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A Visit to Steamtown and Other Items 4/29/2023

Elizabeth and I arose at Best Western Carlisle and after our Internet duties, we checked out and I drove us to CVS for Elizabeth then we went to Walnut Bottom Diner where we both enjoyed an excellent breakfast. After that, we made our way east on Interstate 8 to our first station of the new day after we put petrol in the rental car.

Reading Railroad Tremont station built in 1924. We continued along the same road to Branch Dale.

Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad Branch Dale station, now a post office. Incorporated in 1828, the Mine Hill & Schuylkill Haven Railroad opened in 1831, with a line extending 13 miles from Mine Hill, Pennsylvania to nearby Schuylkill Haven. It was not until 1847, however, that steam engines replaced horses and mules as the means by which the line's cars were moved. By 1859, the railroad had expanded its lines and become one of the most important feeders of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, hauling more than a million tons of coal annually. The line was purchased by the Philadelphia and Reading in the 1930's. The next station was Minersville.

Reading Railroad Minersville station built in 1913.

Central of New Jersey 0-6-0 113 built by American Locomotive Company in 1923. It was sold in 1953 to Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Company 113 then became Philadelphia & Reading Corporation 113 in 1955. A year later, it was transferred to Reading Anthracite Coal Company 113 then in 1980, donated to Historic Red Clay Valley Incorporated then sold to R&R Railway in Minersville.

Central of New Jersey observation car 98 built by Harlan & Hollingsworth in 1914. The car was acquired by the Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern around October 1966. This car was not purchased by the railroad directly. Instead, four men from within the organization each chipped in $200 to cover the car's $800 purchase price. Motivation for the purchase was to provide the public with "something new" in 1967. Number 98 was moved to the south end of the back track behind the station. The back track or "museum track" was home to an collection of static displays and other attractions. This collection included 0-4-0 Cooke locomotive 3 at the north end of the track followed by LNE caboose 512, Atlantic City car 72, Baltimore and Ohio coach 4111 and then Central of New Jersey 98. The collection was called the Museum Train and was run by a separate non-profit organization called the Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern Rail Road and Historical Foundation. They planned to call 98 the "Mountain Queen" and had some grand restoration plans including a Royal Purple paint job. But the Foundation appears to have fizzled out with the railroad's closure at the end of 1968.

When the railroad came back in 1970, the Historical Foundation was gone and everything on the back track was repurposed. By 1973 car 98 was back in active service as an extra-fare or party/charter car. It was re-lettered for the Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern and named "The Golden Hawk". As early as 1976, the car was regularly chartered by the Horlacher Brewing Company of Allentown. The Golden Hawk lettering was covered over by a red rectangular paint patch with "The Horlacher Club" in yellow lettering. The design also included a yellow suit of clubs symbol and a yellow border around the red rectangle. The livery was topped off with gold platform railings and a purple and orange drumhead. The brewery hosted outings two Sundays a month with a keg on tap. Horlacher had been struggling financially and went out of business in 1978 still owing money to the railroad. The red and yellow Horlacher Club logo was covered with a black or olive paint patch and the car was never re-lettered.

The car was deteriorating by the 1980's but apparently there was one particular group that continued to hold their annual company picnic at the WK&S and would always charter "The Golden Hawk". That would have been the car's last stand at the WK&S. Throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s and into the new millennium, 98 was out of service and left as a victim of weather and vandals. starting in 2003 and continuing in 2004, it underwent a partial cosmetic restoration including some body patching, a new roof coating and a new coat of olive paint. In 2004 a deal was struck to send 98 to Minersville and it became part of the Railway Restoration Project 113. In exchange, the WK&S received a 1956 General Electric 65-ton center-cab 734. Number 98 finally left the property on January 3, 2007 and since arriving at Minersville, the car has been re-lettered for the CNJ.

As we were leaving Minersville, a caboose was spotted so we quickly changed course and parked.

Pennsylvania Railroad Class N5 caboose, number and builder unknown, which has been the Ice Cream Caboose since 2013. We then made our way to Pottsville.

Reading Railroad Pottsville station built in 1851. We turned to our west and found a large surprise.

Reading Blue Mountain and Northern RDC-3 9166, ex. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority 9166, exx. Reading Company 9166, nee Boston and Maine 6305 built by Budd Company in 1958.

I then drove us to Steamtown for my second visit and Elizabeth's first.

