Hays Creek Branch Questions

[frankgaron2]

Hi All:

Just doing some more research on the LV lines up in coal country, and got to wondering...

When was the Hays Creek branch built and for what purpose?
I mean I know it was built for coal, but for shipping coal north to Wilkes Barre & etc, or???

When did it start to decline in use - I believe it was abandoned in the mid 1960's?
Anybody know what action was like towards the end?

I want to get back into where it came off the LV mainline over by Tannery. What's the best
way to access the bridge abutments over the LV mainline etc?

Any info would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks,

Frank

[choess]

The Hays Creek Branch was opened on December 26, 1911. The LV double-tracked the line from Laurel Jct. to Silver Brook Jct. <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=Bn9NAA ... =PA412">at the same time</a> to provide a shorter, lower-grade route. It's not very clear what was being bypassed--maybe traffic moving from Delano Jct. down the Quakake Valley to Penn Haven Jct and north on the main?

[pumpers]

I'm fairly sure the branch was built to get coal northbound on the main as directly as possible . I doubt there was ever room at Penn Haven to put in a connection going north that wouldn't have required a reverse move - no room for a full wye.

Also, the 1910 Coal and Coal Trade Journal http://books.google.com/books?id=p4A-AQ ... 22&f=false" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; says that the Hayes Creek branch has better grades .

The 1910 "Industrial World" is more specific: http://books.google.com/books?id=VtUcAQ ... 22&f=false" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; It basically says that via Penn Haven Jct, northbound coal has to go down and then come back up, which is avoided with the new branch, in addition to being shorter

About getting to relics, here is a site which has pictures of a lot of them and talks hiking the ROW: http://petewilcox.blogspot.com/2014/04/ ... y-run.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . It also states the line probably was abandoned around 1965, but I don't know their source.

Finally, this link brings up a tiny piece of a book that I think says it was abandoned in 1963. http://books.google.com/books?id=oqzuAA ... IQ6AEwBjgK" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

JS