Stourbridge Railroad (Honesdale-Lackawaxen) and Proposals

[thebigham]

Good news!!!

http://www.wedcorp.org/news.php?subacti ... om=&ucat=4&

ASD

IDEAL STEEL PROJECT IS MOVING FORWARD Many of you are aware that Ideal Steel Supply Corp. of New York City and the Lackawaxen-Honesdale Shippers Association have an agreement to locate a steel distribution hub at Palmyra Business Park. Since our last update, both parties have been involved in soliciting proposals to build a 200,000 SF facility with railroad siding. Discussions have also taken place with representatives of Palmyra Township regarding permitting and compliance issues.

The overall infrastructure improvement for Ideal Steel will include rebuilding a train trestle and repair of the rail line. Wayne County Industrial Development Authority (WIDA) owns the trestle that was washed out in April ’04, and is applying to PA Dept. of Community and Economic Development for an Infrastructure Development Program (IDP) Grant. We anticipate that the trestle will be rebuilt concurrently with the construction of the Ideal Steel building. The L-H Shippers will also repair any washouts along the Stourbridge Line between Honesdale and Lackawaxen. Ideal Steel anticipates rail traffic of 150-200 cars annually, making it absolutely essential that we restore the railroad.

Chris

[RussNelson]

Note that between Lackawaxen and Hawley the railroad runs more or less concurrently with the old D&H Canal, the railroad on the south bank and the canal on the north. Last time I was there (1979) there were still signs of the canal prism in spots, and remnants of one lock or another. Plus there's the Roebling Aquaduct over the Delaware in Lackawaxen. I remember driving over it (well, being driven) when it was privately run as a toll bridge in the 60's. Just south of the toll bridge is a lock that was in excellent condition in the 70's, and which I believe has been restored as an Eagle Scout project. Plus in Honesdale is the terminus of the D&H Gravity line; not to be missed. Plus the entire Hawley to Lackawaxen run is very twisty and windey; lots of opportunities for photos along the length of the train.

This is the rail line under discussion:
http://rutlandtrail.org/list.cgi?lackaw ... e.pa.track

[bwparker1]

View Full PDF Here:
http://www.stb.dot.gov/filings/all.nsf/ ... enDocument

2. LHSA, by Notice of Exemption in Finance Docket No. 34891, has
obtained exemption authority to acquire ownership of the Honesdale Branch from the
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for purposes of local control and preservation
of rail service on the Honesdale Branch. On or after the effective date of that exemption
notice, LHSA will acquire ownership of all issued and outstanding shares of Stourbridge
Railroad Company from Mr. Richard D. Robey. Stourbridge Railroad Company has
been the operating carrier for the Honesdale Branch since 1990 and obtained STB
operating authority for said service in Finance Docket No. 3 1508.
3. As a result of this stock acquisition of control transaction, LHSA will own
and control the stock of the Stourbridge Railroad Company, a Class I11 common carrier
railroad, which will continue to operate and provide rail service on the Honesdale
Branch. LHSA owns no other rail lines or railroads and therefore, the Stourbridge
Railroad does not connect with any other railroad owned or operated by LHSA. The
acquisition of control over Stourbridge Railroad Company is not part of a series of
anticipated transactions that would connect that railroad with any other railroad owned by
LHSA. Finally, the transaction does not involve a Class I carrier.
4. The purpose of the transaction is to consolidate ownership of the operating
rail camer with applicant's ownership of the Honesdale Branch so that both the rail line
and the operating rail canier can be managed and controlled by LHSA.

[Ken W2KB]

I didn't think that there were any active shippers on the line? Curious!

[njt4172]

It was mentioned about 8 months ago to a year that a "NEW" shipper was coming online! I'm trying to find the link to the article, but I can't! I also emailed the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce and they told me they will have the line from Hawley to Lackawaxen and the interchange up to the Southern Tier restored and back in service by next summer!!! Some good news for once!

Steve

[Ken W2KB]

Sure is. It was a very scenic trip on the speeder a few years ago!

[bwparker1]

It is some sort of Steel Outfit, that I think will be bringing in loads of various steel for transload/reload. Saw a press relase a while back, not sure where though.

Brooks

[Steamtown Observer]

The other reason for this deal is the Wayne County people have another well known shortline operator that is willing to operate the line on an as-needed basis once the customer comes on line. Thus, they needed to have complete control of the line.

[bwparker1]

Steamtown Observer:

Are you at Liberty to metion who this well known shortline operator is?

Thanks,
Brooks

[Steamtown Observer]

Are you at Liberty to metion who this well known shortline operator is?

No. All I can say is think small and think NJ.

[hsr_fan]

I think I have an idea! That's good news. I can't remember the last time I saw a train on that line!

[bwparker1]

Thanks but I don't know NJ shortlines that well.

Glad to hear the line will be reopened at any rate, please keep us posted when somethign becomes more official.

Cheers,
Brooks

[SemperFidelis]

The shipper in question is Ideal Steel Supply of New York. The area for thier new facility is cleared and graded in White's Mills, PA along the rail line. Nothing more than open land at this point, but it has been a few months since I have been up there so that may have changed.

They are going to ship in steel and distribute it in the tri-state area by truck. Ideal Steel Supply's website has no reference to the project that I could find.

So a New Jersey shortline is going to run the rail line? At least this line will have one more customer than the one they were rebuilding has...if I guess correctly.

I remember hearing a car figure guess-timate for the steel company, but I can't find it anywhere...

[joshuahouse]

Does this mean that the BL2 may be leaving? Thats such a unique locomotive I'd have to come down and see it before it goes. Of course at least one of those small NJ shortline groups has its own very unique taste in locomotives....

[cjvrr]

joshua,

The BL2 is owned, I believe by the Chamber of Commerce or the Shipper's Association. It has been the only constant for power on the line through NYS&W's term and now North Shore's. Both the NYS&W and North Shore brought in small switchers to run the freight operations. I would think the same will occur for the new operator.

My general question is why hire a new shortline operator, at this point the Shipper's Association could run the darn thing themselves. How many people would they need to run the trains? 2-4 part timers would be my guess. Farm out all the trackwork.