Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m →‎Pre-DL&W (1832–1853): link to new article
Oanabay04 (talk | contribs)
39,398 edits
(25 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{refimprove|date=October 2012}}
{{Infobox rail standard gauge
{{Infobox rail standard gauge
| railroad_name=Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
| railroad_name=Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
Line 5: Line 4:
| logo_size= 80
| logo_size= 80
| marks=DLW
| marks=DLW
| locale=[[Pennsylvania]], [[New York]], and [[New Jersey]]
| locale=[[Pennsylvania]]<br>[[New York]]<br>[[New Jersey]]
| start_year=1851
| start_year=1851
| end_year=1960
| end_year=1960
| successor_line=[[Erie Lackawanna Railroad|Erie Lackawanna]]
| successor_line=[[Erie Lackawanna Railroad]]
| old_gauge=
| old_gauge=
| hq_city=[[New York City|New York]], [[New York]], US
| hq_city=[[New York City]], [[New York]]<br>US
}}
}}
<!-- FAIR USE of DLW1Map.gif: see image description page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DLW1Map.gif for rationale -->

[[Image:DLW1Map.gif|thumb|250px|right|Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad System map, circa 1922]]
The '''Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company''' ('''DL&W''' or '''Lackawanna Railroad''') was a U.S. [[Class 1 railroad]] that connected [[Buffalo, New York]], and [[Hoboken, New Jersey]], a distance of {{convert|400|mi|km|adj=off}}. Incorporated in 1853, the DL&W at its peak would have 900 route-miles (1,450 km) of track<ref>As of December 31, 1925, DL&W operated on {{convert|983|mi|km}} of road (not including {{convert|10|mi|km}} of Lackawanna & Montrose) and {{convert|2,713|mi|km}} of track; on December 31, 1956, mileages were 962 and 2,285.</ref> including branchlines to [[Ithaca, New York|Ithaca]], [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]], and [[Oswego, New York|Oswego]] in New York; [[Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania|Bloomsburg]] and [[Bangor, Pennsylvania|Bangor]] in Pennsylvania; [[Chester, New Jersey|Chester]], [[Gladstone, New Jersey|Gladstone]], and [[Montclair, New Jersey|Montclair]] in New Jersey; and elsewhere. The Lackawanna was long a very profitable company, especially during the first two decades of the twentieth century, but its profitability was ultimately sapped by declining traffic in coal, its chief freight commodity; competition from trucks; and high New Jersey taxes. In 1960, the DL&W merged with its bitter rival, the [[Erie Railroad]]. In 1976, the [[Erie Lackawanna Railroad]] was conveyed into [[Conrail]]. About half of the railroad's tracks are still in operation.
The '''Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company''' ('''DL&W''' or '''Lackawanna Railroad''') was a U.S. [[Class 1 railroad]] that connected [[Buffalo, New York]], and [[Hoboken, New Jersey]], a distance of {{convert|400|mi|km|adj=off}}. Incorporated in 1853, the DL&W at its peak would have 900 route-miles (1,450 km) of track<ref>As of December 31, 1925, DL&W operated on {{convert|983|mi|km}} of road (not including {{convert|10|mi|km}} of Lackawanna & Montrose) and {{convert|2,713|mi|km}} of track; on December 31, 1956, mileages were 962 and 2,285.</ref> including branchlines to [[Ithaca, New York|Ithaca]], [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]], and [[Oswego, New York|Oswego]] in New York; [[Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania|Bloomsburg]] and [[Bangor, Pennsylvania|Bangor]] in Pennsylvania; [[Chester, New Jersey|Chester]], [[Gladstone, New Jersey|Gladstone]], and [[Montclair, New Jersey|Montclair]] in New Jersey; and elsewhere. The DL&W was a very profitable company, especially during the first two decades of the twentieth century, but its profitability was ultimately sapped by declining coal traffic, its chief freight commodity; competition from trucks; and high New Jersey taxes. In 1960, the DL&W merged with bitter rival [[Erie Railroad]] to form the [[Erie Lackawanna Railroad]] (EL). EL spent most of its 16 years in the red and was conveyed to [[Conrail]] in 1976. Approximately half of DL&W's former lines remain in operation.


==History==
==History==
===Pre-DL&W (1832–1853)===
===Pre-DL&W (1832–1853)===
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's history, like that of many Eastern railroads, is one of mergers, consolidations, and leases. The oldest portion was the Cayuga & Susquehanna Railroad, completed in 1834 between [[Owego (village), New York|Owego]] and [[Ithaca, New York]]. Their corporate structure dates from the incorporation of the Liggett's Gap Railroad in 1849. That line was built north from [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]] to the [[Susquehanna River]] and a conneciton with the [[Erie Railroad]] at [[Great Bend, Pennsylvania]]. It was renamed the Lackawanna & Western (L&W) in 1851, and opened later that year.<ref name=drury>{{cite book | last = Drury | first = George H. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Historical Guide to North American Railroads: Histories, Figures, and Features of more than 160 Railroads Abandoned or Merged since 1930 | publisher = Kalmbach Publishing | year = 1994 | location = [[Waukesha, Wisconsin]] | pages = 108-110 | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-89024-072-8}}</ref>
[[Image:Hoboken2742.JPG|thumb|250px|left|Lackawanna R.R. sign is still seen on Hoboken Terminal]]
The '''Liggett's Gap Railroad''' was incorporated on April 7, 1832, but stayed dormant for many years. It was chartered on March 14, 1849, and organized January 2, 1850. On April 14, 1851, its name was changed to the '''Lackawanna and Western Railroad'''. The line, running north from [[Scranton, Pennsylvania|Scranton]], Pennsylvania, to [[Great Bend, Pennsylvania|Great Bend]], just south of the [[New York]] state line, opened on December 20, 1851. From Great Bend the L&W obtained [[trackage rights]] north and west over the [[New York and Erie Rail Road]] to [[Owego (village), New York|Owego]], New York, where it leased the [[Cayuga and Susquehanna Railroad]] to Ithaca on [[Cayuga Lake]] (on April 21, 1855). The C&S was a re-organized and partially re-built [[Ithaca and Owego Railroad]], which had opened on April 1, 1834, and was the oldest part of the DL&W system. The whole system was built to {{RailGauge|6ft}} [[broad gauge]], the same as the New York and Erie, although the original I&O was built to standard gauge and converted to wide gauge when re-built as the C&S.


