Re: (erielack) What Locals Called the Railroads (was Re: Re: Lackawanna original steam bell)

["Walt \"ERIE\" Fles" <eriewalt_@_hotmail.com>]

The people that I spoke to range from my age to older.
Some call it the "ERIE", old yocals swear the DLW merger killed the
"ol-ERIE", some call it the "Erie Lackawanna". My dad drove a truck so he
just called trains a "pain in the doopa!"

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "A Samostie" <quahog_@_sprint.ca>
To: <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2002 1:09 PM
Subject: (erielack) What Locals Called the Railroads (was Re: Re: Lackawanna
original steam bell)


> Dear Marty, Robert and Group,
>
> Larson,Martin A. wrote:
> >
> > On Fri, 25 Jan 2002 Robert John Davis <trains_@_robertjohndavis.com wrote
> >
> > >I would bet that he's not that clueless. The years I spent living in
> > >Scranton in the late 1980's, almost every non-buff I knew called the
> > >railroad the E-L. Not sure why, but the E-L name had lasting power.
> >
> > I remember my parents always referring to the Lackawanna Railroad as the
> > D&L.
> >
> > Marty Larson
>
> Interesting topic.  Like Marty's parents, my elder relatives (who were
> scattered about the region between Scranton, Binghamton and Sayre)
> always referred to the Lackawanna as the D&L... probably out of force of
> habit, since the D&H was also nearby.
>
> Although the "Erie-Lackawanna Limited" (including hyphen, in the early
> days) never rang true, the EL name does indeed have staying power.  One
> can't expect non-railfans to know the niceties of pre-merger vs.
> post-merger names... so if you see an ebay auction for an Erie
> Lackawanna timetable from 1908, just smile and nod.  The same applies to
> railfans outside of the EL region... just try explaining anything about
> the pre-merger DL&W or Erie to someone in Phoenix... if they even
> recognize the merged EL name at all, you're doing well!
>
> Although many commuters hated them, the electric MU cars kept the EL
> name alive in North Jersey years after the railroad itself was gone.
> (Many of the push-pull coaches and U34CHs still had EL logos, but never
> bore the EL name).  Until NJT became firmly established, radio
> announcers still referred to the former EL commuter lines as EL.
>
> As for other roads in the region...
> Rarely was there any mention of the NYO&W, even from another older
> family friend who lived in Mayfield for many years... it was just "the
> railroad" (that ain't there no more).  Another elderly family friend who
> lived in Little Ferry for many years always referred to the NYSW as "The
> Suskie", but I have also heard of locals referring to it as "The Squeak"
> (which accurately describes its condition in pre-Delaware Otsego days).
>
> Does the EL name survive in western PA, Ohio and Indiana, or do those
> who remember the railroad at all still call it the Erie?
>
> Cheers,
> Alan <quahog_@_sprint.ca>
>
>

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