Jim grew up near train tracks. “I was fascinated with anything that had to do with trains. When we lived on Liberty Drive off Taylor Road, I could watch trains come and go from our family room.”

ECRT relied on Board member and volunteer Jim Slominski for his deep knowledge and dedication to preserving railroad history. As a trustee of the Western New York Railroad Historical Society and chair of the Orchard Park Depot Committee, Jim became involved with ECRT due to a primary interest in preserving the integrity of the former Buffalo-Pittsburg Railroad right-of-way.

After joining the ECRT Board of Directors in 2012, Jim was pleased with the trail’s noticeable, significant progress in recent years, especially to see the newly completed section open up in June 2023, connecting the trail to the depot. “It will have an enormous, positive effect on the Village,” Jim declared then. “You’ll see people using the trail on a regular basis to come to the Village to visit the library, to shop or to attend events. I predict we’ll see a lot more interest in and activity around depot which, of course, we welcome!”

Jim certainly will be remembered as a generous, supportive ECRT Board member and central figure with the WNYRHS. He was instrumental in getting the OP Depot renovated and opening it up to community groups, especially to ECRT.  He was instrumental in getting the OP Depot renovated and opening it up to community groups, and greatly aided in the completion of the OP Village trail.  Jim quietly made good things happen.

Jim’s quiet presence and steadfast support will be greatly missed by everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him - at the Depot, on the trail and at ECRT events.

https://www.lombardofuneralhome.com/tributes/James-Slominski