The '''Delaware and Cobb's Gap Railroad''' was chartered December 4, 1850, to build a line from Scranton east to the [[Delaware River]]. Before it opened, the Delaware and Cobb's Gap and Lackawanna and Western were consolidated by the [[Lackawanna Steel Company]] into one company, the '''Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad''', on March 11, 1853. On the [[New Jersey]] side of the Delaware River, the [[Warren Railroad]] was chartered February 12, 1851, to continue from the bridge over the river southeast to [[Hampton, New Jersey|Hampton]] on the [[Central Railroad of New Jersey]]. That section got its name from [[Warren County (NJ)|Warren County]], the county through which it would primarily run.
Also incorporated in 1849 was the Delaware & Cobb's Gap Railroad to build a line from the [[Delaware River]] over the [[Pocono Mountains]] to Cobb's Gap, Pennsylvania near Scranton. It was consolidated with the L&W in 1853 to form the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W). It was completed in 1856 and almost immediately made a connection with the [[Central Railroad of New Jersey]] (CNJ) in [[Hampton, New Jersey]] through the [[Warren Railroad]], which was leased by the DL&W in 1857.<ref name=drury/>


===Expansion and profits (1853–1940)===
===Expansion (1853-1899)===
[[File:DL&W Inspection engine.jpg|thumb|Inspection engine of Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, circa 1900]]
[[File:DL&W Inspection engine.jpg|thumb|DL&W inspection engine, circa 1900]]
The [[Morris & Essex Railroad]] was chartered in 1835 to construct a line from [[Morristown, New Jersey]] to [[New York Harbor]]. By 1860, it extended west to the Delaware River at [[Phillipsburg, New Jersey]]. The DL&W leased it in 1869 to avoid having to utilize the CNJ. That same year, the DL&W purchased the Syracuse, Binghamton & New York Railroad, leased the Oswego & Syracuse Railroad on February 13, 1869. This gave it a branch from [[Binghamton (NY)|Binghamton]] north and northwest via [[Syracuse (NY)|Syracuse]], and incorporated the [[Valley Railroad]] to build a connection from [[Great Bend, New York|Great Bend]] to [[Binghamton, New York]] to avoid having to use Erie's trackage. By 1870, the DL&W leased the Utica, Chenango & Susquehanna Valley Railway and the Greene Railroad. Thus, in a space of several years, the DL&W grew to extend from tidewater to Utica, Syrcause and [[Lake Ontario]].<ref name=drury/>
The rest of the line, now known as the Southern Division, opened on May 27, 1856, including the New Jersey section (the Warren Railroad). A [[dual gauge|third rail]] was added to the [[standard gauge]] [[Central Railroad of New Jersey]] east of Hampton to allow the DL&W to run east to [[Elizabeth (NJ)|Elizabeth]] via [[trackage rights]] (the CNJ was extended in 1864 to [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]]).


On March 15, 1876, the DL&W converted its line from 6-foot gauge (chosen because the Liggett's Gap Railroad's connection with the Erie) standard gauge. That year also marked the beginning of a short periof of financial difficulty — not enough to cause reorganization, receivership, or bankruptcy, but enough for suspension of dividend payments. In 1880, [[Jay Gould]] (long vilified as the archetypal [[Robber baron (industrialist)|robber baron]],<ref>Scranton, Philip. "[http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/24287 Fine Line Between Thief and Entrepreneur]." [http://www.teachinghistory.org Teachinghistory.org]. Accessed 12 July 2011.</ref>) began buying DL&W stock. His empire reached as far east as [[Buffalo, New York]], east end of the [[Wabash Railroad]], and he saw that the DL&W would be an ideal route to New York if the gap between Binghamton and Buffalo could be closed. DL&W management prevented Gould from acquiring control of the railroad, but Gould's proposed extension to Buffalo was builtas the New York, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, which was incorporated in 1880 and leased to the DL&W in 1882. The result changed the DL&W from a regional railroad to a New York-Buffalo [[Trunk line#Etymology|trunk line]].<ref name=drury/>
On December 10, 1868, the DL&W bought the [[Morris and Essex Railroad]]. This line ran east-west across northern New Jersey, crossing the Warren Railroad at [[Washington (NJ)|Washington]] and providing access to [[Jersey City (NJ)|Jersey City]] without depending on the CNJ. The M&E tunnel under [[Bergen Hill]] opened in 1876, also relieving it of its use of the [[New York, Lake Erie and Western Railway]] in Jersey City. Along with the M&E lease came several branch lines in New Jersey, including the [[Boonton Line]] (opened in 1870), which bypassed [[Newark (NJ)|Newark]] for through freight.


The 1880s brought diversification in DL&W's traffic. [[Anthracite coal]], much of it from railroad-owned mines, had been the reason for the DL&W's existence,<ref name=drury/> shipping upwards of 14% of [[Pennsylvania]]'s anthracite production.<ref name="Taber">{{cite book | last = Taber | first = Thomas T. | title = The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, The Route of Phoebe Snow, in the Twentieth Century, 1899-1960 | publisher = Thomas T. Taber III | date = 1980 | location = Muncy, Pa. | isbn = 9780960339822 }}</ref> While DL&W's coal traffic increased one-third during this period, their general merchandise traffic (dairy products, cattle, lumber, cement, steel, grain) increased five times that amount.
<!-- FAIR USE of DLW1Map.gif: see image description page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DLW1Map.gif for rationale -->
[[Image:DLW1Map.gif|thumb|250px|left|'''The DL&W System''' from a 1922 Map]]


In addition, the DL&W was rapidly becoming a commuter carrier at its east end.<ref name=drury/> The [[Pocono Mountains]] region, in particular, was one of the most popular vacation destinations in the country&mdash;especially among New Yorkers&mdash;and several large hotels sat along DL&W lines in [[Northeastern Pennsylvania]], generating much passenger traffic. All of this helped justify the DL&W's expansion of its double-track mainline to three or four tracks.<ref name="Taber"/>
The DL&W bought the [[Syracuse, Binghamton and New York Railroad]] in 1869 and leased the [[Oswego and Syracuse Railroad]] on February 13, 1869. This gave it a branch from [[Binghamton (NY)|Binghamton]] north and northwest via [[Syracuse (NY)|Syracuse]] to [[Oswego (NY)|Oswego]], a port on [[Lake Ontario]]. The [[Greene Railroad]] was organized in 1869, opened in 1870, and was immediately leased to the DL&W, providing a short branch off the Oswego line from [[Chenango Forks (NY)|Chenango Forks]] to [[Greene (NY)|Greene]]. Also in 1870 the DL&W leased the [[Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley Railway]], continuing this branch north to [[Utica (NY)|Utica]], with a branch from [[Richfield Junction]] to [[Richfield Springs (NY)|Richfield Springs]] (fully opened in 1872).


