(erielack) Jan Trains Mag map

[Chris Thurner <chris.thurner_@_adelphia.com>]

Listers:

The Jan. 2002 issue of Trains came in the mail yesterday.  

I was quite pleased not only to see the map of Conrail's routes in 1980, but
to see that the map designer indicated the routes by their original owner
(i.e. pre-Conrail, pre-merger (i.e. EL lines were shown as Erie or DL&W; PC
were shown as NYC, PRR or NH, as appropriate).

Being that I was in college during the time period represented here, I
wasn't exactly as die hard a rail fan as I was in high school or now (wasn't
a great way to impress women or high on the list of priorities of my
roommates, who were more interested in sports or impressing women as ways to
spend their leisure time), so I can't say I'm in as good a position to
assess / critique the accuracy of this map, as I would be if it was a map of
the system at the end of CR.

In any event, I found it helpful to 'get my arms around' where Conrail
operated and what its system was like at the time.  Also, another benefit
was to get a much better understanding of the DL&W's lines in NE PA (e.g.
the B&P), which I have to admit, I really didn't fully understand where they
were located other than I knew the main from the Water Gap up through the
Scranton area to Binghamton.  Also, I was somewhat vague on how the Erie /
El ran west of Meadville through the Youngstown OH area and up to Cleveland.

Now some discussion points:

1.)	It, in my opinion, seems fairly accurate.  The River Line is shown
as inactive, no former EL / Erie line west of Lima, OH, Dayton Branch is
gone, etc;
2.)	It shows another short, and what I presume is, an Erie line around
the NY / PA border west of Jamestown.  The main is shown in the Erie color,
but there is another line shown as either inactive, or I believe under
subsidized operation.  If this is accurate, what line/branch etc. was this?
Is this a former Erie line or an obscure one included in CR?;
3.)	Orange / Rockland Cty., NY area.  There is a short piece of trackage
labeled Erie, just west of the Hudson River and just north / NE of the
Graham Line.  Is this a remnant of the Newburgh branch (unfortunately,
Newburgh is not identified on this map, but my guess is that's were it's
near?  Why was this left active here seeming to be disconnected from the
rest of the former EL line?  Was it left to serve a customer(s) in the area
with access via the West Shore?  What's also unusual about it is, that if
you follow the former L&HR line northeast to Maybrook etc., it disappears
but if your eye follows it, it appears (stress appears) to be part of the
Erie line mentioned earlier.  It may well be the way the map is drawn;
4.)	Look around Dayton / Springfield, OH.  There is a very brief stretch
of trackage labeled Erie (closer to Springfield).  Is this part of the
Dayton branch?  Again as with the one around Newburgh, I presume this
survived to serve a particular customer(s).  Does anyone know who and is
this correctly labeled as an ex-Erie line?;
5.)	Around Rochester it shows trackage rights on the B&O, from what
appears to be Batavia (however, upon closer examination, the Batavia
trackage seems to be indicated as under subsidized operation.  It's hard to
tell where all the surrounding B&O trackage was, as with most of the other
non-CR roads, they are not shown, except in very minute amounts.  Is the
trackage around Batavia ex-Erie, ex-DL&W or another road (e.g. NYC or PRR?).
Is this now one of the GVT lines or run by another regional?
6.)	It showed the ex-DL&W line to Syracuse as being severed from, I
believe it was Chenango (or somewhere N of Bingo) to Cortland.  Was service
to Cortland provided out of Syracuse off of the former NYC?  When the NYSW
took over this line, was the track put back into service (or rebuilt if it
had been torn up?) between those two points?  I don't see how the NYSW could
have served Syracuse without it.
7.)	To touch on a recent thread.  The NYC line to Newberry Jct. from
Painted Post / Erwins, NY is clearly shown and you get a good appreciation
of the way it interacted with the Reading and the PRR in the Williamsport,
PA area.

Those are my thoughts and observations.  I welcome any info and further
discussions on this.  Also, any other observations I may have overlooked
would be most appreciated.

Regards,

Chris


Christopher R. Thurner 
Adelphia Communications 
One North Main Street 
Coudersport, PA 16915 
Tel: (814) 274-9830 
Fax: (814) 274-0413 
Email: chris.thurner_@_adelphia.com

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