Delaware and Lackawanna and Western M630 3000, ex. General Electric Locomotive Leasing 706, exx. British Columbia Railway 706, nee Pacific Great Eastern 706 built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1970.

Delaware Lackawanna and Western M-636 3643, nee Canadian National 4743 built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1970.

Delaware Lackawanna and Western M630 3007, ex. General Electric Locomotive Leasing 707, exx. British Columbia Railway 707, nee Pacific Great Eastern 707 built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1970.

Steamtown National Historic Site is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located on 62.48 acres in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The museum is built around a working turntable and a roundhouse that are largely replications of the original Delaware, Lackawanna and Western facilities; the roundhouse, for example, was reconstructed from remnants of a 1932 structure. The site also features several original outbuildings dated between 1899 and 1902. All the buildings on the site are listed with the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Yard-Dickson Manufacturing Co. Site.

The original Steamtown USA was in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Much of the present-day collection of steam, as well as a few diesel locomotives, and the freight and passenger cars, were on display there. That unique collection of railroad equipment was assembled by the late and great Nelson Blount who died in an airplane crash in 1967 which cut off the main financial support for Steamtown USA. His collection was then moved in 1984 from Bellows Falls to Scranton. Blount's dream was to have a museum in a working railroad yard with steam excursion runs, plus a functional locomotive shop. That dream would be later realized at Steamtown.

Steamtown was established by an act of the United States Congress on October 30, 1986 and officially opened to the public in the summer of 1995. Congress established Steamtown to interpret the story on main line steam railroading between 1850 and 1950. Visitors can see museum exhibitions about the history and technology of steam locomotives in the United States as well as diesels, freight and passenger cars. Some locomotives are displayed out in the open so visitors can have a hands-on experience. There is a mail car, railroad business car, a box car, two cabooses and a recreated Delaware, Lackawanna and Western station with ticket office that visitors can walk through. There is a steam locomotive cutaway section which helps visitors understand how a steam engine works. Other exhibits include the history of early railroads, life on the railroad, the relationship between railroads in term of business, labor and the government and the history of the Lackawanna Railroad. There are short films shown throughout the day in the Steamtown Theater.

We would start with the engines in front and in the yard.

Reading Railroad 4-8-4 2124 built by Reading Shops in 1947. The first twenty T-1s were designed to haul freight, largely coal traffic, the last ten to haul passenger trains but, except for a few troop trains, mainly hauled freight. They worked until 1956 when all steam was retired on the Reading Railroad. The company kept only four steam locomotives: T-1s 2100, 2101, 2102 and 2124. In 1959, 2124 re-entered active service on the first of the "Iron Horse Rambles", also known as the "Reading Rambles", on 16th October, hauling sixteen passenger cars full of railfans from Wayne Junction to Shamokin. 2124 made a brief appearance in the opening scenes of the film "From the Terrace" with Joanne Woodward and Myrna Loy, shot at Jersey City, New Jersey. The Reading Company ran fifty-one "Iron Horse Rambles" excursions from 1959 to 1964, also utilising T-1s 2100 and 2102. The last excursion ran on 17th October 1964. However, 2124 was taken out of service after a trip in October 1961 and was then sold to F. Nelson Blount in 1962 and joined the Steamtown collection.

Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 4012 built by Lima in 1940. It was retired in February 1962 after logging 1,029,507 miles in service and was donated to Steamtown in 1964, when it was hauled to North Walpole, New Hampshire the collection's first site. In 1967, it relocated with the collection to Bellows Falls, Vermont and then in 1984 to Scranton. After ten years on display in front of the downtown Lackawanna Station Hotel, it was moved to the Steamtown yard.

Rahway Valley 2-8-0 15 built by Baldwin in 1916. The Rahway Valley was a New Jersey shortline that operated from 1897 until 1992. During the first few decades of the 20th century, it was one of the most successful shortline railroads in United States history. 15 joined three other Consolidations at the Rahway (12, 13 and 14) and worked until 1951. The Rahway bought its first diesel in 1951 and 15 worked relief when the diesel needed repair until 1953. F. Nelson Blount bought 15 in 1959, initially for display at the new Pleasure Island Park in Wakefield, Massachusetts. After moving to North Walpole, Massachusetts, Blount had the steam engine overhauled and put back into service on his tourist Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern Railroad. The locomotive steamed from 1962 to 1967 so reliably that it came to be called the "Faithful Fifteen". Taken out of service because its flue licence had expired, it returned briefly to service in 1973 but, after blowing a flue on another excursion, it was retired for good.

