There is an old rail line that runs north/south roughly paralleling Route 171 through Susquehanna County PA. It is now known as the "D&H Rails-to-Trail", which I have been on many times for various purposes (hiking/biking/snowmobiling/etc.) This old line comes north out of Carbondale and runs north through Vandling, passes just east of Forest City, then just west of Stillwater Lake, through Union Dale, Thompson, etc. and then possibly used to pass under the Starucca Viaduct?
My family has owned a house south of Thompson for many years (early 70s), and it is not far from this old rail right of way. I have dim memories as a child of hearing the train whistle and running down the road to go see the train go by with my mom and dad. I am curious to know what year it was that trains ceased to operate on these tracks, and when the rails and ties were torn up. Was this line always the D&H? Or did other RRs operate over it?
Years of fishing with my dad in the general area - primarily along the various branches of the Lackawanna and Lackawaxen (there's a string of good spots along the Rails-to-Trails I mentioned above) uncovered numerous old stone bridge footings/abutments/etc. My father would somehow find out about some crazy fishing hole from someone, and then lead me and my brother through what seemed like miles of brambles and bushes, hanging up my line dozens of times, getting lost and having to echo-locate my dad, cursing under my breath... and then all the sudden we'd pop out of the brush into a clearing with a beautiful pool next to some giant old bridge footing with a bunch of big trout waiting for us. I always wished I had taken pictures back then because now I can't find the places on my own. This leads me to wonder how many other lines used to operate in that area, what they used to service, and how long they have been abandoned, because many of these old fixtures didn't seem to make much sense when considered in relation to the old D&H tracks.
Were these also likely from the D&H, or do they pre-date the D&H? I always figured they were abandoned products of the "golden age" of coal mining in the area, I just don't know who built them or how old they are.
My family has owned a house south of Thompson for many years (early 70s), and it is not far from this old rail right of way. I have dim memories as a child of hearing the train whistle and running down the road to go see the train go by with my mom and dad. I am curious to know what year it was that trains ceased to operate on these tracks, and when the rails and ties were torn up. Was this line always the D&H? Or did other RRs operate over it?
Years of fishing with my dad in the general area - primarily along the various branches of the Lackawanna and Lackawaxen (there's a string of good spots along the Rails-to-Trails I mentioned above) uncovered numerous old stone bridge footings/abutments/etc. My father would somehow find out about some crazy fishing hole from someone, and then lead me and my brother through what seemed like miles of brambles and bushes, hanging up my line dozens of times, getting lost and having to echo-locate my dad, cursing under my breath... and then all the sudden we'd pop out of the brush into a clearing with a beautiful pool next to some giant old bridge footing with a bunch of big trout waiting for us. I always wished I had taken pictures back then because now I can't find the places on my own. This leads me to wonder how many other lines used to operate in that area, what they used to service, and how long they have been abandoned, because many of these old fixtures didn't seem to make much sense when considered in relation to the old D&H tracks.
Were these also likely from the D&H, or do they pre-date the D&H? I always figured they were abandoned products of the "golden age" of coal mining in the area, I just don't know who built them or how old they are.
"Don't open the gates!! Who the hell needs a wooden horse that size anyway?!?!"
