I suppose Bridge 60 is more widely known because it had a signal tower in
the middle of it. When most of us refer to "Bridge 60", it is to the towe
(now the new one). I do not know of any other towers built by the DL&W on
a bridge.
On a similar point, we have the Mattes Street Tower at Steamtown . . . now
why do we call it Mattes Street when it is next to Cedar Avenue? Actually
Mattes Street and Cedar Avenue was delineated by the railroad bridge
(Bridge 62), later Cedar Avenue was extended "in name" South of the bridge.
I found a lot of this out when I was trying to get Scranton Fire Department
reports on fires set by vandals in the tower in the 1980s. The fireman I
was talking to got all confused with me calling it the Mattes Street Tower
. . . but that's another story.
Patrick McKnight
Historian/Archivist
Steamtown NHS
570-340-5193
We need history, not to tell us what happened or to explain the past, but
to make the past alive so that it can explain us and make a future
possible.-Alan Bloom
Charles_Walsh_@_Berle
x.com To: Pat_McKnight_@_nps.gov
Sent by: cc: erielack_@_lists.elhts.org,
erielack-owner_@_list erielack-owner@lists.elhts.org, John Payne
s.elhts.org <johndpayne_@_yahoo.com>, Dave Rutan <rutan3@nac.net>
Subject: Re: (erielack) Bridge 60 at Scranton with
an EL Alco... At night!
11/01/2005 12:15 PM
EST
Please respond to
Charles_Walsh
Interesting. The question then becomes where is the starting point (Bridge
1)? Buffalo? And why is Bridge 60 relatively well-known while no other
bridge on the DL&W is known by its number (in common usage)? Perhaps its
close proximity to a major point on the railroad (Scranton headquarters)
had something to do with this?
Pat_McKnight_@_nps.go
v
Sent by: To: John Payne
<johndpayne_@_yahoo.com>
erielack-owner_@_list cc: erielack@lists.elhts.org
s.elhts.org
erielack-owner_@_lists.elhts.org
Dave Rutan
<rutan3_@_nac.net>
Subject:
11/01/2005 11:40 AM Re: (erielack) Bridge 60
at Scranton with an EL Alco... At night!
Please respond to
Pat_McKnight
Just because a "park ranger" says something does not mean it is correct . .
. I can say this being a "park ranger" (I can also make fun of Texans
since I was born in Texas, and the same is true for computrer geeks since I
used to be a computer specialist). Now I do not know personally the
numbering scheme used by the DL&W for its bridges. I took a quick look in
our files, and there appears to be nothing definitive that jumps out at me.
One thing that does jump out at me is that the comment below is incorrect,
since the Washington Avenue Bridge is Bridge 61, and the bridge next to the
Mattes Street Tower is Bridge 62, and they apparently increase as they go
towards Hoboken. Most of the references to Bridge numbers that I can find
are on Bunnell's photographs. As for Bridge 60 itself, the original
architectural drawings for the "old" Bridge 60 Tower is from 1909 . . . it
calls it "Bridge 60".
I think it is more likely that the bridge numbers are from west to east for
the Scranton Division, but I would have to research it a little more to
give a definite answer.
Patrick McKnight
Historian/Archivist
Steamtown NHS
570-340-5193
We need history, not to tell us what happened or to explain the past, but
to make the past alive so that it can explain us and make a future
possible.-Alan Bloom
John Payne
<johndpayne_@_yahoo.c To: Dave Rutan
<rutan3_@_nac.net>,
om> erielack_@_lists.elhts.org
Sent by: cc: (bcc: Pat
McKnight/STEA/NPS)
erielack-owner_@_list Subject: Re: (erielack)
Bridge 60 at Scranton with
s.elhts.org an EL Alco... At night!
11/01/2005 08:16 AM
PST
Please respond to
John Payne
I called out to Steamtown just now and spoke with a Park Service Ranger on
site and asked this question. He said that they've been asked this a
number of times. He said that it is the 60th bridge on the DL&W from
Hoboken, that's why it is so named. Hope this answers the question. As
far as being "provable", there must be some technical drawing set that will
prove out the bridge numbers along the route.
Regards,
John Payne
Milford Connecticut
Dave Rutan <rutan3_@_nac.net> wrote:
Paul and list,
Can anyone give me a definitive (and provable) answer on why it's called
Bridge 60?
Thanks,
Dave
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