Canadian National 2-8-2 3377 built by Canadian Locomotive Company in 1919. Designed for freight service, 3377 underwent a number of modifications, including being fitted with a superheater, feedwater heater, mechanical stoker and large-capacity air pumps for the braking system, allowing it to haul long main line freight trains. 3377 was sold to F. Nelson Blount by Canadian National in 1961 and moved with the collection to Scranton in 1985.

Steamtown view.

Berlin Mills 2-4-2T 7 built by Vulcan Iron Works in 1911. Number 7 worked for Berlin Mills for thirty-three years but was eventually rendered obsolete as the company grew and acquired heavier motive power. The locomotive was sold to the Groveton Papers Company in nearby Groveton, New Hampshire, in 1944. Number 7 worked for another twelve years at Groveton until retired in 1956, when it was replaced with a second-hand 45 ton diesel switcher. The locomotive then went into storage until 1961 when it was leased to the Woodsville, Blackmount & Haverhill Railroad. The 7 operated for only one year on the excursion railroad between Woodsville and Blackmount, New Hampshire, and then sat idle until 1969, when the Groveton Papers Company donated it to Steamtown.

I walked up to the ticket both where the Ranger informed me the museum was free and gave me two National Park brochures, then we walked into the Steamtown Roundouse area.

Delaware Lackawanna and Western SC 428 built by Electro-Motive Coorparation in 1935. The two pre-SC models differ from the later production units in that the hood does not taper down to the cab. 426 is one of the first diesel-electric switchers built by the Electro-Motive Corporation; they were equipped with 8 cylinder Winton 201-A engines. Two pre-production SC units were built in 1935 and delivered to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western as 425 and 426.

New Haven Trap Rock Company 0-4-0T 43 built by Vulcan Iron Works in 1918 for C. W. Blakeslee & Sons of North Branford, Connecticut, later the New Haven Trap Rock Company. The company had five quarries in Connecticut at its height, quarrying a very hard basalt known as "trap" rock. Because of the regular vertical fracture planes and the tendency to fracture horizontally, the rock breaks into blocks reminiscent of stairs which gave rise to the name "trap", from the German "treppen", meaning "steps". 43 worked for the New Haven Trap Rock Company until 1956, when two GE diesel-electric switchers replaced steam on the run from the North Branford crusher to the Pine Orchard terminal. 43 continued to switch at the crusher and terminal until it was retired in 1959.

E.J. Lavino Steel Company (Poland Spring Water) 0-6-0T 3 built by American Locomotive Company in 1927 to haul boxes of bottled Poland Water from Ricker's Poland Spring plant to Danville, Maine for shipment, returning with passenger guests to a hotel at Poland Spring where they would enjoy the sanative qualities of the natural water, although it is not clear it ever worked in that capacity. At some time, 2 was sold to E. J. Lavino and Company, which operated a manganese blast furnace at Sheridan, Pennsylvania, to switch at the plant. It worked there as 3 until 1965, when it was donated to the Steamtown Foundation.

Grand Trunk Western 4-8-2 6039 built by Baldwin in 1925. Fitted with feedwater heaters, power reverse gear and automatic or mechanical stokers, they were the first locomotives on the GTW to feature both Vanderbilt tenders and enclosed, all-weather cabs. Although designed for passenger service, the Grand Trunk Western soon put them to work on fast freight trains. In the late 1950s, 6039 was leased to the Central Vermont Railway. It was bought by Blount in 1959 for $7,425.

Illinois Central 2-8-0 790 built by Alco (Cooke) in 1903. Designed to haul freight trains, 641 was probably better utilised by the Illinois Central than it would have been if it continued working in Chicago's Union Station transfer yard. 641 hauled freight in Tennessee for most of its life and was rebuilt in 1920 with a superheater and possibly replacement boiler and firebox. It was renumbered 790 in 1940 and remained on the Illinois Central roster until near the end of steam. In 1959, the steam engine was sold to Louis S. Keller of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who planned to use it on railfan excursions between Cedar Rapids and Manchester, Iowa, although the excursions never eventuated. In 1965, 790 was sold to David de Camp, who moved it to Lake Placid, New York, hoping to operate it there. However, it never steamed again and was sold to Blount in 1966. It is the only Chicago Union Transfer locomotive to have survived.

