Holy cow, I'm alive!
A long time ago, I walked the whole junction. There was perhaps a half mile of track that remained from the hill that curved up towards Gowanda down towards Falconer. There was a crossover to get to the "normal" main. From that curve, and about where the remnants of the tower stood, back to under the main road there, was no rail. Here and there was a rail kicked over in true Conrail style.
There was a road completely covered as Chris said.
The washout I saw, and this is now maybe 10 years ago, was a serious one that would require time, money, and DEC approval. You choose which would be harder to get at this point. Rails were dangling in the air over the creek; I'm sure it's worse now. It has to be.
If it were truly important to get to Gowanda, I wonder if it would make more sense to try to reactivate the Cattaraugus portion of the line out of Salamanca...though there's a washout there somewhere, too.
In my completely non-justifiable railfan mind, getting to Buffalo would be a nice connection. I continue to think that redundant lines are not as useless as one might think, and one more way into and out of Buffalo wouldn't be bad. Now, from a business perspective, why? The only thought I have is for a CSX connection for the WNYP. There isn't one thus far. Note that the BSOR is affected by CP-DRAW just like everyone else out of Buffalo; also bordering on a decade ago, when I "fanned" the BSOR, I followed them into Blasdell and was offered to ride to the interchange, but there was no telling how that might go, and I was told sometimes they outlawed up there. Married at the time, I decided to say no and come back. I eventually got divorced, so I should have went, but I digress.
So, the pros that I know of include CSX. Cons? No one has mentioned the gigantic hill in and out of Gowanda. From my limited interaction years back, Pat and the BSOR are a class act and are no doubt doing fine. I simply don't know if the traffic or economics exist to get the line active, but I do know that a long time ago, a failed idea/plan existed to use that very line to connect to Meadville and points south. The people currently involved are no dummies, and so they're likely ten steps ahead. The question isn't "do they know something I don't?" It should be "how much don't I know?"
Dave Becker