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  • Rail Line Crossed the D&H between Scranton and Carbondale?

  • Discussion relating to the D&H. For more information, please visit the Bridge Line Historical Society.
Discussion relating to the D&H. For more information, please visit the Bridge Line Historical Society.

Moderator: MEC407

 #1366928  by arcticrevive
 
In this video on YouTube a railroad bidge crosses the D&H between Scranton and Carbondale. I want to find out who crossed the D&H here. Can anyone lend a hand?

Link to video: https://youtu.be/dJQ8GeQBRc0?t=3m15s

I think this is the location of the bridge on the D&H mainline between Olyphant and Archibald: http://i.imgur.com/gDi93Ib.jpg
This is about 2.8 miles from Olyphant and 1.4 miles from Archibald (on the mainline). There is a support in the picture I believe would have held the bridge.
 #1366949  by SemperFidelis
 
I know the Erie had a series of branches in the area for service to some breakers. North of the abutment and river is to the old O&W ROW, so there might have been a connction there, but the grading doesn't seem to be right. It's hard to follow in the aerials, but much easier from the ground, there is a right of way through the town (north of abutment) that leads to an old area of breakers and mines.

South of the abutment the right of way goes up the mountain to an old breaker site as well.

I'm not 100%, bit I'm pretty sure that's the old Erie grade.
 #1366953  by SemperFidelis
 
Yeah, it's hard as heck to follow due to development and the ROW being turned into housing, but if you follow the general line of Front Street (a name that can be seen in many towns as the road that fronted the railroad tracks) southwest of where the ROW disappears by Breaker Street in what I'm pretty sure is Olyphant (south of the abutment) you can eventually pick up the ROW by the industrial park and follow it back to the quarry. That is definetly the old Erie alignment.
 #1366976  by RussNelson
 
The NYS&W Winton-Priceville Branch crosses the D&H exactly where you show the Google Earth screenshot. https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/97255632" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.openrailwaymap.org/?lang=en& ... e=standard" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1367254  by SemperFidelis
 
Sir,

I'm sure you're right as to the ROW as my wife has informed me that I am, very rarely of course, wrong about things from time to time.

Semantically speaking, wouldn't those lines have reverted to Erie control in 1939 or 1940 when the NYSW connection to the coal fields, that lovely piece of railroad called the WB&E was lifted? If not, did NYSW somehow retain ownership and operate them as a very seperate entity somehow?
 #1367322  by arcticrevive
 
Wow, thanks for all of your responses! I do appreciate the information. Doesn't surprise me that it was for serving a breaker. I know the Erie built a fairly large bridge over the DL&W tracks and across a valley just to serve a breaker (I believe it was a breaker) on their Jessup branch. I guess I didn't realize the NYS&W went into Scranton!

So how many RR's is that in Scranton? 5?

D&H
Erie
DL&W
Jersey Central
NYS&W

Coal was quite profitable back then in North East PA!
 #1367351  by SemperFidelis
 
Don't forget the O&W and the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley. More of an interurban really, but it carried a lot of coal and other interchange freight traffic.

And that large bridge you reference is still there, though rather difficult to access. It crosses over the DLW on the edge of Dunmore, near to the Tigue Street exit off of I 81.

Scroll downn to the bottom of the page on this link to see a few pictures of it inn its present state:

http://www.nepaview.com/erie-rock-junction.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The whole site is a wonderful collection of present day photographs and might help clear up a few questions.

The area was such a spaghetti bowl of different railroads that this will add a little to the confusion, running right into the same breaker on the south side of the abutment you found was the DLW Winton Branch. Maybe the DLW crossed there too. Who knows?

http://www.nepaview.com/dlw-winton-branch.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1375588  by mikeexplorer
 
Although the bridge does look like the Erie bridge as depicted on my site, its not likely that since the video is about the D&H and it was the DL&W that ran under the the Erie's bridge. The mainline ran to Mount Pocono and Slateford, not to Carbondale.

The O&W did cross over the D&H in around Dickson City. Second set of pictures on this page

http://www.nepaview.com/ow-dickson-city.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Mike