===Truesdale era (1899-1940)===
The '''Valley Railroad''' was organized March 3, 1869, to connect the end of the original line at [[Great Bend, Pennsylvania|Great Bend]], Pennsylvania to [[Binghamton, New York|Binghamton]], New York, avoiding reliance on the Erie. The new line opened October 1, 1871. By 1873, the DL&W controlled the [[Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad]], a branch from [[Scranton (PA)|Scranton]] southwest to [[Northumberland (PA)|Northumberland]] (with [[trackage rights]] over the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]'s [[Northern Central Railway]] to [[Sunbury (PA)|Sunbury]]). On March 15, 1876, the whole system was re-gauged to [[standard gauge]] in one day. The '''New York, Lackawanna and Western Railroad''' was chartered August 26, 1880, and opened September 17, 1882, to continue the DL&W from [[Binghamton (NY)|Binghamton]] west and northwest to Buffalo. The main line ran to the [[International Bridge (Buffalo)|International Bridge]] to [[Ontario]], and a branch served downtown Buffalo. On December 1, 1903, the DL&W began operating the [[Erie and Central New York Railroad]], a branch of the Oswego line from [[Cortland Junction]] east to [[Cincinnatus (NY)|Cincinnatus]]. By 1909, the DL&W controlled the [[Bangor and Portland Railway]]. This line branched from the main line at [[Portland, Pennsylvania|Portland]], Pennsylvania southwest to [[Nazareth (PA)|Nazareth]], with a branch to [[Martins Creek, Pennsylvania|Martins Creek]].
[[Image:Hoboken2742.JPG|thumb|250px|right|Lackawanna R.R. sign is still on display at Hoboken Terminal in [[Hoboken, New Jersey]]]]
[[File:Nicholson Viaduct - Oct 1988 3200 psi.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The [[Tunkhannock Viaduct]] in [[Nicholson, Pennsylvania]], in October 1988, standing {{convert|240|ft|m}} above the creek for which it is named]]
[[File:Paulins Kill Viaduct in Hainesburg, NJ.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The [[Paulinskill Viaduct]] on the [[Lackawanna Cut-Off]] in [[Knowlton Township, NJ|Hainesburg, New Jersey]], was the largest concrete bridge in the world when it was completed in 1910]]
[[William Truesdale]] became president of the DL&W in March 1899<ref>{{cite news |first = |last = |title = May Succeed Samuel Sloan: William H. Truesdale Will Probably Become the President of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western |work = [[The New York Times]] |date = February 6, 1899|url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FA0D10FD3F5512738DDDAF0894DA405B8985F0D3 |accessdate = November 5, 2012}}</ref>, and embarked on a rebuilding and upgrading program.<ref name=drury/> The two major accomplishments were a 28.5-mile (46&nbsp;km) cutoff ([[Lackawanna Cut-Off]]) straight across western New Jersey between [[Slateford Junction]] and [[Port Morris Junction]] that bypassed the "[[Lackawanna Old Road|Old Road]]" (some 40 miles of circuitous, curved, hilly trackage), and a new line north of Scranton. Both new lines were characterized by massive cuts and fills, [[Grade (slope)|low grades]] and graceful reinforced-concrete viaducts — [[Tunkhannock Viaduct|Tunkhannock]], [[Paulinskill Viaduct|Paulins Kill]], Martins Creek, and Kingsley. DL&W's suburban territory came in for track elevation, [[Level crossings|railroad-crossing]] elimination, and new stations, all as a prelude to the 1930 electrification of lines to [[Dover (NJT station)|Dover]], [[Gladstone Branch|Gladstone]] and [[Lackawanna Terminal (Montclair, New Jersey)|Montclair]]. Significant [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]] stations were constructed in [[Hoboken Terminal|Hoboken]] and [[Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel|Scranton]].<ref name=drury/>


By the late 1930s, the [[New York Central Railroad]] (NYC) had purchased 25% of DL&W's stock, giving it working — but unexercised — control of the DL&W. During [[World War II]], the DL&W merged a number of its subsidiaries and lease lines for tax purposes. After the war, the DL&W began to purcahse [[New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad|Nickel Plate Railroad]] stock with an eye to possible merger, but both Nickel Plate and NYC were opposed to it.<ref name=drury/><ref>{{cite journal | title = Grouping America's Railroads - The Transportation Act of 1920 | journal = Classic Trains | pages = 30-37 | date = Winter 2011}}</ref>
===New terminals and realignments===
{{See|Lackawanna Cutoff}}
The DL&W built a [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]] [[Hoboken Terminal|terminal]] in Hoboken in 1907, and another [[Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel|Beaux-Arts passenger station]] (now a [[Radisson Hotels|Radisson hotel]]) in Scranton the following year.


===Decline (1940–1960)===
[[File:Nicholson Viaduct - Oct 1988 3200 psi.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The [[Tunkhannock Viaduct]] in [[Nicholson, Pennsylvania]], in October 1988. A [[Delaware & Hudson Railway]] train on the bridge is dwarfed by the structure, which stands {{convert|240|ft|m}} above the creek for which it is named.]]
Post-war changes began to affect eastern railroads, with [[oil]] and [[natural gas]] becoming the preferred energy sources. Silk and other [[textile]] industries shrank as jobs moved to the southern U.S. or overseas. The advent of [[refrigeration]] squeezed the business from [[ice pond]]s on top of the [[Poconos]]. The DL&W had long enjoyed revenues from [[milk]] shipments; many stations had a [[creamery]] next to the tracks.<ref name="Taber"/>


Passenger services were also siphoned off due to the surge in personal automobile ownership. In response, the DL&W resurrected [[Phoebe Snow (character)|Phoebe Snow]], the DL&W's symbol in the early part of the century. The company's advertising campaign stated that "hers was the gown that stayed white from morn till night upon the Road of Anthracite," as anthracite was much cleaner-burning than the bituminous coal used by other railroads, such as the [[Reading Company]]. Phoebe Snow's return to the DL&W was in the form of a diesel-powered maroon and gray [[Phoebe Snow (passenger train)|streamliner]] for daytime service between Hoboken and Buffalo.<ref name=drury/>
The '''Lackawanna Railroad of New Jersey''', chartered on February 7, 1908, to build the [[Lackawanna Cut-Off]] (a.k.a. New Jersey Cutoff or Hopatcong-Slateford Cutoff), opened on December 24, 1911. This provided a [[Grade (slope)|low-grade]] cutoff in northwestern New Jersey. The cutoff included the [[Delaware River Viaduct]] and the [[Paulinskill Viaduct]], as well as three concrete towers at Port Morris and Greendell in New Jersey and Slateford Junction in Pennsylvania. From 1912 to 1915, the Summit-Hallstead Cutoff (a.k.a. Pennsylvania Cutoff or Nicholson Cutoff) was built to revamp a winding and hilly system between [[Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania]], and [[Hallstead, Pennsylvania]]. This rerouting provided another quicker low-grade line between Scranton and Binghamton. The Summit Cut-Off included the massive [[Tunkhannock Viaduct]] and Martins Creek Viaduct. The Lackawanna's cutoffs had no at-grade crossings with roads or highways, allowing high-speed service.
{{See|Phoebe Snow (passenger train)}}


