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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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