For
many years in an earlier day Railroading was almost as important as coal
mining in northeastern Pennsylvania. Many Railroads, now gone, passed through
many towns serving the coal mines and many businesses. I hope to provide
a good source of info and history on each Railroad in the area, so sit
back and enjoy! And like always, I'd like be glad to accept any info or
corrections you may have, even comments, send them to lv507@hotmail.com
or nefr@rrmail.com
The Past
The
Reading Railroad
In 1833 the Philadelphia
& Reading RR company was formed to haul coal on a 94 mile mainline
in the Anthracite region of pennsylvania. The Railroad eventually grew
to serve 3 states, Pa, NJ, and De. Hauling Coal, Iron, and commodities
to be sent by canal or sea to further destinations. By the 1870's the P&R
became the largest corporation in the world. The P&R eventually came
to be known as Reading Lines, but after W.W.II coal was no longer the major
source of fuel. The railroad was eventually brought down by the failure
of surrounding Railroads. In 1971 the Reading filed for bankruptcy and
it's operations were taken over by Conrail on April 1, 1976.
Further information
System
map
Pictures
by George Elwood
Illustrated
roster
And
Please visit this
site , for more in depth info and history on the Reading.
Source
of reading Railroad info, www.readingrailroad.org. Please visit their site
by clicking "this site" above.
Lehigh
Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley
RR operated a double tracked mainline stretching through three states.
The line began in New york city, headed toward Phillipsburg, NJ, through
the Lehigh Valley in Pa, and continued to Buffalo and Niagara Falls NY.
The LV began as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuykill and Susquehanna RR. The
DLSS changed its name to the Lehigh Valley on 1/7/1853. On 7/8/1864 the
LV merged with the Beaver Meadow RR, which became the oldest part of the
LV, organized on April 7, 1830. The LV became a powerful railroad, and
kept going through the depression until 1947 when revenues and tonnage
started dropping, the LV was dying. In the early 1960's the Penna. RR took
over the LV revenues, The fight to keep the LV alive was quickly coming
to an end. With the collapse of the Penn Central the LV filed for bankruptcy
protection and reorganization on 6/24/74. Then, on March 31, 1976, the
LV the Lehigh Valley saw its last day of operation, the day Conrail took
over.
Further information
System
maps
Photos
by George Elwood
Illustrated
Diesel
Roster - Steam
Roster
In
Depth history
LV
site
Source
of LV info from, "The Lehigh Valley Railroad, the New York Division" by
Mike Bednar
The
Central Railroad of New jersey
If it is CNJ
info you want, this isn't the place, BUT I know of a few great sites where
you can get it. Just go here
for lots of info.
Further information
System
Map- Wilkes-Barre
area - Hazleton-Reading
area
Photos
by George
Elwood
Illustrated
Diesel
Roster - Steam
Roster
CNJ
site
Today, Northeastern Pa has a whole new look as far as railroading goes. Since the Conrail take over in 1976 most of the old Railroads Disappeared. Today Conrail as well has been taken over, actually split apart by two railroads, Norfolk Southern getting PRR trackage and CSX getting NYC trackage. The Lehighton/Packerton area, once a major LV yard and shop area and CNJ crossover, has now turned into a small 4 or 5 track yard with a single track mainline, with nothing left of the shops except a one large building. The small yard serves as a Reading and Northern/NS interchange.
Reading,
Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad
The Reading &
Northern, as it is more commonly known as, started out as the Blue Mountain
& Reading railroad in 1983 on a 13 mile shortline connecting Temple,
Pa to Hamburg, Pa. In 1990 the R&N purchased 130 miles of trackage
from Conrail, known as the Reading Cluster. Conrail continued selling off
rail lines, the R&N expanded again in 1996 with 100 miles of former
LV trackage. The trackage extends from the Lehighton, Pa through Wilkes-Barre
and Scranton on to Wyoming county. The Lehigh Division serves as a shortcut
for the Canadian Pacific RR, using trackage rights to Philadelphia and
New York City. The R&N currently serves 75 customers.
Further information
System
Map
Photos
by George Elwood
Official
Site
Official
Roster
Illustrated
Roster
Source
of R&N info from the official website, and my own personal knowledge.
The Jim Thorpe area is also a very good railfan area, but be warned, it is a hot tourist spot, so summer and fall weekends can sometimes be pretty crazy. There is another small yard located here, handling traffic from the R&N. There is also some history here, cabooses in full paint from the LV, B&O, PRR, Southern, Erie Lackawanna, & more. Also sitting around are CNJ FA units (parts from the very first Santa fe CF7 were used to build them) plus Reading and CNJ RS3's, and an Amtrak, ex- ATSF CF7.
Pictures of some
of this equipment can be found here.
