DL&W (EL) thru PA - what was their main biz?

I understand that the DLW was financially better than most RRs in the 1970s but hurricane Agnes killed them in '72. Can I ask what was their main business after the anthrasite industry went bust in the 60s? They had no big online customers after the Chrysler plant closed. Were they merely a bridge carrier by the end? I know Scranton yard was always packed with cars in the early 70s.

I dare say that Hurricane Diane in 1955 may have even done the Lackawanna ever more damage to their side
of the system than maybe Agnes. I have read that there were some areas in the Poconos that were damn near
unrecognizable after it was all said and done.

You may be on to something about the DLW being basically a "bridge carrier" more or less after WWII and the
merger with the Erie, but I'll leave more qualified folks to answer that.

Charlie

By 1955-1960 most of the trains on the Lackawanna were carrying cars originated on other rail lines, so yes, it was bridge traffic. They were had a good relationship with the Nickel Plate. When the DL&W and Erie merged in 1960, the Nickel Plate started transitioning to the Lehigh Valley, the other trunk line that ran from a Buffalo terminus to the Hudson River. More miles on the Lehigh, but maybe better topography.

The DL&W past Binghamton and the Lehigh Valley past Waverly probably would not have been built without the coal business. In fact, they probably would not have been built at all to their 1920s standards as double tracked, heavy duty trunk lines.

Big power plant down on the NJ-PA border that while Conrail abandoned the DL&W main, they kept a branch in to reach a bit of track there to serve it and I believe it still gets coal.

The EL went through multiple operating scenarios but at the end had intended to use the east end of the DL&W as their main route into New York City; it had more online customers and had the cutoff and other sections where grades had been improved the Erie side didn't. But under Conrail, New York State paid for the Erie side to be rehabbed and kept, so that's what Conrail kept - or they probably would have abandoned all of it, or turned it into branch lines.

Conrail probably did not want to keep the former Erie main line from Port Jervis to Binghamton, but got pre-empted
by the NYSW which needed that line as a connection between their line north of Binghamton and their line from Warwick NY to Little Ferry, NJ.

I don't know if it has happened yet but the Portland power plant along the "old main" was to eliminate coal power. I don't know if coal trains still go there yet.

im not sure but the line to Elmira ran right next to Kennedy Valve (fire hydrant plant). That business is still around, tracks are still visible.. I grew up in Elmira

DLw ran in2 PA a short line with thru Wilawanna/South Waverly, Pa

CNJ Fan 4evr wrote:I don't know if it has happened yet but the Portland power plant along the "old main" was to eliminate coal power. I don't know if coal trains still go there yet.

Article in the trade press today said the station would end coal use by June, 2014.

I know they got a load a few weeks ago with Virginian heritage unit on train.

carajul wrote:I understand that the DLW was financially better than most RRs in the 1970s but hurricane Agnes killed them in '72. Can I ask what was their main business after the anthrasite industry went bust in the 60s? They had no big online customers after the Chrysler plant closed. Were they merely a bridge carrier by the end? I know Scranton yard was always packed with cars in the early 70s.

from my understanding it was fastest way to buffalo for passenger, more scenic, and maybe cheaper to travel. dlw was higher railroad yet not like the PRR or NYC. sad the railroad was overtaken by the erie in the merger.

s4ny wrote:Conrail probably did not want to keep the former Erie main line from Port Jervis to Binghamton, but got pre-empted
by the NYSW which needed that line as a connection between their line north of Binghamton and their line from Warwick NY to Little Ferry, NJ.

The decision was actually made before NYSW entered the picture. Conrail decided to rationalize the former EL in the late '70s. When they mentioned the possibility of removing the ex-Erie main east of Binghamton and west of Hornell, NY state intervened. Thanks to money offered by NYS to rehab the former Erie, CR chose instead to pull through traffic from the ex-DL&W main in 1979 and sold the Lackawanna main between Binghamton and Scranton to the D&H in 1980.

Missyg24 wrote: from my understanding it was fastest way to buffalo for passenger, more scenic, and maybe cheaper to travel. dlw was higher railroad yet not like the PRR or NYC. sad the railroad was overtaken by the erie in the merger.

Shortest route to Buffalo, not the fastest. And the train orginated or terminated in Hoboken not Manhattan.