Dowling & Kennedy were railroad contractors. The partnership of Dowling & Kennedy and its predecessor, Reynolds, Dowling & Company, were typical of the many small firms that subcontracted to grade sections of railroad rights of way for large general contractors. Reynolds, Dowling & Company worked for Smith & Ripley in grading four sections of the Easton & Amboy Railroad from 1872 to 1875 and on the New York & New England Railroad near Danbury, Connecticut, from 1879 to 1881. Dowling & Kennedy did similar work on the New York, Lackawanna & Western Railway (Delaware, Lackawanna & Western system) between Binghamton and Buffalo, New York, from 1880 to 1882, and worked on the DL&W tunnel between Factoryville and Nicholson, Pennsylvania, from 1882 to 1883, also filling in trestles on the DL&W near Buffalo, New York, from 1884 to 1886.