Re: (erielack) erie lackawanna yards

["Bill K." <pontiac_@_dreamscape.com>]

How about the Geddess Street yards in Syracuse NY?   Bounded by Erie
Boulevard, Geddes Street, Fayette Street and West Streets in the city, the
yard was DL&W on the south side and NYC/PC (West Shore) on the north side.
Today, just a single track remains.   There was storage and switching for
once-numerous local industries, and I am sure some work on cars bound for
Allied Chemical and the industries at SJ.  Plus the Auburn Branch of the PC
seems to have connected into here someplace as well.  This yard had loco
facilities, roundhouse and turntable.   Further downtown there was more yard
trackage also, near the station - the elevated ROW alone has room for 6
tracks across in this area, and tracks on both sides of the ROW make the
steep transition down to street level.

Near SJ you have the Auburn yard and a second yard. The Auburn side is NYC,
but the second one has a DL&W mast signal at the end of the lead to it.  I
can't remember the name of the yard, but it's about 6 tracks wide and used
to store hoppers for the Salt City Ventures power plant.  In one of these
yards is an Allied scale test car and a string of inter-plant tank cars,
contents unknown, idle since 1986 or earlier.   The Church and Dwight plant
has it's own storage yard as well.  This plant closed and should be pretty
well demolished by now, it was in the process of coming down the last time I
drove by.

In Jamesville there were 4 or 5 tracks for use with the quarry, car storage
etc. plus there was a cement plant here and a lumber yard.   NYS&W still
stores cars here, and the cement plant tracks are still used for storage
also.

Oswego had a yard (West Yard?) as well, although I don't know how much
lasted into EL days.  It was over on the southwest side and had locomotive
facilities (seems like a roundhouse and fueling but no turntable).  Today
there is a yard near Baldwinsville, used to work the Budweiser brewery and
other branch traffic - but I believe it's of a post C-day construction.
Above here there is only two customers, a food warehouse in Fulton and the
tank farm.  From what I recall reading traffic was pretty light for the EL
too.

In Utica you had a yard and frieght house there in the city also, with
locomotive facilities and turntable.   Used for local work in Utica and out
on the line, possibly some interchange with the NYC/PC.


There may have been a yard of sorts in Norwich; there still are a few rusty
tracks that aim over towards the NYO&W r-o-w on the south side of town.

Bill K.


- ----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Michael Riley" <wdperson_@_hotmail.com>
>
> >Hello everyone happy new year,
> >
> >With apologies to everyone who has seen this same thread on the
> >railroad.net
> >forum, I am posting the following list of EL yards to the mailing list,
> >trying to fill in yards that may have been missed or important
information
> >that has been left out. What I am trying to do is create a list of Erie
> >Lackawanna Rail yards.  Anything that could be classified as a yard such
as
> >a major system classification yard or a yard that stored cars for local
> >businesses.  I have included the divisions as best I know them, then the
> >name of the yard or location and then purpose of the yard
(classification,
> >etc.).  I have received some input on the purpose or need for the yard
and
> >I
> >have included this after the purpose of the yard in the following list.
> >Also, if you know if the yard had any extras (diesel shops, car repair,
> >etc.).  Also, what is a divison point yard (i.e. Hornell)?
> >
> >

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