Dubbed the "Chautauqua Lake Route", the single track electrified JW&NW railroad provided passenger service and freight shipments between the furniture manufacturing city of Jamestown and the Lake Erie town of Westfield where it connected with the New York Central Railroad at the NYC depot. This passenger and freight exchange with the New York Central was the JW&NW's economy. As road and car use increased and drew down passenger ridership, and as furniture manufacturing in Jamestown diminished, the economic base of the JW&NW declined. It abandoned in 1950. Passenger and freight business for the line was at its greatest in the 1920s.
Route and rail operations
Route
From Jamestown, the route traveled west along the north side of Chautauqua Lake with stops at Greenhurst, Bemus Point, Dewittville, and Mayville. After crossing the Pennsylvania Railroad's Chautauqua Branch at Mayville, the line climbed a steep grade through low hills, passed through scenic "Hogsback Ravine" at the grade's summit, then dropped along a curvy route to Westfield. At Westfield, it passed under the Nickel Plate Railroad then turned sharply east adjacent to the New York Central Railroad to arrive at their combined depot.
Schedule
A JW&NW schedule from 1941 shows six daily trips 6am to 9pm, each way, operating three hours apart, to meet NYC passenger trains that stopped at Westfield. The trip to Jamestown took one hour. The JW&NW and the NYC interchanged considerable carload freight as well as passengers.
Passenger equipment
The JW&NW operated bright red heavy steel passenger interurban cars and General Electric and Westinghpuse electric freight motors capable of pulling two to three freight cars up to Hogsback summit. The NYC would set freight cars on the Westfield interchange tracks to be taken to Jamestown by the JW&NW. The JW&NW would bring cars for the NYC to pick up. Wood and other materials necessary for furniture manufacturing went to Jamestown. Finished furniture moved to Westfield to be picked up by the New York Central.
Other freight interchange
At Mayville, the JW&NW crossed a branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad where interchange tracks allowed PRR lumber and coal setouts to route to Jamestown. The JW&NW dispatcher and tower were at this junction. PRR and JW&NW crossing control and signaling to prevent collisions was the responsibility of the JW&NW. Dispatching orders for the conductors on board the interurban coaches was by written train order, and the interurbans stopped here to pick them up. In a 1941 ad, the line offered two-day LCL shipping to New York City from Jamestown, and three days to Chicago.
Operation
The grade from Westfield south into the hills heading toward Jamestown was very scenic, particularly where it passed through Hogsback Ravine. The grade was steep, and the interurban cars worked hard on the climb, particularly the electric powered freights. The 32-mile JW&NW represented classic small town-to-rural electric interurban operation similar to interurbans lines all over the 1920s United States. The large red coaches lumbering by at grade crossings was a familiar one for years at Chautauqua valley villages. Most interurban lines were abandoned during the 1930s due to increased car ownership and improving highways plus due to the financial impact of the Great Depression. The JW&NW's passenger survival to 1947 and its freight survival to 1950 was due to its freight transfer with the New York Central for the many Jamestown factories.
Decline and abandonment
After passenger abandonment in 1947, the JW&NW continued freight operation with diesels, but gradually freight business declined along with Jamestown's industrial activity which for years had been primarily the manufacture of furniture. Shipping business also was lost to trucks. Total abandonment occurred in 1950.
Also see
1) Video of JW&NW freight and express transfers at the NYC station at Westfield: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_TBiX-VcVA 2) Video of JW&NW operating between Jamestown and Westfield: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG_Jp7egB88
