(erielack) Re: Northern Electric

[Neil Weinberg <laurellines_@_gmail.com>]

The reprint of the Northern Electric book is now available for sale! Neil
Weinberg

On 10/23/05, Dad <wsmith5957_@_hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> I just got my copy of the LAUREL LINES (NRHS _ L&WV Chapter) newsletter
> and they are arrandging to have the book NORTHERN ELECTRIC reprinted. It's
> been out of print for a while and is a fascinaing histry of this interurban
> which ran from Scranton to Montrose. It followed the old DL&W until it got
> to the village of Hop Bottom then veered into the mountains to reach
> Montrose. I think the originaal plan was to reach Binghamton. I'd heard of
> it before I worked on the DL&W side and when working west from Scranton on a
> freight, you could begin to see traces after ur train crossed the Nicholson
> viaduct. You'd look across the valley and especially when the leaves were
> off the trees, you could see the remains of the right of way. The view was
> especially good from the firemans side of the cab going North. When we
> reached the town of Hopbottom (Foster on the RR), you could see on the west
> side of the town a well-constructed concrete building that was out of place
> among the frame houses. This was the station & substation of the Northern
> Electric. Like the Lackawanna stations, it was of concrete and built for the
> ages. I kept meaning to drive by and look at it up close, but somehow during
> my EL career, I never did. In the late 90s, I was retired & living in Fla.
> and came up to the old stomping grounds with a friend who was an Amtrak
> engineer out of DC. I knew a guy from highschool in West Pittston who worked
> at steamtown (Richard Kithen) and the 3 of us made a pilgrimage up to look
> at the remains. When we got to Hop bottom, a left turn took us up a road
> that led to the old station. We approached up a driveway that had been the
> ROW and stopped the car. There was an elderly man sitting in a rocker on the
> platform who rose and said "Can I help you?" I realized that he was blind
> and explained that I'd worked on the 'DL and finally had come to see the old
> N.E. station. he called his wife and they very graciously took us on a
> tour of their home. The ticket office & bay window was their living room and
> they'd made the old station into a comfortable home. I asked about the back
> where the rotary converters were for the substation and the lady said she
> painted there- an amateur artist. When she took us in back you could see
> where the huge motor-generator sets had been mounted. It was an interesting
> visit and upon leaving, if you looked south, you could see the embankment
> going off thru a canopy of trees toward Nicholson.
>  I DID stop and take some photos of the old carshops and powerplant while
> working in Binghamton in 1968. They are here along with a picture of one of
> the carsthat ran there.
> This is near Dalton and I don't know if they still exist. When I took
> these fotos, some kind of electrical supply co. was using the buildings and
> there were transformers, etc scattered around the grounds. If you drove
> North from here, you'd come across the abutments where the old line crossed
> the hiway and a little further on on the west side of the road was a 2-story
> building that had been the offices. I've often wondered why the Scranton
> Chapter of NRHS doesn't run a charter bus photo safari for traction fans to
> see what used to be here. You could combine the fun of seeing the massive
> viaducts of the DL&W & other RR remnants.
>  Regards to all,
> Walter E. Smith
>
>


	The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
	Sponsored by the ELH&TS
	http://www.elhts.org

------------------------------