Lackawanna Cutoff Passenger Service Restoration

Might as well call it the Andover Branch for the time being.

I was out photographing the evening rush in Ho Ho Kus and noticed an ad on a bi level car for the Poconos! true story!

Tommy Meehan wrote: This week is supposed to be the week Mayor Chris Doherty of Scranton reduces all 400 city employees to minimum wage because the City of Scranton is going broke. You think the Cutoff is a big priority with him right now?

Pennsylvania has been sold to the oil & gas industry and the price tag for that is clearly public benefit and civil service shortages. It will be a very long time before this route reaches scranton sad to say.

25Hz wrote:

Tommy Meehan wrote: This week is supposed to be the week Mayor Chris Doherty of Scranton reduces all 400 city employees to minimum wage because the City of Scranton is going broke. You think the Cutoff is a big priority with him right now?

I bet it's gonna be a big topic on The Office..

northjerseybuff wrote:Tommy-Thats not how it works though. Politicians pledged to try and get funds for this project included in the bill. It has nothing to do with tax revenues and a good economy. If that were true, it would have been built 10 years ago. And if they were smart, they would plan to have it in place for when the economy improves. Freight railroads do this! They use the slowdown to improve infrastructure. One mistake I made while researching..NJ was not requesting the funds..it was Penn. I need to check my Penn sources

If the politicians were smart they would have barred Conrail from tearing up the branch in the first place. The government certainly had the power to do just that, and who wouldn't have had the hindsight to see that the Lackawanna Cutoff might have some future merit as a vital gateway between PA/NJ/NY.

DL&W built it for a reason, and with both freight and passenger rail surging, it could be useful to have in service. I think though that it will make it to scranton too late to take full advantage of any strong economic recovery.

In PA the biggest concern in my opinion would be the delaware viaduct. Is there any assessment on the condition of the bridge?

25Hz wrote:DL&W built it for a reason, and with both freight and passenger rail surging, it could be useful to have in service.

The Canadian lines in particular would hugely benefit from a New York Harbor gateway. Were my name Hunter Harrison, I'd be striking up a conversation with a certain large-and-in-charge governor - "Maybe you convince NJT to drop its 'no freight' restriction on the Cutoff, maybe we chuck some money towards this line's extension to Phillipsburg? Maybe your state gets beaucoup new jobs, maybe the PANYNJ gets a third major carrier out of New York Harbor, and maybe this big public-private partnership feather in your cap earns you that spot on the Big Ticket?" His space cadet counterpart next door would certainly concur, and the Thoroughbred could be convinced to trot along with the proper application of money and ownership (I'm thinking a joint venture owned by the two states and the two railroads, and funded by those four with a healthy influx of Feddybux.)

Anyway, food for thought, despite the unfavorable grade outside Paterson (thanks for nothing, E-L and I-80.)

you drop the freight restriction on cutoff, and NIMBY's will make sure you never see any rail expansion or service, not even passenger.

DutchRailnut wrote:you drop the freight restriction on cutoff, and NIMBY's will make sure you never see any rail expansion or service, not even passenger.

What NIMBYs do you speak of?

There's not too many backyards abutting the Lackawanna Cutoff.

Btw, I heard a while back from someone whose company DID want to buy the Cutoff when Conrail wanted out back in the 1980s. I think they wanted to run intermodal and locate a yard near Port Morris (because it had good highway connections). Conrail, however, WOULD NOT sell. The other road appealed to Pennsylvania but got nowhere.

Yet I don't necessarily think we'd be any closer to passenger service if another railroad had been allowed to pick up the route. Think about it. Maybe that would have made it MORE difficult.

amtrakowitz wrote:

DutchRailnut wrote:you drop the freight restriction on cutoff, and NIMBY's will make sure you never see any rail expansion or service, not even passenger.

What NIMBYs do you speak of?

dont argue with dutch, he's never ever wrong about anything ever

Who is arguing ?? it seems you are only one trying to start a argument here Steve F45 , meaning with your statement.

im just warning that poster thats all.

amtrakowitz wrote:

DutchRailnut wrote:you drop the freight restriction on cutoff, and NIMBY's will make sure you never see any rail expansion or service, not even passenger.

What NIMBYs do you speak of?

So you're saying the cutoff has no one living near it being opposed to it?

I can see people along the Montclair-Boonton being opposed, if that's what Dutch meant. "HAZMAT?? THROUGH OUR TOWN?!?!?" Whatever the case, there's not much of a window for a freight company to weasel its way into the Cutoff, but such might happen in an election year and a lingering recession .