Easton | ||||||||||||||||||
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Former Lehigh Valley Railroad station | ||||||||||||||||||
General information | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Third and Canal Street Easton, Pennsylvania | |||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 40°41′10″N75°12′30″W / 40.6861°N 75.2084°W | |||||||||||||||||
Tracks | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
Construction | ||||||||||||||||||
Accessible | No | |||||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||||
Electrified | No | |||||||||||||||||
Former lines | ||||||||||||||||||
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Easton is a defunct train station in Easton, Pennsylvania. It was originally built by the Lehigh Valley Railroad. As of 2017, the structure still exists and was blighted for at least 20 years, since its closing in the 1970s. The city of Easton obtained permission from Norfolk Southern Railway to clean up the property. The location only recently became a focal point for the city with the opening of Interstate 78 in the 1990s. [1]
The Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) had an Easton station of its own on the other side of the Lehigh River.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad opened its original line between Allentown and Easton in 1855; the first passenger train ran between the two cities on June 11. The Lehigh Valley's line ran across the Lehigh River from downtown Easton. [2] For the first year the Lehigh Valley used what the chief engineer Robert H. Sayre described as a "temporary passenger depot". [3] A permanent station, built by the CNJ on Lehigh Valley land, opened toward the end of 1856. [4] This new station had two levels: the upper level was used by the CNJ and Lehigh Valley, while the lower level was used by the Belvidere Delaware Railroad. [5] Sayre characterized this station as "combustible" and proposed replacing it with one made of stone. [6]
The Lehigh Valley's second permanent station opened on the same site on September 14, 1868. The Easton Express considered the new structure "handsome". The new building was made of brick and stood two stories high. The lower level contained a baggage room, waiting rooms, a ticket office and a dining room with attached kitchen. The upper level contained railroad offices. [7]
According to The Lafayette, the student newspaper of Lafayette College, the station stopped receiving passenger trains in 1961, closing to freight traffic in the 1970's due to a decline in demand for coal. On July 24, 1985, its platforms and canopy were removed, and it currently sits abandoned next to the Lehigh River. [8]
Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) river that joins the Delaware River in Easton and serves as the city's eastern geographic boundary with Phillipsburg, New Jersey.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad in the Northeastern United States built predominantly to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania to major consumer markets in Philadelphia, New York City, and elsewhere.
The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central, Jersey Central Lines or New Jersey Central, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States.
The Lehigh and Hudson River Railway (L&HR) was the smallest of the six railroads that were merged into Conrail in 1976. It was a bridge line running northeast–southwest across northwestern New Jersey, connecting the line to the Poughkeepsie Bridge at Maybrook, New York with Easton, Pennsylvania, where it interchanged with various other companies.
The Belvidere-Delaware Railroad was a railroad running along the eastern shore of the Delaware River from Trenton, New Jersey north via Phillipsburg, New Jersey to the small village of Manunka Chunk, New Jersey. It became an important feeder line for the Lehigh Valley Railroad's join to the Central Railroad of New Jersey, which was constructed into Phillipsburg, NJ at about the same time. This connected Philadelphia and Trenton, NJ at one end of the shortline railroad to the rapidly growing lower Wyoming Valley region, and via the Morris Canal or the CNJ, a slow or fast connection to New York City ferries crossing New York Harbor from Jersey City, NJ. In 1871 the CNJ leased various railroads in Pennsylvania, most from the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company allowing the CNJ to penetrate to the upper Wyoming Valley, over some stretches, competing directly with the Lehigh Valley Railroad and with the Lehigh Canal and the trunk road connection of the Belvidere Delaware Railroad to New York became less profitable since Philadelphia connected more easily to Northeastern Pennsylvania thereafter without needing a double-crossing of the Delaware River; a general revenue decline ensued, leading to the Pennsylvania Railroad acquiring the rights, where it served as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) system, carrying mainly anthracite coal and iron ore from northeastern Pennsylvania to population centers along the coast.
North Pennsylvania Railroad was a railroad company which served Philadelphia, Montgomery County, Bucks County and Northampton County in Pennsylvania. It was formed in 1852, and began operation in 1855. The Philadelphia and Reading Railway, predecessor to the Reading Company, leased the North Pennsylvania in 1879. Its tracks were transferred to Conrail and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in 1976.
The Black Diamond, also known as the Black Diamond Express, was the flagship passenger train of the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LV). It ran from New York to Buffalo from 1896 until May 11, 1959, when the Lehigh Valley's passenger service was reduced to four mainline trains.
Duryea Yard is a railroad yard in the Wyoming Valley region of Northeastern Pennsylvania currently operated by the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad. Originally constructed in 1870 by Lehigh Valley Railroad as a turn-around and staging hub for coal transport from the Coal Region to Eastern big-city markets, the yard remains a hub for the energy extraction industry today.
Allentown station is a defunct train station in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was constructed by the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) and Reading Railroad in 1888 and 1889. For most of the late 19th and early 20th century, it provided passenger train service between Allentown and various U.S. Coast locations.
The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad is a defunct railroad that operated in eastern Pennsylvania during the 19th and 20th centuries. The company was a subsidiary of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N). For much of its lifetime, however, it was leased by the Central Railroad of New Jersey.
The Lehigh Line is a railroad line in Central New Jersey, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway. The line runs west from the vicinity of the Port of New York and New Jersey in Manville, New Jersey via Conrail's Lehigh Line to the southern end of Wyoming Valley's Coal Region in Lehigh Township, Pennsylvania.
Phillipsburg Union Station is an active railroad station museum, in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, United States, at 178 South Main Street. Opened in 1914, Union Station was built by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) and shared with the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) and was situated where the lines merged before the bridge crossing the Delaware River. Designed by Frank J. Nies, the architect who produced many of DL&W stations now listed state and federal registers of historic places, the 2+1⁄2 story, 3 bay brick building is unusual example of a union station and a representation of early 20th century Prairie style architecture. The Phillipsburg Union Signal Tower, or PU Tower, is nearby, also restored to its original form, and available for tours.
Allentown was a train station in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was opened by the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1890 and closed in 1961. The building was demolished in 1972. The station was located one block west of the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Allentown station.
Bethlehem is a disused train station in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was constructed by the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) in 1873. Passenger service to the station ended in 1967. A restaurant opened within the station in 1976, and the building has continued to serve that role through several changes in ownership.
Slatington station was a Lehigh Valley Railroad station in Slatington, Pennsylvania, located on the Lehigh Valley main line. The station also served the Lehigh and New England Railroad; the Reading Company at one time had an adjacent station. The Central Railroad of New Jersey had an unconnected station across the Lehigh River in Walnutport, Pennsylvania.
Laurys station, also known as Laury's station, was a Lehigh Valley Railroad station in Laurys Station, Pennsylvania. Both the station and locality drew their name from David Laury, a local notable who established a hotel on the site in 1832 and later served as postmaster.
Catasauqua station was a Lehigh Valley Railroad station in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. It was located on the Lehigh Valley main line.
Lehighton station was a Lehigh Valley Railroad station that was located in Lehighton, Pennsylvania, USA. It was part of the Lehigh Valley main line, and was also the eastern terminus for Hazleton Branch passenger trains, although the branch diverged at Penn Haven Junction, north of Jim Thorpe.
The Jim Thorpe station, also known as the Mauch Chunk station or East Mauch Chunk station, was a Lehigh Valley Railroad station that was located in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.
Flemington Junction station is a defunct Lehigh Valley Railroad station in Flemington Junction, New Jersey. It was located at the junction of the Lehigh Valley's Flemington Branch and Main Line, although the name predated the opening of the branch by eight years.