Swain, New York

The village of Swain was known as a 19th-century railroad junction and today is the site of a small ski resort.

The Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad (PS&N) operated between the coal mines of northern Pennsylvania and the Southern Tier and once included the old "Swains Branch" that ran from Nunda to Swain around the turn of the 20th century.

The Rochester, Nunda and Pennsylvania Railroad was a 3-foot narrow gauge railway that connected the towns of Nunda and Swain with the Rochester, New York and Pennsylvania Railroad at Nunda Junction to the north and with the Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad at Swain to the southeast. The route originally paralleled the Genesee Valley Canal to Mount Morris, but that portion was abandoned in 1881 in favor of a connection with the RNY&P at Nunda Junction. Later that year, the RN&P was consolidated into the RNY&P, and the railroad was leased to the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railway the following year, eventually coming under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The segment of the line between Nunda and Swains was abandoned in 1910. The line north from Nunda to Nunda Junction was abandoned in 1963.

Read a short history of Swain

FLT Map M8