Lackawanna F3A 664 is really Central of New Jersey F3A 57 painted as Lackawanna and was built by Electro-Motive Division in 1947. All the units were subsequently renumbered 40-47.

Nickel Plate Road GP9 514, nee Norfolk and Western 2514, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1958.

Erie Lackawanna caboose C191 built by the railroad in 1945.

Delaware Lackawanna and Western two bay hopper car 81178 built by the railroad in 1910. It was purchased in 1992 from a Carbondale scrap and salvage firm.

Snag Chalfont & Company 0-6-0 8 built by Baldwin in 1923. It worked switching iron ore to the company's Etna blast furnaces, as well as pipes, tubing and steel sheeting to connections with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad. Some time in the 1950's, it was sold to Duquesne Slag Products in Pittsburgh where it hauled slag for concrete, ballast, road building materials, roofing and other industrial products. In 1963, it was sold to the Penn View Mountain tourist railroad in Blairsville but by 1975, it had become too worn out to operate. It was sold again and in the early 1990's, was donated to the Steamtown collection.

Delaware Lackawanna and Western box car 43651 built by the railroad in 1922. It was acquired by Norton Abrasive Company by the late 1950's and then sold to Railroad Museum of New England in 1980 or 1981. As part of an equipment exchange, Steamtown acquired the car in 1993, with delivery in 1995 and was restored by Steamtown in 1999.

Rutland Railroad caboose 28 built by the railroad in 1928. This caboose was assigned to runs between Rutland, Vermont and Ogdensburg, New York then later downgraded to bunk house use at Bellows Falls. It was donated by the railroad to Nelson Blount in Riverside, Vermont in 1961 and restored by Steamtown in 1995.

Lackawanna F7B 664 is originally Boston and Maine F7B 4268B built by Electro-Motive Division in 1950. It was acquired by the Anthracite Railroad Historical Society in 1991.

Grand Trunk Western 6039 again.

Lehigh Valley business car 353 built by Pullman in 1916. The all-steel, heavyweight car with a mahogany-painted interior represented the pinnacle of technology and luxury for its time. It was the equivalent of today's large corporate business jet. 353 traveled around the nation, entertaining the railroad's customers, friends and officers in a grand style. The car served at the personal convenience and the pleasure of the railroad's Chief Executive Officer for sixty years, until the Lehigh Valley was absorbed into Conrail in 1976. The car was never owned by any other railroad, which is quite unusual for a Business Car. Throughout those sixty years, the car received extraordinary care and was typically housed inside the company's Sayre, Pennsylvania facility when not in use.

The car was sold to Mr. Dick Horstmann in 1976 who operated it extensively and continued the quality care and maintenance the car had always received. Its most recent owner, DL&W Corporation, purchased the car in September 1996. The car was donated to the National Park Service collection by DLW Corporation in 2015.

The 1997 restoration returned the car to its steam-era appearance. Mr. Rob Mangels led the restoration effort and Ms. Michele Blair did the beautiful mahogany finish. The effort began in September 1996 and was completed in August 1997. The car received a full mechanical update and was qualified to run on Amtrak movements at speeds up to 100 miles per hour. It was one of the oldest cars moving on Amtrak.

LV 353 "Black Diamond" is the only remaining fully restored and operational piece of equipment from the Lehigh Valley Railroad, once a major Class 1 railroad that helped build industrial America and contributed significantly to the winning of two World Wars. To our knowledge it is also the only correctly restored and fully operational business car of any of the anthracite railroads.

Famous passengers included former President Richard Nixon, General Douglas MacArthur and numerous leading politicians and industrial leaders. Within its walls and under the gentle persuasion of superb cuisine, spirits and fine cigars, decisions were made that lead to the opening of new industries, large anthracite mines and coal breakers and other developments beneficial to the railroad. "The Black Diamond" stands as a tribute to the thousands of men and women who worked for the Lehigh Valley Railroad during its 130-year existence (1846-1976). Their collective efforts made a major contribution to the building of America into a modern industrial state.

Baldwin Locomotive Works 0-6-9 26 built by Baldwin in 1929. In 1948 it was sold to Jackson Iron & Steel Company 26 at Jackson, Ohio; they renumbered it 3. In 1979 it was sold to Jerry Jacobson who in 1983 moved it to Grand Rapids, Ohio then moved to Bellevue, Ohio the same year. In 1986, it was transfered to Steamtown Foundation at Scranton.

