Ok gentlemen, As you know, I ask the darndest questions at times. I pulled a copy of Bill Caloroso's Elmira Branch book off the shelf, which I bought way back when I was stuck on my Penn Central fix. (before I found god, and the erie lackawanna, hehe). Anyway, while thumbing back though time, I realized many a PRR/PC train traveled through Elmira on the Erie, Which leads me to believe that this was a very busy railroad town in its day, and would make for an exellant theme to base a layout on. But, onto the barrage of questions.. 1.) HO tower and Shannon Interlocking, who owned these? PRR or Erie? 2.) Was Shannon Interlocking controlled from HO tower, or was it controlled from a different tower elsewhere? 3.) What type of signals governed the movement of trains over this segment of the Erie? I would assume semaphores in the beginning, but what else? 4.) With the DLW mainline nearby, how did the consolidation arrangement work? I remember reading and hearing of both the Erie and DLW consolidating mainlines, to reduce maintenance costs. Was the DLW abandoned in favor of the Erie in this area, and if so, when? Pre merger or post merger. 5.) When the Tioga Division was in service (pre 1942) I would assume that the Erie had trackage rights from Shannon Interlocking to "State Line Junction" via the PRR main. Am I right? "State Line Junction was controlled by who? PRR or Erie? 6.) Did PRR passenger trains use the very ornate Erie Depot in Elmira, or just "pass through the neighborhood".? 7.) Ward LaFrance... PRR had a special boxcar built for this company to move ladder trucks. Did Erie or the DLW have an equivalent? Also, how else was the fire apparatus moved by rail? Flatcar? 8.) Mention is also made about PRR having switching rights into some of the customers in Elmira proper. How was this arrangement handled? Was it 1 switch crew per customer at one time, or did both PRR and Erie switch crews work together as a team to finish the work quickly? 9.) American Bridge Company is said to be a foundry of sorts. Was this an electric furnace? (I can't picture a BOF there, thats why I ask) Or did they just re-shape steel into structural shapes. 10.) Holding Point (Horseheads Industrial Complex). Though on the PRR line, mention is again made in the book of an Erie switcher "prowling" the area. How did the Erie access this? Via the PRR or via the Lehigh Valley? 11.) From the Map in the book, it appears that the DLW yard in Elmira was the largest, dwarfing both the Erie yard, and the small LV yard. My first impression is that DLW Elmira was a division point or something, as it has a roundhouse and the sorts, where as Erie Elmira was more a staging yard for the Elmira Locals to work out of. I'm not exactly sure what I am asking here, maybe a comparison between the two yards in terms of trackage, capacity, etc. I guess thats enough fat to chew on for the next few days. This ought to make the list exciting. And if any of our resident employees from the time have some stories to share, please do so, I do enjoy them,. Joseph D. Fisher ELHS #3320 New Jersey Transit / Norfolk Southern ~Former Erie Lackawanna Territory~ - -------------Boonton Line--------------- Milepost B-21.4, Boonton Turnpike Mountain View, New Jersey ------------------------------ End of EL List Daily V3 #1119 *****************************
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