Alco Canadian affiliate Montreal Locomotive Works. GVT is among the few railroads in the United States that remain dedicated to Alco-designed locomotives.
Depew, Lancaster & Western is one of several railroads to carry the GVT flag. Brian Solomon