Re: (erielack) Special Day? What if?

["Gary R. Kazin" <gkazin_@_yahoo.com>]

- --- Fred Stratton <erief7_@_msn.com> wrote:
> Good point there. If that went through and the Erie stayed by
> itself and stayed in JC (talking in the early 50's) the Lackawanna
> would probably survived longer than the Erie, still be around and
> not in Conrail...hmmmmm...

A number of factors were considered as the Erie and DLW began to
share facilities, leading to the merger:

- - The Erie's Jersey City passenger terminal was in need of major
overhaul or replacement.
- - The Erie's ferry slips were in terrible shape and needed to be
replaced.
- - The Erie didn't want to spend the money on rehabilitating either
its terminal or its ferry service; they didn't have it.
- - The Lackawanna's ferries were deteriorating and expensive to run. 
The money wasn't there to improve them.

When PC went bankrupt, one factor that caused nearly all the other
railroads in the Northeast to follow was the one-sided nature of
bankruptcy protection.  An example was car charges.  Freight cars
went everywhere regardless of who owned them, and the railroad that
they were ON at a given time paid the owner for their use.

In bankruptcy, PC could demand immediate payment for use of its cars
but didn't have to immediately pay the owners of foreign cars running
on PC.  The owners could not 'net' these payments, offsetting what PC
owed them against what they owed PC.  They had to pay PC in full but
wait for their own payments.  That pulled a lot of cash out of the
other railroads, and it made it impossible for them to continue. 
Once they all declared bankruptcy, they were on equal footing and did
not have to pay PC immediately!


What cargoes would a surviving Lackawanna carry today?  Coal was a
big part of the DLW's business through WW II, but it's virtually gone
here.  Would there be a market for anthracite for power plants, or
export like NS and CSX do at Baltimore and Norfolk?

How would a surviving DLW participate in intermodal traffic that runs
on CSX and NS?  How would this traffic get onto DLW, given that it
only went to Buffalo - would it be like today's NYS&W, a niche player
used mostly for detours?

Gary R. Kazin
DL&W Milepost R35.7
Rockaway, New Jersey

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