Canadian National 2-8-2 3254, nee Canadian Government Railways 2854, built by Canadian Locomotive Company in 1917.

Canadian Pacific 2317 built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1923. Outshopped in 1923, 2317 was the eighteenth G-3 built and seventh in the G-3-c subclass. Eight more were built to complete the fifteen G-3-c roster. 2317 retired in 1959 and was bought by F. Nelson Blount in 1965.

Delaware Lackawanna and Western 2-6-0 565 built by American Locotive Company in 1908. It worked for the Lackawanna for twenty-eight years and then in 1936, was sold to the Dansville & Mount Morris Railroad, a nine mile shortline operating between Dansville and Groveland, New York. It worked for the D&MM until 1961, at which time the company acquired a diesel, and the steam locomotive was sold to William Whitehead for the Black River & Western Railroad, a small tourist line operating between Ringoes and Flemington, New Jersey. It was acquired by the museum in 1985.

Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 759 built by Lima in 1944. In May 1958, 759 was the last steam locomotive the NKP overhauled and it was retired soon after. F. Nelson Blount bought 759 in 1962 for his collection in Bellows Falls. Ross Rowland, Jr., then carried out repairs and on 17th August 1968, it made several trial runs. Two weeks later, it began an excursion career that lasted until 1973. Briefly fired up at Steamtown in 1977, work was to begin on reflueing, but sponsorship fell through and the locomotive has stood cold ever since.

Grand Trunk Westeren 6039 once again.

A miniature train of Phoebe Snow Lackawanna 760 from Nay Aug Park in Scranton.

Erie Railroad business car 3, ex. Nickel Plate 2 1929, nee Nickel Plate business car 27 built by Pullman in 1923. It contains two staterooms, two bedrooms, crew quarters, galley, dining room and observation end. Stationed in Jersey City, it was assigned to the assistant vice-president and general manger of the Erie Railroad’'s Eastern District. When consolidation of passenger operations with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad occurred in 1956, the car moved to Hoboken.

Louisville and Nashville Railway Post Office car 1100 built by America Car and Foundry in 1914.

Long Island Railroad rotary snowplough 193 built in 1898 and for sixty-nine years until its retirement in 1967.

Nickel Plate Road GP9 514 once again.

Delaware Lackawanna and Western caboose 889, later Conrail 19905 built by the railroad in 1952. It was donated to Steamtown by the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1990.

Altantic Coast Line SW-1 26 built by Electro Motive Company in 1939 now painted as Leigh Valley 1901. It was first tested on the Atlantic Coast Line before being sold to Richmond Terminal. It was originally numbered 26 and more recently, was used on the Towanda Monroeton Shippers Lifeline, where it was painted in a Lehigh Valley color scheme, before ending up at Steamtown in Scranton in late 2014.

Central of New Jersey coach 1006 built by American Car and Foundry in 1923.

Rutland flat car 2777 built by American Car and Foundry in 1910.

>Delaware Lackawanna and Western SW8 500, ex. Norfolk and Western 3132, nee Wabash 132 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1953. An interesting feature is that the trucks still had plain journal bearings rather than the more typical roller bearing installation.

Steantown scene.

Reading Company FP7A 903 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1950. It later worked for the South East Pennsylvania Transporation Authority as 4373 until its retirement in 1981. In 1983, it was bought by the Philadelphia Chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historial Society and displayed at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Restoration began in 1986 completed nine years later. It is now owned by the Reading Company Technical and Historical Society but on loan to Steamtown since 2010 to be used on excursion services in exchange for maintenance.

Meadow River Lumber Shay 1 built by Lima Locomotive Works in 1910 to work Sewell Valley Railroad's twenty miles of track from an interchange with the Chesapeake & Ohio at Meadow Creek, West Virginia to the site of the Meadow River Lumber Company's new mill at the mouth of Sewell Creek. The Sewell Valley Railroad was a subsidiary of the lumber company, and 1 was the first locomotive it purchased. It was sold to F. Nelson Blount in 1959 and is the only geared locomotive in the collection.

A locomotive being worked on.

Lehigh Valley box car 8221 built by Penn Central in 1969.

Lackawanna F3A 663.

Central Railroad of New Jersey 150 ton crane 5 built by Bucyrus in 1918 with Central Railroad of New Jersey idler car 92082.

