Re: (erielack) Lackawaxen, PA

["Paul Brezicki" <doctorpb_@_bellsouth.net>]

Operations on the former Del Div'n probably had changed considerably by the 
mid-70's. The DD block(excluding Jeff Jct) was 3-9 cars on the consists I've 
reviewed; the reduced traffic may have all been handled by the local.  The 
WB train handling DD traffic was PO-87, which I think was generally a 
daytime move in the 70's.

Paul B

During the early 1970 Pre-Conrail Era, the Honesdale Branch local was called
just that and to my knowledge had no symbol. Yes, the branch was part of the
Delaware Division.  It was part of the Wyoming Division back when it
continued to Scranton and then became part of the Delaware when the line was
severed.  During this same 1970's period there was a local turn freight from
Port Jervis to Deposit.  I saw it many times as a teenager and it usually
had a an old passenger GP-7, about 7 cars and a caboose.  It left Port in
the morning on M-T-W (I think) and worked its way to Deposit.  It did not
usually carry any cars for the Honesdale Local at Lackawaxen. Those cars
were left by a through freight heading East.  There was another through
westbound freight that picked up the Lackawaxen empties.  I am not sure of
those through freight symbols but they were usually at night. The Deposit
local  turn did work at Shohola (Narrowsburg Lumber and Shohola Feed) and
then headed to Narrowsburg to work the Narrowsburg Lumber Yard there as well
as Narrowsburg Feed.  Then they continued west doing local work and reached
Deposit at around 5pm.  The crew rested and the train returned the next
morning to Port doing work along the way.  I would guess that the two
through freights that stopped at Lackawaxen would also stop at Deposit to
pick-up/set-off cars for the Port-Deposit turn.  Sometimes, I saw the
Honesdale Branch local go to Shohola to drop off a Narrowsburg Lumber car
that was left at Lackawaxen by mistake by the through job.  It had to be
very confusing for the train crews as Narrowsburg Lumber got lots of cars of
lumber, plywood, trim, doors, windows, shingles, tarpaper, nails, paint and
hardware by rail for each of their yards at Shohola, Honesdale and
Narrowsburg.  Sometimes, there was as many as 8 cars being unloaded at one
time at Shohola alone.  I can remember being at the Shohola lumber yard on a
Saturday morning to pick up some lumber and I watched the eastbound local
drill cars and then wait for a through freight in the short siding there.
After the flood in 1955, the mainline through Shohola was single tracked
from West Shohola, across the re-built single track bridge over Shohola
Creek to East Shohola, but they maintained a short siding at Shohola for the
local to do a run around and get out of the way once in a while.

I spent lots of time on this section of the EL as a kid.  It still had lots
of trains running in the late 60's - early 70's and the old Delaware did
lots of local business back then.

Jim Leighty
 


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