[Date Prev][Date Next]
[Chronological]
[Thread]
[Top]
RE: (erielack) Northern Electric
Yes, never "closed," but I believe track was laid north of Montrose, just not all the way. Maybe
not even very far. Grading was done, I recall my dad pointing it out on one of the family
excursions back home from visting the in-laws cottage on Heart Lake.
SGL
> -----Original Message-----
> From: erielack-owner_@_lists.elhts.org
> [mailto:erielack-owner_@_lists.elhts.org] On Behalf Of Michael Connor
> Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 2:41 PM
> To: wsmith5957_@_hotmail.com; erielack@lists.elhts.org;
> Alfred_Runte_@_msn.com
> Cc: bvolkmer_@_herzogcompanies.com; OverCrailway@aol.com;
> laurellines_@_gmail.com
> Subject: RE: (erielack) Northern Electric
>
> WS
> For a time the NE (or Scranton & Binghamton) was owned by the
> Binghamton Railways Company which did plan to link the two.
> IIRC a power line linked the two properties but the gap from
> Montrose to Binghamton was never closed by rail. MJC
>
>
> >From: "Dad" <wsmith5957_@_hotmail.com>
> >Reply-To: "Dad" <wsmith5957_@_hotmail.com>
> >To: "Erie Lackawanna Mail List" <erielack_@_lists.elhts.org>,
> "Alfred
> >Runte" <Alfred_Runte_@_msn.com>
> >CC: "Bill Volkmer" <bvolkmer_@_herzogcompanies.com>,
> "Bill Robinson"
> ><OverCrailway_@_aol.com>, "Neil Weinberg"
> <laurellines_@_gmail.com>
> >Subject: (erielack) Northern Electric
> >Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2005 17:08:03 -0400
> >
> >NOTE: This message had contained at least one image attachment.
> >To view or download the image(s), click on or cut and paste the
> >following URL into your web browser:
> >
> >
> >http://lists.railfan.net/listthumb.cgi?erielack-10-23-05
> >
> >Northern_Electric_car.jpg (image/jpeg, 383x223 27834 bytes, BF: 3.07
> >ppb) N.E.carshops.jpg (image/jpeg, 322x213 15652 bytes, BF:
> 4.38 ppb)
> >N.E.Carshops_south_end.jpg (image/jpeg, 323x154 15172 bytes,
> BF: 3.28
> >ppb) N.E.carshops_overall_view_from_the_west_side.jpg (image/jpeg,
> >322x109 11774 bytes, BF: 2.98 ppb)
> >
> >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 offi!
> > ce & 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
>
>
>
> The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
> Sponsored by the ELH&TS
> http://www.elhts.org
>
The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
Sponsored by the ELH&TS
http://www.elhts.org
------------------------------