===Decline (1940–1960)===
===Merger===
{{Main|Erie Lackawanna Railway}}
The most profitable [[commodity]] shipped by the railroad was [[anthracite coal]]. In 1890 and during 1920–1940, the DL&W shipped upwards of 14% of the state of Pennsylvania's anthracite production. Other profitable freight included dairy products, cattle, lumber, cement, steel, and grain.<ref name="Taber">{{cite book | last = Taber | first = Thomas T. | title = The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, The Route of Phoebe Snow, in the Twentieth Century, 1899-1960 | publisher = Thomas T. Taber III | date = 1980 | location = Muncy, Pa. | isbn = 9780960339822 }}</ref> The [[Pocono Mountains]] region was one of the most popular vacation destinations in the country&mdash;especially among New Yorkers&mdash;and several large hotels sat along the line in [[Northeastern Pennsylvania]], generating a large passenger traffic for the Lackawanna. All of this helped justify the railroad's expansion of its double-track mainline to three and in a few places four tracks.<ref name="Taber"/>
In 1954, the DL&W and parallel rival Erie Railroad began to explore the idea of cooperation and consolidation. The first results were the elimination of duplicate freight facilities at Binghamton and [[Elmira, New York]], and then in 1956 and 1957 the Erie moved its passenger trains from its old Jersey City terminal to DL&W's somewhat newer one at [[Hoboken Terminal|Hoboken]].<ref name=drury/> The two railroads eliminated some duplicate track in western New York. The discussions of consolidation turned into merger talks, at first including the [[Delaware and Hudson Railway]].<ref name=drury/><ref name="Taber"/>


Merger talks were hastened by the effects of [[Hurricane Diane]], which resulted in DL&W's financial situation worsening in August 1955.<ref name=drury/> Damage to DL&W's main line through the [[Pocono Mountains]] region ({{Convert|60|mi|km}} of track) resulted shutdowns lasting over a month and passengers being stranded aboard moving trains.<ref name="Taber"/> Repair costs totalling $8.1 million (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|8100000|1955}}}}) contributed to deficits which occurred in 1958 and 1959.<ref name=drury/><ref name="Taber"/> DL&W threatened to discontinue all suburban passenger services if the state of New Jersey would not alleviate the losses and rectify the tax situation (New Jersey charged exorbitantly high taxes on all railroads that transversed the state). The state ultimately responded with minimal subsidy.<ref name=drury/> The January 1959 [[Knox Mine Disaster]] all but obliterated what was left of the region's [[anthracite]] industry, making the proposed merger look like a promising way out of a difficult situation.<ref>[http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10845647&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=460522&rfi=8 The Citizens Voice - Knox mine disaster remains in our memory because it is a story of right and wrong<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1 = Rachunis | first1 = William | last2 = Fortney | first2 = Gerald W. | title = Report of Major Mine Inundation Disaster, River Slope Mine, May Shaft Section, Schooley Colliery, Knox Coal Company, Incorporated, Port Griffith, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania | publisher = U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines | date = January 22, 1959 | location = Wilkes-Barre, Pa. | url = http://www.msha.gov/District/Dist_01/Reports/Knox/cover.htm }}</ref>

The DL&W and Erie formally merged as the [[Erie Lackawanna Railway|Erie-Lackawanna Railroad]] (EL) on October 17, 1960, and lasted until its absorption into [[Conrail]] in 1976. With the excpetion of 1965 and 1966, the EL operated at a deficit during its entire 16-year existence.<ref name=drury/>
[[File:Arrow III train - South Orange NJ.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Two Arrow III singles lead an Arrow II pair on the Morristown line
]]
{{Rail freight
{{Rail freight
|title=Revenue freight traffic, in millions of net ton-miles
|title=Revenue freight traffic, in millions of net ton-miles
Line 51: Line 61:
|1933|2498
|1933|2498
|1944|5822
|1944|5822
|1960|2580 thru 16 Oct
|1960|2580
}}
}}
{{Rail_freight
{{Rail_freight
Line 59: Line 69:
|1933|428
|1933|428
|1944|623
|1944|623
|1960|226 thru 16 Oct
|1960|226
}}
}}

Changes in the region's economy undercut the railroad, however. The post-[[World War II]] boom enjoyed by many U.S. cities bypassed [[Scranton, PA|Scranton]] and the rest of [[Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania|Lackawanna]] and [[Luzerne County, Pennsylvania|Luzerne]] counties. [[Oil]] and [[natural gas]] quickly became the preferred energy sources. Silk and other [[textile]] industries shrank as jobs moved to the southern U.S. or overseas. The advent of [[refrigeration]] squeezed the business from [[ice pond]]s on top of the [[Poconos]]. Even the [[dairy industry]] changed. The Lackawanna had long enjoyed revenues from [[milk]] shipments; many stations had a [[creamery]] next to the tracks.

