Scranton

My In-Laws just moved to Scranton. I know there used to be alot of rail activity there in the past, what kind of rail activity still exists today? I know they have the museum there, but beyond that I don't know much more of what is active through there.

The DL runs every day, generally with two or more crews, so there are plenty of ALCOs around. There is always the posibility of a grain train moving off the CP and onto the DL. Taylor Yard, which is a short distance from Scranton, generally has power and you can catch both CP and R&N movements there. It can be accessed by taking Lackawanna Ave to its end, make a left onto Main St. Turn left several blocks down. If you go further along Main St., you will see the R&N Pittston Yard and a little further south on the right there is a US Foods Distributer, where the L&S keep their locos.

the former Delaware and Hudson, now operated as joint venture by CPR and Norfolk Southern. This line abandoned the old D&H north of Carbondale in favor of a route to Binghamton via the Tunkhannock (Nicholson) Viaduct, and has solidified its connections to the south via the former PRR Wilkes-Barre Branch, now referred to as the Sunbury Line.

Traffic rose about two years ago when NS shifted some of its Harrisburg-Buffalo traffic to this route. Capacity on both lines is limited, so there is considerable ebb and flow between the two alternatives. Unit coal moves to Bow and Mt Tom, N H, are also seen and of late, solid trains of steel slabs in grimy CP gondolas, moving between the Port of Philadelphia and Hamilton, Ontario (the Pittsburgh of Canada).

Over the long run, this line might also see sme traffic to CSX' Selkirk Yard at Albany if pressures on the former NYC West Shore Line increase. With relatively easy grades and built-to-last engineering, this route may have one of the brightest futures in Eastern railroading.