Mystery Pittston Trackage

While doing a Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Tour this past weekend I saw some rail pulled up along the highway along a long- unused right of way. It paralleled Rt. 11 and North/South Township Blvd for a bit. It crossed William Street- tracks are still in there. My best guess is L&WV. Anyone?

Also, there's a long bridge across the Susquehanna River from ex LV Coxton yard- I know there's the Sibley branch and the line Mehoppany- any help here? Anyone got any LV or early CR era shots of Coxton?

Thanks very much for helping to understand and the spagetti layout of PA railroads!

Joshua

The line along the Pittston bypass was originally an Erie coal line from the Avoca Yard to Ashley. Pocono Northeast also hauled a few trains of reclaimed coal from a culm recovery plant in Jenkins Twp. when they owned the line. There is still one former customer in Hughestown but the line has been overgrown for several years. The property may be owned by the Luzerne County Rail Authority. The L&WV line was very close to that line but all signs of it in that area have been obliterated.
The bridge over the Susquehanna a branch of the Lehigh Valley and I believe also tied in to the West Pittston and Exeter R.R. It was also a coal line that went through Exeter, West Wyoming and Swoyersville and served the coal breakers on that side of the valley. Pocono Northeast had an office and also kept their power on that line along Rte. 92. One of the piers on that bridge is partially washed out from high water.
The remains of many coal branches can be confusing in the Wyoming Valley.

Just a few clarifications.

The ERIE line ran from Avoca Yard to Plains Jct where it connected with the Canal Branch of the CNJ. Plains Jct was located near River Road at the Plains Township/Jenkins Township border. The Canal Branch paralleled the LV's passenger mainline until Wilkes-Barre where it snaked around, paralleled the W-B Connecting Railroad (which ran from the D&H's Hudson Yard and the PRR's Buttonwood Yard), crossed the CNJ's mainline and connected with CNJ's Nanticoke Branch to Ashley. There is about a mile of former Canal Branch trackage that still exists running roughly parallel to Hollenback Golf Course in Wilkes-Barre. The track is severed at both ends and sits in a mostly wooded area. Go to http://www.gingerb.com/cnj_map_union_jc ... switch.htm and you can find a map of the area in question.

The bridge in question carried the Lehigh Valley's West Pittston Branch over the Susquehanna River. This branch ran from Coxton Yard to Kingston and paralleled the DL&W's Bloomsburg Branch. The Luzerne, Maltby Breaker, Harry E Breaker, and Bowman's Creek Branches were all reached via this line.

The West Pittston and Exeter was a common carrier railroad that was owned by the Scranton Illuminating Company, a predecessor of PP&L and was used to transport coal to a power plant in Exeter Township. When the plant shut down, the motive power of the line went to other PP&L power plants.

Andyt293 Thanks for the clarification and the link to the map.

Jus saw this thread while doing a search on the WP&E..[Hi Andy!!!] The line along the Pittston Bypass was Erie.The line was abandoned in the late 80's when the last customer on the line could no longer be reached when a truck knocked the bridge into the facility off it's moorings.Andy,I believe the bridge he's talking about is the ex DL&W bridge in Pittston on the old Bloomsburg Branch..Many people mistake this bridge,visible from Pittston,for the bridge across the river at Coxton,but there are two bridges..The DL&W bridge is still in limited service.
The DL&W Bridge is the begining [East end..]of the West Pittston & Exeter..The second LV bridge at Coxton was a second connection at the middle of the railroad,most people are unaware that there was a switch at the end of the bridge that diverted down a ramp to the WP&E..
Yep,very confusing being a modeler in the Valley,my railroad looks like a Lionel nightmare,but it's actually a close copy to the operations near my home..