The Erie Built It To Last Forever!
I hope my information on Northeastern Pennsylvania'a Erie's 'Wyoming Branch' (Lackawaxen to Inkerman - Pittston) was interestingly refreshing. Last week, after gleaning permission from Conrail and a number of landowners, my colleague, James Yarem and I proceeded to extract the last remaining whistle post marker from the entire 30 mile 'Wyoming Branch' line near River Street, South Scranton, PA. Unlike many of the 'W' stamped markers (for the novices, it meant that a grade crossing was 1000 feet away, and for the engineer to prepare to sound the steam whistle or air horn) used on the Lehigh Valley, Lackawanna, CNJ, and D&H, the Erie post was as grand, and overbuilt as the road itself. Now, for those who might think that collecting such actual railroad memorabilia is easy... think again. Listen to the specs of this thing. Many of the markers used today on Conrail, CSX, CP Rail, etc., are crafted from the same 'holed' steel rods which are used on highways to mount reflectors or route signs. They are mostly (post-1959) 9' high, made of green or black sprayed steel, contain bolt holes punched from bottom to top, and weigh about 10 lbs, less the small diamond or square of reflective fiberglass at the top on which is displayed the 'W'. The Erie used a poured course concrete post, (with a good percentage of non-shale type stone, also 9' high, 14" across, and 3" wide, with an inverted 'V' shaped top, sort of like the roof on a home. Now picture this simply constructed device. The 'W' was stamped into the not-yet-cured cement, with letters composed of Engravers Font; the 'W'- 8" tall from top to bottom. At one time it was rumored that some of these 'W's were painted but since most of the markers were bulldozed when partial track removal took place in April of 1981, (and the fact that it was be ridiculous to re-use a device as antiquated as this type) we haven't found evidence to support this. Only 6 feet was above ground, leaving 3' below soil line. One would think that digging through 3 feet of coal ash, and culm waste is an easy task, but when these concrete markers were set in place (we guess by rail crane, and a gang of at least 5 men), the hole or pit (more like it) around the sign was at least 4' square, laboriously filled by tediously placing crushed rock and old brick, one layer at a time, then placing a 4" layer of packed culm over it... more crushed rock, glass and whatever rip-rap could be found, continuously... right up to ground level... a total distance of 3'. After 77 years of remaining in the same spot, this process was like trying to dig through granite with a kitchen spoon! The first leg of the project began at 8:30 am and lasted well past noon, with only a 2 man operation; (we certainly underanticipated the actual weight of the slab, as there was an 8' x 12" x 2" piece of pig iron within the core of the post)! Having dug only the front portion of the sign out of its pit, we carefully 'backflipped' the marker away from the hole we dug, so instead of the post laying at an angle in the pit 'W' face down (and we'd still have to figure a way to pull it out of the trench) it carefully fell to the ground and lay flat on the terrain, 'W' side face 'up'. It was at this point that we could barely budge it an inch. Working with steel pry bars, and 2 x 4s, we made the building of the pyramids seem easy by comparison with what we brought to work with in the bed of our half-ton pick up. You must understand, however, that this sign was the only one we had ever seenm in absolute 'pristine' condition, for which a couple of factors came into play.
1. The sign was in a semi-remote location... there were some homes up a nearby embankment about a thousand feet away from the sign placement ruling out that this marker, unlike the other 26, would not be riddled with gunshot holes, as it was too close to a residential area for target practice.
2. The railbed originally contained 2 tracks at this location; the southbound, ripped out in 1981, but this sign stood virtually obscured by thick underbrush, laurel, and high vines, some of which clung to the lower quadrant of the post.
Knowing we had to finish the project A.S.A.P., as we had not only disturbed the locale, but also created an onstacle in the path of the many 4-wheelers which use the abandoned, tie-less southbound bed as a raceway. I contacted a nearby construction crew who were in the process of building a mini-market. The foreman told me he didn't have the 'belt' type of mover's hoists to pick up the object from each end (you couldn't use a hook like a tow-truck's for the sheer weight of the piece might snap it in sections). I then called a nearby sign-shop... I figured they must have equipment for raising massive overheads, and explained to a sheer disbelieving operations manager what I needed to do. Fortunately, there's a railfan in every business and this was no exception. The next morning was the best he could do, as they were using 2 hydraulic cranes to tackle a big 'Subaru' dealership sign display in the nearby town of Moosic that day. We found out the next afternnon, that some cranes have a spring-balance type of weight-measuring unit on its boom. The Erie whistle post clocked in at a whopping 1075 lbs! Talk about over-engineering! In retrospect, it was like 2 guys showing up to build a skyscraper with paper clips and masking tape. So you think you've moved some cumbersome objects. Erie items make me think about returning to 'model' railraoading!
Dale D. Mikolaczyk, P.E. 920 Foote Avenue Duryea, PA 18642-1612
Last Updated - 19 Dec 1997
