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Between the loss of the RMS Titanic and J.P. Morgan's Corsair agreements, many grandiose railroad plans went belly up. The original PRR.NYC Cherry Tree & Dixonville RR plans were for it to continue westward from Clymer to Homer City, Pa. Its Western Branch never got beyond Sample Run Jct. a mile...

Quite possibly Elesco came out first, so early users put it to use - LNE, CNJ, NH, NYC, CN, CP, etc. Then Worthington built a better mousetrap. Those engines that already had Elescos kept them, but newer engines received Worthingtons.

The New York Central, the New Haven, the two major Canadian roads all seemed to favor Elesco feedwater heaters, yet the Pennsylvania favored Worthingtons.

Any idea why?

Still running roughly once a week, depending on availability of coal, cars and crew.

If they come down the night before they can start loading at Clymer first thing in the morning. Sometimes they come down in the morning and start loading later.

Nice schedule - they run when they run.

The New Haven was north and east (Ney York to Boston). The Pennsylvania was north and east (Washington to New York). The New York Central, however, was north and west (New York to Chicago). And that's why a westbound New Haven train was actually an eastbound New Haven train entering Grand Central Te...

The Cambria & Indiana Railroad was originally a logging road, if that helps.

Coal from the Rosebud Mining preparation plant just north of Clymer, Pa. runs to Baltimore, Md. for export - Clymer to Keating Jct. via RJ Corman, and Keating Jct. to Baltimore via Norfolk Southern. Here's the most recent update of who originally owned what from Clymer to Keating (RJ Corman's portio...

So, was the NYC route projected to cross over into the Yellow Creek watershed at some point, or was the HCT&S not a part of this grand scheme? A 1902 shows a short stretch of the "Yellow Creek Branch" built in Homer City, while the 1900 CT 1000 mentioned a junction with the "Home...

Don't know if it's been mentioned, but the Port Morris Branch was listed in official New Haven Railroad documents as an emergency detour route for traffic between Grand Central Terminal and the main line at New Rochelle Junction. Pretty sure there would have been an electrified overlap with the inte...

Holland Avenue station, North White Plains, northbound only. The main station, North White Plains, southbound only, was about a quarter-mile away. This is where the engine swaps were done for trains operating beyond the electrified zone. P-motors and T-motors came off, RS-3s went on, and vice versa ...

If LMDs provided no appreciable advantage in 25 mph territory, and the engine design was unsuitable for Main Line service, then I'd assume they'd get new steamers without LMDs, if there was a price differential. Every now and then you've got to listen to the bean counters.

Meanwhile, on the numerous low-speed, sharp-curved branches in coal country, the older, pre-LMD steamers kept doing what they did.

Lateral-motion devices = more moving parts. More moving parts = more things to break or wear out. Blind drivers were a simple fix for a known problem - sharp curves, mostly on branch lines. Imagine Pennsy I-1sa 2-10-0s operating on 10-degree curves (required a 10-mph speed restriction when operating...

First, there are basically three types of coal - lignite, bituminous and anthracite. Lignite could at best be considered almost-coal. It lacks the BTUs of bituminous, but is easier to ignite. On the down side, it requires a wide, shallow firebox, something not ideal for steam locomotive design. Anth...

Prior to the elimination of such service, any idea as to what type of equipment would have been used: * Clearfield to Jersey Shore (and possibly Williamsport). * Clearfield southward towards Patton and Cherry Tree. 1918 ETT shows all sorts of service; 1951 ETT shows none. Supposedly service to Cherr...