32 Years Ago (March 31, 1976)

[MarcMeoff]

Where were you 32 years ago today (when the LV went out of business)?

[scottychaos]

March 31, 1976 was a Wednesday.

I was in school, 1st grade at Ithaca Street School, Waverly, NY.
a two-minute walk from the LV mainline, (I could SEE it if I walked out to sidewalk in front of the school..and I crossed it on the way to and from school every day..)
less than a mile from the Erie Lackawanna mainline, and 2 miles north of the LV's Sayre yard.

but sadly, being only 7 years old, I was completely unaware of anything unusual going on that day.

It was not until 7 years later, in 1983 when I was 14, that I began serious railfanning in Waverly & Sayre...by then, the only units still in LV paint were a few of the C420's on the D&H..
I never saw a single unpainted LV or EL unit on Conrail..only PC.

Scot

[Lehighton_Man]

I? I was a twinkle in my daddie's eye.
he would've been 13 when the LV ceased to exist. Never had a huge interest in railroading though.
Cheers.
Sean

[charlie6017]

3/31/76--My 5th birthday.

Unfortunately, I lived nowhere the LV Main. I grew up in Albion, about a half-mile from the PC Falls Road branch. I, too, was completely unaware that anything was different about that day. But living near the Falls Road spurred my interest in trains--watching 'em go by at 50 mph and counting the cars.

[Trackbolt]

I was 23 years old and I was sitting across from the southbound RF&P hump at Potomac Yard in Alexandria, VA with some friends listening to the squealing flanges and watching my favorite railroads dissapear. At the time the Western Maryland was being absorbed into Chessie and its WM's once well maintained F's could be seen grinding themselves to death on many Chessie freights. That was on Conrail Day One.
The engine terminal there was a facinating place especially after Conrail Day 1. Along with Chessie, Southern and the RF&P, PC had a big presence there and within a few weeks LV, RDG, CNJ and EL power would be regular visitors on Conrail trains one by one having their heralds painted over black with a white CR stenciled in and hood doors flapping in the breeze. And before long the Blue paint began to appear.
What a time to be a railfan. Within seven years the beautiful black, silver and gold Southern RY geeps would be wearing NS Black and fourteen years later the RF&P would be lost into CSX and Potomac yard closed. By the time CSX closed Potomac Yard, Conrail had all but disappeared moving most if not all freights to the NS Yard in Hagerstown MD. It only got worse from Conrail Day 1. The day the music died. Mix a bad day (today)with a sad day(April 1, 1976) and you get rambles like this. Sorry.

[Mike Stellpflug]

I hung out at Rochester Jct. after school. Got an eb LV freight and the local departing the Jct. for the last time. I remember being really sad. From home I could hear another train blowing for the crossings in Rush after dark. Watched the tracks rust after April 1, 1976.

[Matt Langworthy]

My family was living with my paternal grandmother in Elmira while we were preparing for the move to Hammondsport. I was 7 years old and in 1st grade. I was lucky enough to have seen both LV and EL in their final years. Being so young, I didn't know what the full impact of Conrail would be. The changes in Elmira itself were minor at first. Other than the mixing of EL, LV and PC units, trains kept running there... so I thought CR was a good thing, at first. It wasn't till we went over the hills to Alpine Jct and Odessa a few years later that I realized some really big changes had taken place... like the LV main having been ripped up! That had been a favorite place for car rides when I was younger, so Dad and I were pretty bummed.

Thank heavens for the B&H- it was a deep consolation in the late '70s.

[TB Diamond]

31 March 1976: a dark, dreary day. Was at Victor, Gilbert Cut, P&L Jct., Batavia and Niagara Jct., back to Batavia and ended up at Blacksmith Int. waiting for the last ME-1 long after dark in the cold rain. Took only three color photos, so thank goodness for Kodak Tri-X.

[GOLDEN-ARM]

I started at 91 Bay street, went to NK at Meeker Ave, then to South Plainfield. Ended up at Bethlehem, by way of Abbot street, Easton, Richards and Florence. R tower and JU as well, with a pass to Steel tower in between. Didn't make it to Lehighton, as we had planned.

[BR&P]

I chased the last daytime eastbound from Caledonia to Fishell Road. Beyond Fishell Rd the roads were not straight enough to keep up so I watched the caboose (and the LV) disappear out of sight. I did manage to catch the local at Quaker, engine 217 and a green caboose (95062?). I had it in my head that they outlawed there, but my slide shows the Alco smoking pretty good at Quaker so must be they went east to Manchester after all. I guess 32 years can play tricks with your mind, LOL.

[colorado]

In a pouring rain in the dark with many others at Niagara Junction. My last photo of the pre conrail roads was taken about 9 or 10 pm of COJ32 with a trio of GP38-2's. If I remeber correctly, it was just a caboose hop, or maybe had a couple cars, but I ws surprised they bothered to even run it.
We lit the scene up with car headlights, there were almost 2 dozen fans there that night wich I beleive included guys like Ken Kraemer and Devan Lawton and others from the NRHS Buffalo guys.

[Kendaia1]

I was in 6th grade in April 1976. But I do remember the Lehigh Valley well, as the freight main ran about 100 yards or so behind my grandparent's house in Seneca County, between the old Kendaia Station and the old Sampson turnout. I recall many freight trains rumbling through the night, and recall counting over 100 cars one time while waiting at a local crossing with my parents. Also took many walks up the tracks to the Kendaia Station, where the old water tower still stood. Went inside and dreamed of a time when it was actually an important place. Anyone know when the last train may have stopped there?

Also, in the 40's and 50's my other grandfather ran a construction business in Romulus, NY and his barns were right on the Geneva- Ithaca line of the LV, and he had his supplies delivered on the railroad , according to my grandmother.

Sadly, all the bridges and even some of the grade of the LV in the city of Geneva are now gone, but the Geneva Station is still in decent shape.

The Lehigh Valley seems like an old friend I didn't know I had, and miss now that it is long gone. The Strange thing is that you can still feel it's presence when passing an old right of way, or jct, or in our case see the track down to the army depot still occasionally used. Makes me long to hear those freights rumbling through the night belind my grandmother's house again.

And Thanks for running a Very Cool Forum!

[Matt Langworthy]

We lit the scene up with car headlights, there were almost 2 dozen fans there that night wich I beleive included guys like Ken Kraemer and Devan Lawton and others from the NRHS Buffalo guys.

Lawton's pictures from March 31st, 1976, are included in Trackside Around Buffalo 1953-1976. Very poignant, indeed.

[TB Diamond]

BR&P:

Photographed what had been RM-2 in the Manchester yard early on the morning of 01 April 1976. The DS for 31 March 1976 shows the job clearing Blacksmith Int. at 17:21 and in Manchester at 17:54.

colorado:

COJ-32 stopped at P&L Jct. to pick up some cars on the evening of 31 March 1976, so the LVRR did have a secure reason to operate the train that final day.

Kendaia1:

Believe that the LV pulled the agent out of the Kendaia station in the late 1960s. After Sampson AFB closed down in June, 1956 there was little call for the agency. The government did utilize the base warehouse area for grain storage in for a short time in the 1960s, however.

[Kendaia1]

Not doubting your word, but I can't believe the Kendaia station lasted into the late 60's when Sampson closed in '56. Can't imagine what there was to keep it open another 10 years or so.