Perhaps the most catastrophic blow to the Lackawanna, however, was dealt by [[Mother Nature]]. In August 1955, flooding from [[Hurricane Diane]] devastated the [[Pocono Mountains]] region, killing 80 people. [[Hurricane Diane]] also caused the DL&W to abandon their Old Road/former Warren Railroad line due to severe damages that simply wouldn't be worth it to repair. The floods cut the [[Lackawanna Railroad]] in 88 places, destroying {{Convert|60|mi|km}} of track, stranding several trains (with a number of passengers aboard), and shutting down the railroad for nearly a month (with temporary [[speed restriction]]s prevailing on the damaged sections of railroad for months), causing a total of $8.1 million in damages (equal to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|8100000|1955}}}} today) and lost revenue. Until the mainline in Pennsylvania reopened, all trains were cancelled or rerouted over other railroads. The Lackawanna would never fully recover.<ref name="Taber"/>

In January, 1959, the final nail in the Lackawanna's coffin was driven home when the [[Knox Mine Disaster]] flooded the mines along the [[Susquehanna River]] and all but obliterated what was left of the region's [[anthracite]] industry.<ref>[http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10845647&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=460522&rfi=8 The Citizens Voice - Knox mine disaster remains in our memory because it is a story of right and wrong<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1 = Rachunis | first1 = William | last2 = Fortney | first2 = Gerald W. | title = Report of Major Mine Inundation Disaster, River Slope Mine, May Shaft Section, Schooley Colliery, Knox Coal Company, Incorporated, Port Griffith, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania | publisher = U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines | date = January 22, 1959 | location = Wilkes-Barre, Pa. | url = http://www.msha.gov/District/Dist_01/Reports/Knox/cover.htm }}</ref>

The Lackawanna Railroad's financial problems were not unique. Rail traffic in the U.S. in general declined after [[World War II]] as trucks and [[automobiles]] took freight and passenger traffic.<ref name="Taber"/> Declining freight traffic put the nearby [[New York, Ontario and Western Railroad]] and [[Lehigh & New England Railroad]] out of business in 1957 and 1961, respectively. Over the next three decades, nearly every major railroad in the [[Northeastern US]] would go [[bankrupt]].

===Erie merger and aftermath (1956–present)===
;'''Erie Lackawanna'''
In the wake of Hurricane Diane in 1955, all signs pointed to continued financial decline and eventual [[bankruptcy]] for the DL&W. Among other factors, [[property taxes]] in [[New Jersey]] were a tremendous financial drain on the Lackawanna and other railroads that ran through the state, a situation that would not be remedied for another two decades.<ref name="Taber"/>

To save his company, Lackawanna president, Perry Shoemaker, sought a merger with the [[Nickel Plate Road]], a deal that would have created a railroad stretching more than {{Convert|1,100|mi|km}} from [[St. Louis, Missouri]], to New York City and would have allowed the Lackawanna to retain the {{Convert|200|mi|km}} of double-track mainline between Buffalo and [[Binghamton, New York]]. The idea had been studied as early as 1920, when [[William Z. Ripley]], a professor of [[political economics]] at [[Harvard University]], reported that a merger would have benefited both railroads.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Grouping America's Railroads - The Transportation Act of 1920 | journal = Classic Trains | pages = 30-37 | date = Winter 2011}}</ref> Forty years later, however, the Lackawanna was a shadow of its former financial self. Seeing no advantage in an end-to-end merger, Nickel Plate officials also rebuffed attempts by the DL&W, which owned a substantial block of Nickel Plate stock, to place one of its directors on the Nickel Plate [[Board of Directors|board]]. (The Nickel Plate would later merge with the [[Norfolk and Western Railroad]].)

Shoemaker next turned, in 1956, to aggressive, but unsuccessful, efforts to obtain joint operating agreements and even potential mergers with the [[Lehigh Valley Railroad]] and the [[Delaware and Hudson Railway]].

Finally, Shoemaker sought and won a merger agreement with the [[Erie Railroad]], the DL&W's longtime rival (and closest geographical competitor).

The merger was formally consummated on October 17, 1960. Shoemaker drew much criticism for it, and would even second-guess himself after he had retired from railroading. He later claimed to have had a "gentlemen's agreement" with the E-L board of directors to take over as president of the new railroad. After he was pushed aside in favor of Erie managers, however, he left in disillusionment and became the president of the [[Central Railroad of New Jersey]] in 1962.<ref name="Taber"/>

[[File:Paulins Kill Viaduct in Hainesburg, NJ.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Paulinskill Viaduct]] on the [[Lackawanna Cut-Off]] in [[Knowlton Township, NJ|Hainesburg, New Jersey]], was the largest concrete bridge in the world when it was completed in 1910.]]
Even before the formal merger, it led to the abandonment of most of the Lackawanna's mainline trackage between Binghamton and Buffalo. In 1958, the main line of the DL&W from Binghamton west to near [[Corning (city), New York|Corning]], which closely paralleled the Erie's main line, was abandoned in favor of joint operations, while the Lackawanna Cut-Off in New Jersey was single-tracked in anticipation of the upcoming merger. On the other hand, the Erie's Buffalo, New York and Erie Railroad was dropped from Corning to [[Livonia (village), New York|Livonia]] in favor of the DL&W's main line. Most passenger service was routed onto the DL&W east of Binghamton, with the DL&W's [[Hoboken Terminal]] serving all E-L passenger trains. In addition, a short segment of the Boonton Branch by Garret Mountain in [[Paterson, New Jersey]], was sold off to the state of New Jersey to build [[Interstate 80]]. Ultimately, the west end of the Boonton Branch was combined with the Erie's Greenwood Lake Branch, while the eastern end was combined with the Erie's [[Main Line (NJ Transit)|Main Line]], which was abandoned through [[Passaic, New Jersey]]. Sacrificed was the Boonton Branch: a high-speed freight line thought to be redundant with the Erie's mainline. This would haunt E-L management less than a decade later (and Conrail management a decade after that).

Soon after the merger, the new E-L management shifted most freight trains to the "Erie side", the former Erie Railroad lines, leaving only a couple of daily freight trains traveling over the Lackawanna side. Passenger train traffic would not be affected, at least not immediately. This traffic pattern would remain in effect for more than ten years—past the discontinuation of passenger service on January 6, 1970—and was completely dependent on the lucrative interchange with the [[New Haven Railroad]] at [[Maybrook, New York]]. The 1970 merger of the [[New Haven Railroad]] into the [[Penn Central Railroad]] changed all this: the New England Gateway was closed, causing dramatic traffic changes for the Lackawanna side. Indeed, as very little on-line freight originated on the Erie side (a route that was more than 20 miles longer than the DL&W route to Binghamton), once the Gateway was closed (eliminating the original justification for shifting traffic to the Erie side), virtually all the E-L's freight trains were shifted back to the Lackawanna side. After the New England Gateway closed, E-L's management was forced to downgrade the Erie side, and even considered its abandonment west of Port Jervis. In the meantime, the E-L was forced to run its long freights over the reconfigured Boonton Line, which east of Mountain View in [[Wayne, NJ]] meant running over the Erie's Greenwood Lake Branch, a line that was never intended to carry the level of freight traffic to which the E-L would subject it.

