Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad

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Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad
Official logo - D-L - TM GVT Rail - uploaded by co. officer.png
Alco RS-32 2035 Diamond Branch Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad in Scranton, Pennsylvania.jpg
DL RS32 #2035 switches the Diamond Branch in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Locomotive was built as NYC 8035
Overview
Headquarters Batavia, New York (GVT Corporate headquarters), Scranton, Pennsylvania (DL main office)
Reporting mark DL
Locale Northeastern Pennsylvania
Dates of operation1993Present
Predecessor Conrail
Delaware and Hudson Railway
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length88 miles (142 kilometres)
Other
Website Genesee Valley Transportation Co., Inc.

The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad( reporting mark DL) is a shortline railroad operating in Northeastern Pennsylvania, especially the Scranton area.

Contents

DL began service in August 1993 and is the designated operator for 88 miles (142 kilometres) of trackage in Lackawanna, Wayne, Northampton, and Monroe Counties. It is a subsidiary of holding company Genesee Valley Transportation Company, Inc. (GVT). It was founded by Jeffrey Baxter, Charles Riedmiller, John Herbrand, Michael Thomas and David Monte Verde who continue to make up its corporate ownership. [1]

Overview

GVT began in 1985 in upstate New York marketing rail-related services to both private and public industry throughout the northeast.

Under contract with the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Rail Authority who owns the rail assets and properties. [2] GVT operates within Lackawanna, Wayne, Monroe, and Northampton counties from Scranton northeast to the city of Carbondale on the former Delaware & Hudson Railway's Penn Division mainline (now called the Carbondale Mainline), from Scranton southeast to Slateford Junction in Monroe County on the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad's (DL&W) Southern Division mainline (now called the Pocono Mainline), and from Scranton southwest to Montage Mountain and Minooka on lines of the former Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad electric interurban streetcar line, known as the Laurel Line. The line is still known as the Laurel Line with the Minooka Industrial Track connected to it.

As of 2022 there are about 25 active rail industries in the region with the possibility of several new rail dependent industrial prospects for the region. [2]

These are the lines hosting the seasonal passenger trains of both the Steamtown National Historic Site, the Electric City Trolley Museum, and the Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society. The Pocono Mainline has hosted a number of excursions out of Steamtown, including excursions of the Nickel Plate 765. [3] [4]

In 2015 the authority extended DL's lease for five years. [5]

Poconos expansion

The DL interchanges with Norfolk Southern Railway in Taylor, Pennsylvania, Norfolk Southern in Portland, Pennsylvania via Slateford Junction near Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania, and the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad via Duryea Yard outside Pittston, Pennsylvania, thus connecting to the Great Lakes via Sayre Yard and New Jersey and New York City via former Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) assets.

In the summer of 1998, under a haulage agreement with Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), the DL had operated unit Canadian grain trains between Taylor, Pennsylvania and the Ardent Mills Grain Mill at Pocono Summit, Pennsylvania. Operated by DL crews, these trains averaged approximately 52 cars. The grain trains to Ardent Mills Grain Mill still continue, but the haulage agreement is now with Norfolk Southern since NS now owns Taylor Yard.

Equipment roster

The DL is renowned as a bastion for both rebuilding and operating 50+ year-old ALCO diesels on a daily basis. It is the only railroad operating four ALCO RS-3s and the owner of the only ALCO C636 in existence.

A new unified color scheme of gray and white with red and yellow stripes was to be applied to GVT system units beginning in 2006 as they exit the South Scranton shops; the most recent being rebuilt ALCO C425 No. 2457 in the summer of 2016. No. 3000 appeared in September 2016.

Recent activity

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scranton, Pennsylvania</span> City in Pennsylvania, United States

Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming Valley, and the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 562,037 as of 2020. It is the sixth largest city in Pennsylvania. The contiguous network of five cities and more than 40 boroughs all built in a straight line in Northeastern Pennsylvania's urban area act culturally and logistically as one continuous city, so while the city of Scranton itself is a smaller town, the larger unofficial city of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre contains nearly half a million residents in roughly 200 square miles. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is the cultural and economic center of a region called Northeastern Pennsylvania, which is home to over 1.3 million residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad</span> Former U.S. Class 1 railroad

The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey, a distance of 395 miles (636 km). Incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1853 primarily for the purpose of providing a connection between the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and the large markets for coal in New York City. The railroad gradually expanded both East and West, eventually linking Buffalo with New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erie Lackawanna Railway</span> Transport company

The Erie Lackawanna Railway, known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad</span>

The Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad is a short line railroad that operates in Livingston County and Monroe County in New York, United States. The railroad interchanges with CSX at Genesee Junction in Chili, New York, the Rochester and Southern Railroad (RSR) at Genesee Junction and the RSR's Brooks Avenue Yard in Gates, New York, and with the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum at Industry, New York. Their primary freight consists of food products - grains and corn syrup. In 1997, the Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad was selected as Short Line Railroad of the Year by industry trade journal Railway Age. The LAL is also the parent company for the Bath and Hammondsport Railroad, the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad and the Ontario Midland Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steamtown National Historic Site</span> Railroad museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania

Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located on 62.48 acres (25.3 ha) in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is built around a working turntable and a roundhouse that are largely replications of the original DL&W facilities; the roundhouse, for example, was reconstructed from remnants of a 1932 structure. The site also features several original outbuildings dated between 1899 and 1902. All the buildings on the site are listed with the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Yard-Dickson Manufacturing Co. Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad</span> Former rail electric streetcar in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.

The Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad, more commonly known as the Laurel Line, was a Pennsylvania third rail electric interurban streetcar line which operated commuter train service from 1903 to 1952, and freight service until 1976. Its main line ran from Scranton to Wilkes-Barre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lackawanna Cut-Off</span> Rail line between Port Morris, New Jersey, and Slateford, Pennsylvania

The Lackawanna Cut-Off was a rail line built by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W). Constructed from 1908 to 1911, the line was part of a 396-mile (637 km) main line between Hoboken, New Jersey, and Buffalo, New York. It ran west for 28.6 miles (46.0 km) from Port Morris Junction in Port Morris, New Jersey, near the south end of Lake Hopatcong about 45 miles (72 km) west-northwest of New York City, to Slateford Junction in Slateford, Pennsylvania near the Delaware Water Gap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Bridge Branch</span>

The High Bridge Branch was a branch line of the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) that started in High Bridge, New Jersey at a connection with the CNJ main line and continued north to iron-ore mines in Morris County. The High Bridge Branch line followed the South Branch of the Raritan River for much of its duration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric City Trolley Museum</span> Transport museum in Scranton, Pennsylvania

The Electric City Trolley Museum is a transport museum located in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, next to the Steamtown National Historic Site. The museum displays and operates restored trolleys and interurbans on former lines of the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad, which are now owned by the government of Lackawanna County and operated by the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority</span>

The Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority (PNRRA) is a bi-county creation of both Lackawanna and Monroe counties to oversee the use of common rail freight lines in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The designated freight operator of the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Rail Authority lines is the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad and tourism operator is Steamtown National Historic Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel</span> Hotel in Pennsylvania, United States

The Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel, built as the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Station, is a French Renaissance style building in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was built as a train station and office building in 1908; closed in 1970; listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on December 6, 1977; and renovated and reopened as a hotel in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lackawanna Old Road</span>

The Lackawanna Old Road was part of the original mainline of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W). Opened in 1856, it was for a half-century a part of the line connecting the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In 1911, the DL&W cut 11 miles (18 km) off the route by opening the Lackawanna Cut-Off, which branched off from existing track at the new Port Morris Junction and Slateford Junction. The 39.6-mile (63.7 km) stretch of existing track between these junctions was relegated to secondary status and became known as the "Old Road".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Stroudsburg station</span>

East Stroudsburg is an historic train station built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1856. The station served as the local stop for both East Stroudsburg and Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. The depot, recently known locally as the Dansbury Depot for the restaurant that used the building, is located on Crystal Street in East Stroudsburg. Service to East Stroudsburg ended on January 6, 1970, when the Erie Lackawanna Railway discontinued the Lake Cities. A proposal is currently in place to extend NJ Transit service to a rebuilt East Stroudsburg station. In spring 2021, Amtrak announced plans for potential New York–Scranton route. It is currently used by some of Steamtown National Historic Site's excursion trains.

Lackawanna Transit Center is the main bus station and a proposed train station in Scranton, Pennsylvania, operated by the County of Lackawanna Transit System (COLTS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pocono Mountain station</span>

Pocono Mountain is a proposed New Jersey Transit Rail Operations (NJT) station located in Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania and is part of a site that was formerly utilized as a summer camp. The proposed station site, which will include a 1,000-space surface parking lot, is located northwest of a multi-phased planned development for this area. Access will be from PA Route 611 via Pocono Municipal Road/Mount Pocono Road and a local access road and the platform would be situated east of the track.

<i>Phoebe Snow</i> (train) American passenger train (1949–1966)

Phoebe Snow was a named passenger train which was once operated by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) and, after a brief hiatus, the Erie Lackawanna Railway (EL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project</span>

The Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project is a New Jersey Transit and Amtrak effort to restore passenger service to the Lackawanna Cut-Off in northwest New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Pacific 2317</span> Preserved CP G-3c class 4-6-2 locomotive

Canadian Pacific 2317 is a class "G-3c" 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive built by the Montreal Locomotive Works for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gravel Place, Pennsylvania</span> Former rail yard in Pennsylvania, U.S.

Gravel Place is a location within Arlington Heights, Pennsylvania, about three miles (4.8 km) northeast of East Stroudsburg. It is neither incorporated nor a census-designated place, but has a name recognized by the USGS. From the 1880s to about 1950, it was a railroad yard of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) on its mainline from Hoboken Terminal in New Jersey, which served New York City by ferry, to Scranton, Pennsylvania, continuing northwest into New York State with its western terminus in Buffalo, New York. It is just north of present Mill Creek Road.

References

  1. R.R.B. Ruling 08/16/96
  2. 1 2 pnrra.org, retrievee 2022-05-05
  3. Crosby, Dave (August 28, 2015). "TRAINS Chase guide: Nickel Plate Road 765, Scranton, Pa., to the Delaware Water Gap". Trains . Retrieved 11 April 2020.(subscription required)
  4. "Spanning the Gap: Pocono Mainline Rail Excursion, Delaware Lackawanna & Western Railroad" (PDF). National Park Service . Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  5. "Delaware-Lackawanna signs five-year operating agreement extension". Trains . 28 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.(subscription required)