Clarks Summit State Hospital

Though it is/was rather near to coal mines, thus reducing the need for rail access to its power plant, I was wondering if the State Hospital in Clarks Summit ever had rail service. The road leading to the power plant appears to be far better graded than most other roads in the area, and something about it sets off the railfan senses within me.

Perhaps a spur off of the Northern Electric interurban?

I do not have anything that would suggest a rail line to the state hospital. I looked at some historical Penn Pilot images and historical maps and nothing shows up.

Thank you, sir. Your site was, as usual, one of the first I consulted when seeking an answer to that question.

It's odd, though, in my opinion. Pretty much every state hospital I can think of in New Jersey and New York had rail service to bring in, among other things, coal. Perhaps the hospital's proximity to the coal fields made such a line unnecessary, but it would seem that in the days preceding good roads there would have been some sort of rail service.

I'll see if perhaps the hospital has archives of some sort to confirm or deny this little hunch.

When are we getting some updates over on your site?

I can see what you mean by looking at the road system in the area, plus the fact there was a power plant with the stack still intact on site. The Pennpilot images from the late 1930's would have been the best bet to prove the existence of a rail line but I didn't see one in the image. Perhaps the power plant wasn't large enough to need rail service?

As for my site, well its been a big problem. I lost out in the spring of exploring due to a knee injury, went through the surgery and re-hab. (and now sport a nice brace to boot) Got back in the saddle again a few weeks ago only to realize the hosting site is acting up and I can't add anything. I have sent countless emails and even called with no answer. After playing around I did manage to find a workaround for the problems and posted three new pages, and updated one with new pictures. (all posted in my "whats new" page) But I fear that given the problems that Piczo is going downhill fast and may shut down, this would mean all that is on the site would be lost forever. I have been investigating what to do about this behind the scenes and I pulled the trigger and decided to take the plunge and purchase my own domain and start over with a new hosting site.

How I am going to move everything over I have no idea and will probably take months to do, but its better then losing everything and that would be a loss to all who liked the site. In the meantime I saved a local copy of all my pages so I have something to refer to in case Piczo does shut down.

Mike

Wow. Sorry to hear that about the knee and the site. I've been a fan of your site for years now. I'll drop you a PM about some narrow gauge trackage I found in Scranton.

You're probably right about the aerial pictures providing proof (or lack thereof) of a rail spur. Following the road east from the power plant into Clarks Summit, something about the entire roadway makes me think "trolley" or "railroad". It's so nicely graded and with such gentle curves, too.

Perhaps the spur was something preceding the Lackawanna's rebuild of the line north of Scranton. Were it a spur that connected to the present path of the railroad, one would think some sort of ramp/grade would be visible as the road and the ROW are on such different levels.

Maybe I can stop taking my meds for a few days, check myself in, and ask someone at the facility if they know...