<ref name="Old Road note">The Old Road tracks into Delaware would be removed during the 1990s, except for tracks on the bridge to Portland and to Slateford Junction, which are still operated by Norfolk Southern and Delaware-Lackawanna Railway, respectively.</ref>

In 1972, the [[Central Railroad of New Jersey]] abandoned all its operations in Pennsylvania (which by that time were freight-only), causing additional through freights to be run daily between [[Elizabeth, NJ]] on the CNJ and Scranton on the E-L. The trains, designated as the eastbound SE-98 and the westbound ES-99, travelled via the Lackawanna Cut-Off and were routed via the [[Central Railroad of New Jersey|CNJ]]'s [[High Bridge Branch]]. This arrangement ended with the creation of [[Consolidated Rail Corporation|Conrail]].<ref>''Erie Lackawanna East'', Karl R. Zimmermann, Quadrant Press, Inc., 1975.</ref>

During its time, the E-L diversified its shipments from the growing [[Lehigh Valley]] and also procured a lucrative contract with [[Chrysler]] to ship auto components from [[Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania]]. The E-L also aggressively sought other contracts with suppliers in the area, pioneering what came to be known as [[intermodal freight transport|intermodal]] shipping. None of this could compensate for the decline in coal shipments, however, and as labor costs and taxes rose, the railroad's financial position became increasingly precarious although it was stronger than some railroads in the eastern U.S.

The opening of Interstates [[Interstate 80|I-80]], [[Interstate 380 (Pennsylvania)|I-380]], and [[Interstate 81|I-81]] during the early 1970s, which in effect paralleled much of the former Lackawanna mainline east of [[Binghamton, New York]], caused more traffic to be diverted to trucks. This only helped to accelerate the E-L's decline and its inclusion into [[Conrail]], a new regional railroad that was created on April 1, 1976, out of the remnants of seven bankrupt freight railroads in the northeastern U.S.

;'''Conrail'''
The E-L was legally conveyed into [[Conrail]] on [[April Fool's Day]], 1976. Initially, Conrail's freight schedule did not change much from the E-L's due to labor contracts that restricted any immediate alterations. This, too, would change. In early 1979, Conrail suspended through freight service on the Lackawanna side, citing the E-L's early-1960s severing of the [[Boonton Branch]] near [[Paterson, New Jersey]], and the grades over the Pocono Mountains as the primary reason for removing freight traffic from the entire Hoboken-Binghamton mainline and consolidating this service within its other operating routes.

[[File:Arrow III train - South Orange NJ.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A train on the Morristown Line. Two Arrow III singles lead an Arrow II pair.]]
The busy [[Morristown Line]] is the only piece of multi-track railroad on the entire 900-mile Lackawanna system that has not been reduced to fewer tracks over the years. In the 1986 photograph to the right, a set of Arrow III single units and an Arrow II married pair runs eastbound after passing the [[NJ Transit]] station in South Orange, New Jersey. The line was triple-tracked nearly a century prior, and remains so today.

The [[Lackawanna Cut-Off]] was abandoned in 1979 and its rails were removed in 1984. The line between Slateford Junction and Scranton remained in legal limbo for nearly a decade, but was eventually purchased, with a single track left in place. The Lackawanna Cut-Off's right-of-way, on the other hand, was purchased by the state of New Jersey in 2001 from funds approved within a $40 million bond issue in 1989. (A court later set the final price at $21 million, paid to owner Gerald Turco of Kearny, New Jersey.) NJ Transit has estimated it would cost $551 million to restore service to Scranton over the Cut-Off, a price which includes the cost of new trainsets. A 7.3-mile section of the Cut-Off between Port Morris and [[Andover, NJ]], however, is currently under construction and is slated to re-open for rail passenger service in 2014.

;'''Delaware and Hudson (Canadian Pacific)'''
In 1979, Conrail sold most of the DL&W in Pennsylvania, with the portion between Scranton and Binghamton bought by the [[Delaware and Hudson Railway]]. The D&H was absorbed into the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] in 1991. To this day, CPR continues to run over the line.

;'''New York, Susquehanna and Western'''
The Syracuse and Utica branches north of Binghamton have been retained, sold by Conrail to the DO Corp., which operates them as the northern division of the [[New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway]]; although, since 2007, the Utica Branch is out-of-service between Chenango Forks and Oxford, New York, due to washouts and little traffic.

;'''Norfolk Southern'''
In 1997, Conrail was bought by [[CSX Transportation]] and the [[Norfolk Southern Railway]]. On June 1, 1999, Norfolk Southern took over many of the Conrail lines in New Jersey, including most of the former DL&W. Norfolk Southern continues to operate local freights on the lines.

;'''New Jersey Transit'''
NJ Transit took over passenger operations in 1983. The state of New Jersey had previously subsidized the routes operated by the E-L, and later Conrail. NJ Transit operates over former DL&W trackage on much of the former [[Morris & Essex Lines|Morris & Essex]] Railroad to Gladstone and Hackettstown. In 2002, the transit agency consolidated the Montclair Branch and Boonton Line to create the [[Montclair-Boonton Line]]. NJ Transit also operates on the original eastern portion of the Boonton Line known as the [[Main Line (NJ Transit)|Main Line]]. NJ Transit's hub is at Hoboken Terminal.

[[File:KearnyTracks.jpg|thumb|200px|Morristown trains use the Kearny tracks to reach Pennsylvania Station]]
;'''[[Morristown Line]]'''
Trains on the Morristown Line run directly into New York's [[Pennsylvania Station]] via the [[Kearny Connection]] opened in 1996. This facilitates part of NJ Transit's popular [[Midtown Direct]] service. Formerly the line ran to a terminal in Hoboken and a transfer was required to pass under the Hudson river into Manhattan. This is the only section of former Lackawanna trackage that has more through tracks now than ever before.

;'''Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Rail Authority'''
With the 1998 breakup of Conrail, what remains of the DL&W main line from Scranton east into Monroe County is owned by the [[Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Rail Authority]] and trains are run by [[Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad]], the designated operator. In 2006, the Monroe County and Lackawanna County Railroad Authorities joined to form the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Rail Authority to help speed up the resumption of New York City-Scranton commuter trains. It is on the Pocono Mainline into [[Moscow, Pennsylvania|Moscow]] and [[Tobyhanna Township, Pennsylvania|Tobyhanna]] that the steam trains of the [[Steamtown National Historic Site]] operate out of Scranton. Since summer 1998, the D-L, under a haulage agreement with the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]], has been running unit Canadian grain trains between Scranton and the Harvest States Grain Mill at Pocono Summit, Pennsylvania. Original sections of the [[Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad]] have been purchased by [[Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania|Lackawanna County]], Pennsylvania, and placed back in service with overhead electrified wiring and Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad overseeing both freight operations and the county's tourist trolley runs, the [[Electric City Trolley Museum]].

