Lehigh Valley in Horseheads

LV serviced other customers in/near Elmira, including the Thatcher Glass plant located off the ex-Erie main. I saw a few LV trains in Elmira but never at Holding Point or the A&P plant. The LV crossing at Rt. 17 was still in existence in the late '70s but it was just crossbucks. CR had no use for it and the tracks were torn up by 1980. It took a while for CR to remove the rails due the sheer volume of tracks they were tearing out.

The A&P stores, including West Elmira, closed in the early '80s. Just what all the small businesses need in the Elmira area- more big box stores! (Note: sarcasm) Yes, Wal-Mart is evil!!!

After the flood of '72, PC continued operations on the ex-PRR line between Southport and Himrod. They still serviced some industries in the Elmira area, like Thatcher Glass and American LaFrance. As posted elsewhere, I also saw a few trains with PC power cross Rt. 17- they were going either to or from Watkins Glen. I never saw PC use the EL mainline west of Horseheads.

Under the Final System Plan, ConRail didn't buy the LV trackage rights over the Erie-Lackawanna East of Elmira, because they could serve the LV customers directly from the ex-EL that ConRail was buying! Theoretically, the LV Estate could have done something else with the rights.

Holding Point: Owned by the U.S. Army and operated by the Transportation Corps, built in 1942. Used to store for quick shipment overseas every item used by the Army ground forces. The installation had 37 miles of track and cars were kept loaded in order to move out on short notice. Approximately 1300 civilian and military personnel worked at Holding Point during the war. After the war the entire facility was sold to private interests.

JimBoylan wrote:Under the Final System Plan, ConRail didn't buy the LV trackage rights over the Erie-Lackawanna East of Elmira, because they could serve the LV customers directly from the ex-EL that ConRail was buying! Theoretically, the LV Estate could have done something else with the rights.

I don't know if the LV estate could've done anything else w/the trackage rights because they were a legal contract w/EL- which also exited the RR business on April 1st, 1976.

In the Final System Plan, The United States Railroad Administration seemed to think that if ConRail or anyone else were to buy the Southern Tier from E-L, they would also get the existing agreements and have to honor them. If this agreement allowed the E-L to transfer it, ConRail could have been stuck with the results. That's what happened in the District of Columbia where the B&O was able to continue running over the ex-PRR to connect with the RF&P, and later, allow CSXT to take over. In the case of B&O trains to Jersey City over the ex-RDG and CNJ, the agreement wasn't so formal, so ConRail didn't honor it. Your lawyer may have a different opinion.

To whom would LV have sold the rights? In theory, D&H could have purchased trackage rights to Horseheads, but a lack of other traffic in the area (combined with a long distance from either Buffalo or Binghmaton) might have made such a proposal a money loser.

Also, if EL had remained independent or had gone to other ownership (Chessie, ATSF, etc.), Conrail still could have accessed Holding Point by using the former PRR/PC Elmira Branch between Watkins Glen and Horseheads. Conrail would've had little to fear from such an obligation.

Matt Langworthy wrote:To whom would LV have sold the rights? Conrail would've had little to fear from such an obligation.

I agree that in this case, the rights were useless, since they didn't connect Horseheads to anything but ConRail. It could have been nice to buy the rights and the LV Main Line from Sayre as far as a connection with Chessie, so the old LV Elmira Branch could get service other than from ConRail. However, ConRail got a few chunks of the LV track, like at Geneva, to block such a move.
Exercise of the rights wouldn't prevent Conrail from using the line they just bought, anymore than LV trains on those rights could have prevented E-L from using the line when E-L owned it.

ConRail did not abandon the Waverly-Elmira Industrial Track Elmira-Horseheads, 5.1 miles, until 1982.

Matt Langworthy wrote:It took a while for CR to remove the rails due the sheer volume of tracks they were tearing out.

Correction to self: the LV/PC estate removed the tracks, not CR.