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RE: (erielack) My Steamtown trip-



Al,

You asked for a railfan tourguide for the 'hardcore'........Being in Florida 
(where all good RR employees go) it's hard to be accurate, but the last time 
I was in Binghamton (1999) the former DL&W roundhouse still existed in 
Conklin, NY & I had no trouble going into the yard from Conklin road - just 
before the bridge over the tracks as u go south - bear to the right & down a 
hill to track level & then there is a road to the left as the county road 
goes uphill. This lets u into the main part of the 'New' (1926) DL&W yard or 
west end as we referred to it. When I was there, the B'BY' tower was still 
being used for something altho I don't know if it wwas still controlling the 
switches on the main & at the east & west ends of the yard. CP had built a 
new servicing facility in back of the tower & I walked into their ofc. & 
explianed that I'd toiled there many years, but they didn't know anything 
about former ops. I WAS directed to the former DL&W station uptown which had 
a small office on the second floor at the end of the corridor & found it was 
used by Condomrail where some of the guys I knew hung onto the ONLY yard job 
left. I believe it served the former DL&W tracks that went to Vestal. ...not 
sure if they worked the ERIE side or not.
   For old times sake in Binghamton, go to the former D&H roundhouse on 
Broad Ave. This onetime steam stronghold may or may not exist, but was busy 
in the 60s & 70s. ...The former DL&W roundhouse in Conklin was surrounded by 
a chainlink fence & I understand was involved in a dog-in- the -manger fight 
over a real eastate deal. I thought about climbing thru the fence because 
the office was loaded with old paperwork in old wooden cupboards & I doubt 
if conrail hauled it off.

HEADING SOUTH - - -On the ERIE side, a trip to Susquehanna is always fun 
since the old station still exists & is partially restored. There's a 
restaurant & u can eat & make pretend ur waiting for the ERIE LIMITED. Not 
much left of the town or shops, but ur only a couple miles from Starucca 
Viaduct & that's worth a trip & some fotos. Unfortunately, the D&H no longer 
runs beneath, but u can still walk the viaduct (BE CAREFUL) and reflect that 
this was built about the time of the Mexican war.

DL&W side----Go south on rte 11, which in many places follows the OLD 
alignment of the DL&W before the cutoff was built.Hallstead station still 
exists. When I worked at Binghamton, there was a 7am train E/B that made the 
first stop at Hallstead. For a while, the station was a restaurant, but it 
is now a business place (architecture or something). As with many DL&W 
stations, it was built for the ages & is right next to a highway underpass 
for 3 tracks, also built of concrete. If u get there, stand trackside & 
looking across the tracks, & realize that there was a huge yard right there 
up until the 20s. All gone now.Next station is New Milford which I heard  
burned (it was wooden). As u leave town, there's a typical concrete arch 
bridge across the tracks & just a few more miles brings u to 
Alford....there's a huge viaduct slightly smaller than the Nicholson as well 
as a towerand a concrete station on the west side of the tracks. It is from 
this point that the Montrose branch weevilled up the side of the mountain 
northwards until it turned inland to head for Montrose. This was still 
visible in the 60s when the leaves were off the trees & might make an 
interesting hike (watch out for rattlers).  I used my switch key to enter 
the tower in 1965 or so & saw on the floor messages dating back to the 1920s 
"Engine - - - will not steam acc leaking flues". This was the engine 
assigned to the Montrose local. I now wish I'd had the prescence of mind to 
take a few.
     Keep going south & come to the town of Hop Bottom. On the west side of 
this small town is the well-built station & rotary substation for the 
NORTHERN ELECTRIC. Alsao of concrete, I used to see it in the town far below 
from the engine cab of a covered wagon on our way to Binghamton.
I never went there when I was on the ELRR, but in 1999, myself & a fellow 
engineer from Amtrak went there & parked near the building. An elderly man 
sat on what had been the platform in a rocking chair (You could see the 
trolley ROW going south thru the trees) and as we walked up he said,"Can I 
help you boys?" I explained that I had worked on the DL&W & was curious 
about the station. The man was blind, but got his cane & guided us into the 
building where his wife explained they had bought the old concrete station 
from the trustees for (I think)$3500.00 in the late 40s.
They had their living room in the baywindow where the agent had been & she 
took us to the huge room in the rear where there had been a rotary converter 
to step down the power for the interurban.
   The DL&W station was up on the high cutoff, & in the valley, the highway 
has beenrealigned, but if you seek out the old alignment, you'll find the 
'old line' that we used when bringing cars down into the valley for 
Nicholson & Hop Bottom.

I got to go.
more later

Walt Smith

>From: Al Reibel <areibel_@_netscape.net>
>Reply-To: Al Reibel <areibel_@_netscape.net>
>To: "'erielack_@_lists.railfan.net'" <erielack@lists.railfan.net>
>Subject: (erielack) My Steamtown trip-
>Date: Sat, 09 Jul 2005 10:04:03 -0400
>
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>
>Hi Gang,
>We went for a road trip earlier in the week, my first trip to Steamtown!
>   We did get to ride behind 2317, and there were a couple other plesant
>surprises- I hadn't realized that an Erie Business car was there- icing
>on the cake!
>I do have a couple questions though- on one of the storage tracks
>(towards the Mall) there was a boxcar painted in G/M, with the remnants
>of an electrical service connection.  Anyone know the history of that
>one?  I'll attach a picture.
>And second, part of our trip was through Corning (Glass Museum), Elmira
>(Warbird Museum), then down to Scranton.  I saw a lot of familiar names
>of places on the way through, but didn't have a lot of time to explore.
>   Can anyone recommend some EL relevant sights to see for the next trip?
>   I can remember different times on this list that there were things
>along Rt.17/I86, around Binghamton, Clarks Summit, etc.. but how about a
>"railfan tourguide" for the hardcore?
>Thanks!
>Al Reibel
>
>
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