;'''Other remnants'''
Most of the main line west of Binghamton also is abandoned, in favor of the Erie's Buffalo line via Hornell, New York. The longest remaining main line sector is Painted Post-Wayland, with shortline service provided by [[B&H Rail Corporation|B&H Railroad]] ([[Bath (village), New York|Bath]] & [[Hammondsport, New York|Hammondsport]], a division of the [[Livonia (village), New York|Livonia]], [[Avon (village), New York|Avon]], and [[Lakeville, New York|Lakeville]] Railroad). Shorter main line remnants are [[Groveland, New York|Groveland]]-Greigsville (Genesee & Wyoming) and [[Lancaster (village), New York|Lancaster]]-[[Depew, New York|Depew]] (Depew, Lancaster & Western). The [[Richfield Springs, New York|Richfield Springs]] branch was scrapped in 1998 after being out of service for years; as of 2012, the new owners of the right-of-way are looking for a new narrow-gauge shortline passenger operator.{{cn|date=June 2012}} The [[Cincinnatus, New York|Cincinnatus]] Branch, abandoned by Erie Lackawanna in 1960, was partially rebuilt for an industrial spur about 1999.


==See also==
==See also==
*[[Phoebe Snow (character)]]
*[[Lackawanna Cutoff]]
*The former station in [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], New York now houses the [[NFTA Rail Maintenance Yard]] of [[Buffalo Metro Rail]]
;Notable employees
*[[Abraham Burton Cohen]]
*[[Abraham Burton Cohen]]
;Short branches
*[[Boonton Branch]]
*[[Boonton Branch]]
*[[Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad]]
*[[Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad]]
*[[Greigsville and Pearl Creek Railroad]]
*[[Greigsville and Pearl Creek Railroad]]
*[[Syracuse and Baldwinsville Railroad]]
*[[Syracuse and Baldwinsville Railroad]]
;Locomotives
*[[Delaware, Lackawanna and Western 1151 class]]
*[[Delaware, Lackawanna and Western 1151 class]]


Revision as of 00:06, 6 November 2012

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
Overview
HeadquartersNew York City, New York
US
Reporting markDLW
LocalePennsylvania
New York
New Jersey
Dates of operation1851–1960
SuccessorErie Lackawanna Railroad
File:DLW1Map.gif
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad System map, circa 1922

The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company (DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey, a distance of 400 miles (640 km). Incorporated in 1853, the DL&W at its peak would have 900 route-miles (1,450 km) of track[1] including branchlines to Ithaca, Syracuse, and Oswego in New York; Bloomsburg and Bangor in Pennsylvania; Chester, Gladstone, and Montclair in New Jersey; and elsewhere. The DL&W was a very profitable company, especially during the first two decades of the twentieth century, but its profitability was ultimately sapped by declining coal traffic, its chief freight commodity; competition from trucks; and high New Jersey taxes. In 1960, the DL&W merged with bitter rival Erie Railroad to form the Erie Lackawanna Railroad (EL). EL spent most of its 16 years in the red and was conveyed to Conrail in 1976. Approximately half of DL&W's former lines remain in operation.

History

Pre-DL&W (1832–1853)

The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's history, like that of many Eastern railroads, is one of mergers, consolidations, and leases. The oldest portion was the Cayuga & Susquehanna Railroad, completed in 1834 between Owego and Ithaca, New York. Their corporate structure dates from the incorporation of the Liggett's Gap Railroad in 1849. That line was built north from Scranton, Pennsylvania to the Susquehanna River and a conneciton with the Erie Railroad at Great Bend, Pennsylvania. It was renamed the Lackawanna & Western (L&W) in 1851, and opened later that year.[2]

Also incorporated in 1849 was the Delaware & Cobb's Gap Railroad to build a line from the Delaware River over the Pocono Mountains to Cobb's Gap, Pennsylvania near Scranton. It was consolidated with the L&W in 1853 to form the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W). It was completed in 1856 and almost immediately made a connection with the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) in Hampton, New Jersey through the Warren Railroad, which was leased by the DL&W in 1857.[2]

Expansion (1853-1899)

DL&W inspection engine, circa 1900

The Morris & Essex Railroad was chartered in 1835 to construct a line from Morristown, New Jersey to New York Harbor. By 1860, it extended west to the Delaware River at Phillipsburg, New Jersey. The DL&W leased it in 1869 to avoid having to utilize the CNJ. That same year, the DL&W purchased the Syracuse, Binghamton & New York Railroad, leased the Oswego & Syracuse Railroad on February 13, 1869. This gave it a branch from Binghamton north and northwest via Syracuse, and incorporated the Valley Railroad to build a connection from Great Bend to Binghamton, New York to avoid having to use Erie's trackage. By 1870, the DL&W leased the Utica, Chenango & Susquehanna Valley Railway and the Greene Railroad. Thus, in a space of several years, the DL&W grew to extend from tidewater to Utica, Syrcause and Lake Ontario.[2]

On March 15, 1876, the DL&W converted its line from 6-foot gauge (chosen because the Liggett's Gap Railroad's connection with the Erie) standard gauge. That year also marked the beginning of a short periof of financial difficulty — not enough to cause reorganization, receivership, or bankruptcy, but enough for suspension of dividend payments. In 1880, Jay Gould (long vilified as the archetypal robber baron,[3]) began buying DL&W stock. His empire reached as far east as Buffalo, New York, east end of the Wabash Railroad, and he saw that the DL&W would be an ideal route to New York if the gap between Binghamton and Buffalo could be closed. DL&W management prevented Gould from acquiring control of the railroad, but Gould's proposed extension to Buffalo was builtas the New York, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, which was incorporated in 1880 and leased to the DL&W in 1882. The result changed the DL&W from a regional railroad to a New York-Buffalo trunk line.[2]

The 1880s brought diversification in DL&W's traffic. Anthracite coal, much of it from railroad-owned mines, had been the reason for the DL&W's existence,[2] shipping upwards of 14% of Pennsylvania's anthracite production.[4] While DL&W's coal traffic increased one-third during this period, their general merchandise traffic (dairy products, cattle, lumber, cement, steel, grain) increased five times that amount.

