Here's my second and final part. We move up the E&N Branch to:
Kepler's, Milepost 5.5
Nothing noted.
Walter's Lower Mill, Milepost 6.1
Nothing noted.
Coilton, Milepost 6.5
Nothing noted.
Zuckerville, Milepost 7.3
Nothing noted.
Newlin's, Milepost 8.3
Nothing noted.
Hobson's, Milepost 8.8
Nothing noted.
Tatamy, Milepost 9.1
There's a shot of the station in Greenburg's & Fischer's “The Lehigh Valley Railroad East of Mauch Chunk” on page 55.
Northampton Farm Bureau shows 35 cars (1971) and 54 (1972). They are still in business today. Their website lists that they sell, “lawn and garden supplies, pet supplies, lawn equipment and service, general hardware, home delivery of petroleum products, as well as a variety of farm services and products for our thriving local agricultural community including bulk fertilizers and lime.” What did they ship and receive? I can assume the received their “bulk fertilizers and lime” via rail, but what about any other products? I doubt they shipped anything out by rail.
Equipto shows shows 38 cars (1971) and 29 (1972). They are in business today producing, according to their website, industrial shelving and racks, modular drawer cabinets, mobile aisle systems, mezzanine, workcenters, and cabinets and carts. Caterpillar, Boeing, Mikasa, The Gap, Mt. Sinai-Chicago, and DuPont Medical Systems call themselves clients. This plant was built in the early 1970s to aid in the production to their original plant in Aurora, Illinois. They consolidated their U.S. operations to Tatamy in the 1990s. Did they receive steel products by rail? Did they ship out the industrial shelving by rail?
L&NE Junction, Milepost 9.8
The only years they have listed are 1971 (562) and 1972 (557), which is after the L&NE Railroad closed its doors, so this would actually be the interchange with the L&NE Railway, or the CNJ. I'd love to know what the carloads were back in the day.
Stockerton, Milepost 10.1
There's a shot of the station in Greenburg's & Fischer's “The Lehigh Valley Railroad East of Mauch Chunk” on page 55.
Hercules Cement shows 1,849 (1969); 1,086 (1970); 562 (1971); and 664 (1972). This was also serviced by the L&NE (and then the CNJ). They made Portland cement. Did it receive limestone, ash, slag, sand, and other materials to produce the cement? How about inbound coal and coke? From my understanding, cement went out by rail until Pennsylvania laws changed and then almost all of the outbound traffic went by truck.
Chemtron Chemical shows 44 cars (1971) and 53 (1972). It's still there, but it's now owned by PMC Polymers. Currently, this company produces flame-retardant compounds and concentrates; antistatic masterbatches; ignition resistant polyolefins and polystyrenes; and stablizer masterbatches. I do believe this is the last customer still standing on the small portion of the E&N Branch in Stockerton that dates back to the LV days. What did they ship & receive?
People's Coal & Supply shows 21 cars (1971) and 21 (1972). It appears that they received coal by rail, but was it similar to a lot of coal dealers in the Northeast? Did they also receive lumber and building supplies? Did anything get sent out by rail?
Belfast Junction, Milepost 11.1
Originally the DL&W (and their connection back in the day when they controlled and operated the E&N Railroad), but the years shown are the EL days and they show 478 (1969); 1,233 (1970); 1,539 (1971); and 2,348 (1972). This, obviously, was a very important point on the line. What did they ship and receive?
Regarding train operations, in Bednar's “Lehigh Valley Railroad The New York Division” Chapter 4 The Easton Area, he mentioned that during the 1960s there were three LV jobs: Top of the Hill, the Bushkill, and the Night E&N. The Top of the Hill “served industries between Easton and 18th Street, Wilson Borough.” The Bushkill “served C.K. Williams (later Pfizer) Paint Mill at 13th Street Junction as well as small industries on the Bushkill Branch.” The Night E&N, “later symboled EB-1 (Easton-Belfast), moved interchange traffic to the EL at Belfast Junction.” Mr. Bednar further states that the traffic was so heavy that they had to call pushers to help get the cement traffic over the grade between 13th Street to Alta siding. In the 1970s, traffic had dwindled enough that one job ran from Allentown and covered the remaining customers on the line.
Oh, and one note on passenger service: passenger service ended in September 1930 as Bethlehem Jct. mentioned back on February 13, 2009. I was able to narrow-down the actual month in 1930 that passenger service ended.
Any thought or comments? Any help or additional information would be appreciated here.
Talk to you later,
Joe Walder