Elmira and Lake Ontario Railroad

The Chemung RR was the first to finish its line, from Horseheads, on the New York and Erie Railroad, to Watkins Glen (then known as Jefferson), on Seneca Lake, in 1850.

It was also 6 ft (1,829 mm) broad gauge, and was leased by the Canandaigua & Elmira RR, giving it access to the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge.

The Sodus Point and Southern Rail Road Company was incorporated on March 19, 1852, under the general law of New York State.

The Rochester, Hornellsville, and Pine Creek Railroad Company was incorporated in New York on March 30, 1872, to build from Olean east to Hornellsville; then south to the Pennsylvania state line to connect with the Jersey Shore, Pine Creek and State Line Railroad.

It was intended as another outlet for the RH&PC, to run from a connection at the state line through Potter and Tioga Counties to West Branch Township, Pennsylvania.

One of the backers of the Sodus Point & Southern RR was E. H. Harriman, who hoped to sell it to the Erie or the Northern Central.

It was sold at foreclosure on September 4, 1882, and reorganized as the Sodus Bay and Southern Railway Company on November 5, 1882.

were consolidated on December 31, 1886, to form the Elmira and Lake Ontario Railroad Company, a continuous line from the Erie interchange at Horseheads to Sodus Point, with a branch from Stanley to Canandaigua.

Parent Pennsylvania Railroad acquired control of the connecting Newark and Marion Railway on May 4, 1930, and merged it into the Elmira & Lake Ontario a year later.