In addition, the DL&W was rapidly becoming a commuter carrier at its east end.[2] The Pocono Mountains region, in particular, was one of the most popular vacation destinations in the country—especially among New Yorkers—and several large hotels sat along DL&W lines in Northeastern Pennsylvania, generating much passenger traffic. All of this helped justify the DL&W's expansion of its double-track mainline to three or four tracks.[4]

Truesdale era (1899-1940)

Lackawanna R.R. sign is still on display at Hoboken Terminal in Hoboken, New Jersey
The Tunkhannock Viaduct in Nicholson, Pennsylvania, in October 1988, standing 240 feet (73 m) above the creek for which it is named
The Paulinskill Viaduct on the Lackawanna Cut-Off in Hainesburg, New Jersey, was the largest concrete bridge in the world when it was completed in 1910

William Truesdale became president of the DL&W in March 1899[5], and embarked on a rebuilding and upgrading program.[2] The two major accomplishments were a 28.5-mile (46 km) cutoff (Lackawanna Cut-Off) straight across western New Jersey between Slateford Junction and Port Morris Junction that bypassed the "Old Road" (some 40 miles of circuitous, curved, hilly trackage), and a new line north of Scranton. Both new lines were characterized by massive cuts and fills, low grades and graceful reinforced-concrete viaducts — Tunkhannock, Paulins Kill, Martins Creek, and Kingsley. DL&W's suburban territory came in for track elevation, railroad-crossing elimination, and new stations, all as a prelude to the 1930 electrification of lines to Dover, Gladstone and Montclair. Significant Beaux-Arts stations were constructed in Hoboken and Scranton.[2]

By the late 1930s, the New York Central Railroad (NYC) had purchased 25% of DL&W's stock, giving it working — but unexercised — control of the DL&W. During World War II, the DL&W merged a number of its subsidiaries and lease lines for tax purposes. After the war, the DL&W began to purcahse Nickel Plate Railroad stock with an eye to possible merger, but both Nickel Plate and NYC were opposed to it.[2][6]

Further information: Lackawanna Cutoff

Decline (1940–1960)

Post-war changes began to affect eastern railroads, with oil and natural gas becoming the preferred energy sources. Silk and other textile industries shrank as jobs moved to the southern U.S. or overseas. The advent of refrigeration squeezed the business from ice ponds on top of the Poconos. The DL&W had long enjoyed revenues from milk shipments; many stations had a creamery next to the tracks.[4]

Passenger services were also siphoned off due to the surge in personal automobile ownership. In response, the DL&W resurrected Phoebe Snow, the DL&W's symbol in the early part of the century. The company's advertising campaign stated that "hers was the gown that stayed white from morn till night upon the Road of Anthracite," as anthracite was much cleaner-burning than the bituminous coal used by other railroads, such as the Reading Company. Phoebe Snow's return to the DL&W was in the form of a diesel-powered maroon and gray streamliner for daytime service between Hoboken and Buffalo.[2]

Further information: Phoebe Snow (passenger train)

Merger

Main article: Erie Lackawanna Railway

In 1954, the DL&W and parallel rival Erie Railroad began to explore the idea of cooperation and consolidation. The first results were the elimination of duplicate freight facilities at Binghamton and Elmira, New York, and then in 1956 and 1957 the Erie moved its passenger trains from its old Jersey City terminal to DL&W's somewhat newer one at Hoboken.[2] The two railroads eliminated some duplicate track in western New York. The discussions of consolidation turned into merger talks, at first including the Delaware and Hudson Railway.[2][4]

Merger talks were hastened by the effects of Hurricane Diane, which resulted in DL&W's financial situation worsening in August 1955.[2] Damage to DL&W's main line through the Pocono Mountains region (60 miles (97 km) of track) resulted shutdowns lasting over a month and passengers being stranded aboard moving trains.[4] Repair costs totalling $8.1 million ($92,128,696) contributed to deficits which occurred in 1958 and 1959.[2][4] DL&W threatened to discontinue all suburban passenger services if the state of New Jersey would not alleviate the losses and rectify the tax situation (New Jersey charged exorbitantly high taxes on all railroads that transversed the state). The state ultimately responded with minimal subsidy.[2] The January 1959 Knox Mine Disaster all but obliterated what was left of the region's anthracite industry, making the proposed merger look like a promising way out of a difficult situation.[7][8]

The DL&W and Erie formally merged as the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad (EL) on October 17, 1960, and lasted until its absorption into Conrail in 1976. With the excpetion of 1965 and 1966, the EL operated at a deficit during its entire 16-year existence.[2]

Two Arrow III singles lead an Arrow II pair on the Morristown line
Revenue freight traffic, in millions of net ton-miles
Year Traffic
1925 4588
1933 2498
1944 5822
1960 2580
Source: ICC annual reports
Revenue passenger traffic, in millions of passenger-miles
Year Traffic
1925 671
1933 428
1944 623
1960 226
Source: ICC annual reports

See also

References

  1. ^ As of December 31, 1925, DL&W operated on 983 miles (1,582 km) of road (not including 10 miles (16 km) of Lackawanna & Montrose) and 2,713 miles (4,366 km) of track; on December 31, 1956, mileages were 962 and 2,285.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Drury, George H. (1994). The Historical Guide to North American Railroads: Histories, Figures, and Features of more than 160 Railroads Abandoned or Merged since 1930. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 108–110. ISBN 0-89024-072-8. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ Scranton, Philip. "Fine Line Between Thief and Entrepreneur." Teachinghistory.org. Accessed 12 July 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Taber, Thomas T. (1980). The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, The Route of Phoebe Snow, in the Twentieth Century, 1899-1960. Muncy, Pa.: Thomas T. Taber III. ISBN 9780960339822.
  5. ^ "May Succeed Samuel Sloan: William H. Truesdale Will Probably Become the President of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western". The New York Times. February 6, 1899. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  6. ^ "Grouping America's Railroads - The Transportation Act of 1920". Classic Trains: 30–37. Winter 2011.
  7. ^ The Citizens Voice - Knox mine disaster remains in our memory because it is a story of right and wrong
  8. ^ Rachunis, William; Fortney, Gerald W. (January 22, 1959). Report of Major Mine Inundation Disaster, River Slope Mine, May Shaft Section, Schooley Colliery, Knox Coal Company, Incorporated, Port Griffith, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Wilkes-Barre, Pa.: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines.

Further reading

  • King, Shelden S. (1991). The Route of Phoebe Snow: A Story of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad. Flanders, N.J.: Railroad Avenue Enterprises.
  • McCabe, Wayne T.; Gordon, Kate (2003). A Penny A View—An Album of Postcard Views—Building the Lackawanna Cut-off in Sussex and Warren Counties, N.J. Newton, N.J.: Historic Preservation Alternatives.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Delaware,_Lackawanna_and_Western_Railroad&oldid=521590632"