There was no doubt that Tony Harding's was the more posh as compared to the Coney Island. The buildign Harding's was in orginally was the Railway Express building and cars were laoded on to a siding off the second floor, although I personally don't ever recall REA operating there. During WW2 there was an O scale club that had a layout on the top floor of the building. I was a teenager at the time but managed to get into the club as a member. The club was there before Harding. The resturant started to store garbage on the second floor and it became too much for the club to stand. They then moved to the Scrantonian building on Spruce St. off Franklin Ave. Then the club moved again, then to the top floor of what was then the DL&W Motive Power building which still stands at Steamtown. Both Harding's and the Coney Island were something else when a DL&W "5 bagger" coal train came past. All conversation ceased and the buildings shook. The 5 bagger name came from helper engine, road engine, and three pushers on the rear.... Chuck Yungkurth Boulder CO The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List Sponsored by the ELH&TS http://www.elhts.org ------------------------------
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