Eastern Railroad Discussion > Genesee& Wyoming ?

G&W, Genesee& Wyoming.. does anyone know where the name came from?
I just found out......
Alan

regional rail in the Scranton-Elmira area. The Fuller family was the original owner group

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/15 17:41 by Lackawanna484.

My first encounter was the company as it hauled road salt mined in the vicinity of Retsof in New York State.
In those days there no GM products on the property, all ALCO and even then the company colour, was a
form of faded orange.  For obvious reasons the road was nicknamed the Gee Whiz.

Genesee River - Wyoming County, NY

edm Wrote:
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> Genesee River - Wyoming County, NY


We have a weiner, that and or Genesee County & Wyoming County.

OK I'm done

That name "Wyoming" throws a lot of westerners. In addition to being a county in western NY it's also a county in northeastern PA (Tunkhannock Viaduct is in Wyoming County PA). 

I've forgotten the exact etymology, but it means something really common in one of the Native American language groups.  

march_hare Wrote:
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> That name "Wyoming" throws a lot of westerners. In
> addition to being a county in western NY it's also
> a county in northeastern PA (Tunkhannock Viaduct
> is in Wyoming County PA). 
>
> I've forgotten the exact etymology, but it means
> something really common in one of the Native
> American language groups.  

It also features in the alleged "Negro background" of President Warren Harding. The Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania was a mixing bowl for people of many backgrounds. Revolutionary war massacres, etc.

The book "In the  Shadow of Blooming Grove" is the definitive background, and the recent DNA results are the current authority.

I had to learn about the history of the company as part of my training, and it was indeed started out hauling salt. Very interesting history.

march_hare Wrote:
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> I've forgotten the exact etymology, but it means
> something really common in one of the Native
> American language groups.  

I remember hearing it was originally a Delaware indian word meaning a place of alternating mountains and valleys.

Ray

RCPE_Hogger Wrote:
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> I had to learn about the history of the company as
> part of my training, and it was indeed started out
> hauling salt. Very interesting history.

Yes and the original G&W line is still active and still hauling salt, although from a new source on a remnant of the DL&W as the original salt mine collapsed and is no longer active.

Tim

njmidland Wrote:
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> Yes and the original G&W line is still active and
> still hauling salt, although from a new source on
> a remnant of the DL&W as the original salt mine
> collapsed and is no longer active.

More detail about that here: http://ny.water.usgs.gov/pubs/fs/fs01798/FS017-98.pdf

A quick Wikipedia search shows 19 towns and counties in the US named Wyoming, plus one in Canada and one in (!!) Australia. Many are in flat places so the etymology remains mysterious to me. 

The original G and W remains very much alive, generates a trainload of rock salt daily. Very little is purified for consumption--mostly applied to roads in the wintertime.

There are other salt producers in the central and western parts of NY, but most of them use solution mining. The mine at Resof ( which is the founder Mr Foster's name spelled backwards) was a room and pillar operation on a massive scale. Prior to the collapse in the early 1990 s, the salt was being hauled as much as 7 miles underground before it got to the mine shaft that brought it to the surface. 

Now, since we have determoned where the name comes from, the next question is, does anybody know why our locomotives are patined in orange and black?

JOHNY5ALIVE Wrote:
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> Now, since we have determoned where the name comes
> from, the next question is, does anybody know why
> our locomotives are patined in orange and black?

It was the scheme the original GNWR used. This current variation was introduced in 1980 with the delivery of a couple MP15s.

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But that doesn't answer the question. The locomotive colors are the Princeton University colors. The Fullers all attended Princeton and most of the current senior leadership are Priceton alumni

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