Railroad Forums 

  • Erie Western

  • Discussion relating to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, the Erie, and the resulting 1960 merger creating the Erie Lackawanna. Visit the Erie Lackawanna Historical Society at http://www.erielackhs.org/.
Discussion relating to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, the Erie, and the resulting 1960 merger creating the Erie Lackawanna. Visit the Erie Lackawanna Historical Society at http://www.erielackhs.org/.

Moderator: blockline4180

 #457140  by Tadman
 
Anybody want to comment on why the Erie Western failed? I've heard lack of traffic, but I recently found this website
http://rrslideshow.com/jdemike/v/jdemike/eres/
and it shows some pretty busy trains. I don't know much about this operation that was in my backyard (although before my time).
 #457507  by amtrakhogger
 
I was hoping someone would respond since I did some web surfing
and did not find any relevant subject matter on the Erie Western.

 #458115  by Hoosier Joe
 
We had a recent discussion concerning the demise of the Erie Western on the Fort Wayne railfan forum. Some opinions expressed were : Erie Western funds were being sent to the Louisana Midland and the Erie Lackawanna trustees were asking excessive rent for track usage. I felt they were leasing more equipment then needed. The Blizzard of 1978 didn't help either. It seemed like a busy railroad. Joe

 #467169  by Otto Vondrak
 
What was the Erie Western? I have seen misc boxcars with their markings, and little else. Anyone point me to some resources?

-otto-

 #467174  by Tadman
 
Erie Western was a startup shortline operating trackage in Indiana once belonging to EL. It only lasted a few years in the late 1970's, and went bankrupt. Their power was patched former LIRR C420's and RS3's in a neato white with bold stripes and lettering. Use that link above to check out some pics. I don't know much about it, and was under the impression it went under due to lack of traffic. Once I saw the shots linked above, I noticed the railroad was actually running decent-sized trains, not a characteristic of a broke railroad. However, the blizzard and excessive rent from the EL estate would be enough to bankrupt a small shortline. The same blizzard shut down the South Shore for a few days.

 #467274  by sallenparks
 
The ERIE WESTERN ran 158 miles of track from September 25,1977,to June 24, 1979 failed and was replaced by the Chicago&Indiana.C&I ran from June 25, 1979 untill December 31, 1979.Part of the line was operated by the Tippecanoe? I think the old J&K now part of RJC also runs on a small part of this old EL main.

 #467436  by JimBoylan
 
I think some of these operations were allied with the Spencerville & Elgin, a short line in Ohio on old Erie track, which survived a bit longer.

 #467910  by CPSmith
 
At least they lasted long enough to produce a calendar - I still have mine (somewhere)...
 #470480  by Matt Langworthy
 
Tadman wrote:Erie Western was a startup shortline operating trackage in Indiana once belonging to EL. It only lasted a few years in the late 1970's, and went bankrupt. Their power was patched former LIRR C420's and RS3's in a neato white with bold stripes and lettering. Use that link above to check out some pics. I don't know much about it, and was under the impression it went under due to lack of traffic. Once I saw the shots linked above, I noticed the railroad was actually running decent-sized trains, not a characteristic of a broke railroad. However, the blizzard and excessive rent from the EL estate would be enough to bankrupt a small shortline. The same blizzard shut down the South Shore for a few days.
IIRC, the state of Indiana gave the line a subsidy for a few years and when it ran out, the rent became unbearable.
 #470485  by Matt Langworthy
 
JimBoylan wrote:I think some of these operations were allied with the Spencerville & Elgin, a short line in Ohio on old Erie track, which survived a bit longer.
The SPEG still exists and is now operated by RJ Corman: http://www.rjcorman.com/ohio.htm
 #472175  by 2nd trick op
 
Those of us who closely follow contemporary activities in the rail industry know that traffic on several of the major freight routes is approaching a saturation point.

Furthermore, the compatibility of freight vs. passenger operations, and even between high-value, high-priority container-oriented traffic and the lower-rated bulk commodity moves, is intensifying. Traditional carload moves also appear to be gaining somewhat due to fuel-cost increases and a growing shortage of committed, competent, even English-speaking truckers.

So perhaps one day we could see an opprtunity to free up a portion of our established main lines by diverting some of the low-rated traffic to lines in predominately rural areas. NIMBY opposition would likely be less here, and somewhat-slower speeds would defuse the safety issue.

The former Erie main, which had generous clearances and bypassed most major cities, would be well suited to this, and there are any number of similar abandoned rights-of-way anywhere between the two major mountain ranges suitable for development as branches/extensions/feeders.

Venture capitalism, anyone?
Last edited by 2nd trick op on Wed Nov 28, 2007 6:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 #472274  by lvrr325
 
Sure, have a billion or so saved away for a rainy day? Just the bridge over I-75 outside Lima's going to cost some serious bucks.

Meanwhile, parts of the former PRR have been sold to a shortline operator.


It is somewhat amusing to note US-30 made into a 4-lane interstate most of it's way from Mansfield to Lima in the late 90s, the two lane was almost scary to drive with trucks tailgating and passing and so on.. trucks that should have been riding flatcars on the Erie -
 #472469  by 2nd trick op
 
Admittedly, the scenario outlined above isn't likely, but my point is that, just as in the mid-1980's when the economic pendulum began to swing back in favor of the rails, there is an enormous amount of potential profit here, and the opposition is very well entrenched at various sticking points.

Capitalism, like nature, abhors a vacuum, and when the pressures become too great, things begin to move in the direction of a low-cost solution. This could be one possible example.

 #472551  by uhaul
 
Thank you for exposing this short line I had never heard of before. Too bad it was not successful. Did Conrail own this track after the Erie Lackawanna Failed and before the Erie Western took over? I ask this beacuse brought up is the Erie Estate and its high rent cost.