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western postal storage car 2054 built by Pressed Steel Car Company in 1925. An all steel car, it originally carried express shipments on passenger trains and was later assigned as a postal storage car carrying bulk mail. In 1965 the Erie Lackawanna repainted and renumbered the car 457. About 1969-1970, it was reduced to maintenance-of-way service and renumbered 49011; the same number used by Conrail after the 1976 take over. Steamtown Foundation purchased car from Conrail in 1987.

Pennsylvania Railroad box car 105808 built as a wooden boxcar in December 1919, original number not known. It was part of a group of wooden boxcars rebuilt into exterior steel cars in the Pennsylvania Railroad Shops between 1945-1950. After the rebuild, it was given the number 105808. In 1964, it was rebuilt a second time by Morrison Railway Supply and purchased from that company by the Vermont Railway, who renumbered it VTR 503. The boxcar was acquired by Nelson Blount when the Vermont Railway purchased larger boxcars. It was painted and lettered to PRR usage in 1991 and repainted in 1999.

Steamtown scene.

Brooks Scanlon 2-6-2 1 built by Baldwin in 1916 for the Carpenter-O'Brien Lumber Company to work at the company's Eastport, Florida, saw mill. Carpenter-O'Brien was one of the many concerns milling the extensive native pine stands in the South at the turn of the 20th Century, and even owned a ship, the S.S. "William J. O'Brien", which hauled two million board feet of lumber per trip to its yard on Staten Island. In 1917, the Florida mill and timber holdings were sold to the Brooks-Scanlon Corporation.

The Brooks-Scanlon Corporation started out in 1896 operating saw mills in Minnesota. In 1910, when the lumber stands were exhausted there, the company moved to Oregon where it had purchased two large tracts of Ponderosa pine in 1905. At that time, it also bought stands of timber in Louisiana. By 1917, however, it was apparent that the Louisiana plant would eventually run out of timber, which finally happened in 1923. So, the company bought out Carpenter-O'Brien's Eastport mill and, in the process, acquired 1.

It is not known if this steam engine was used to haul logs to the mill from the woods, to switch in the Eastport yard or both but, in 1929, the mill was closed. At some point, ownership of 1 then passed to either the Lee Cypress Company or, still later, to the Lee Tidewater Cypress Company, switching at a mill in Perry, Florida. In 1962, the company was dissolved, probably because the lumber had been completely milled out and its five surviving locomotives, including 1, were sold to F. Nelson Blount. 1 never steamed again.

Green Mountain 40 foot box car 381 built by the railroad.

Green Mountain 40 foot box car 306 built by the railroad. This completes our coverage of Steamtown. Elizabeth and I drove out of the parking lot but I remembered the station across Lackawanna Boulevard.

Central Railroad of New Jersey and New York Ontorio and Western freight station built in 1881 and was the western terminus of the Central Railroad of New Jersey line, 192 miles from its base of operations in Jersey City, New Jersey. Built in a Romanesque Revival style, it was at first an unusual instance of a freight terminal being more visually striking than its corresponding passenger terminal. The station was a site for trains from the south, from Allentown via Wilkes-Barre and Jim Thorpe. Through trains (such as the Philadelphia Flyer (Scranton-Allentown-Philadelphia) and the Scranton Flyer, making the northbound trip, or connections were available at Allentown for Jersey City and Philadelphia. When the railroad shut down its Pennsylvania operations in 1972, during bankruptcy proceedings, the terminal was closed by the Lehigh Valley Railroad, which took it over, and has remained unused since that time. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Bridge 60 interlocking tower in Scranton. Next I drove us to Wilkes-Barre and soon we found their station.

The old Central Railroad of New Jersey signal.

Central Railroad of New Jersey Wilkes-Barre station built in 1869 for the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad. In 1871, it came under control of the Central Railroad of New Jersey and became well-known for its passenger trains. In 1882, the first parlor cars were run from Wilkes-Barre to Philadelphia, and the finest luxurious Pullman cars were also run between Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and New York. Passenger service ceased in 1963 and the station closed in 1972. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Throughout the 1980's, 1990's and early 2000's, the renovated train station - then called The Station and Market Street Square – was a popular nightclub, restaurant and hotel. It sat empty for approximately 15 years and was renovated again in 2021 to become the current bureau of Visit Luzerne County.

From here we checked into the Quality Inn then walked over to Perkin's for dinner then returned to the room for the night.

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