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Re: (rshsdepot) Erie in Scranton, PA

Here's a little more: Scranton was certainly served by the Erie's Wyoming Division. (who could forget the trestle over Roaring Brook between Rock Jct. and Dunmore, still visible from I-380/84 as you approach the "Electric City" from the east). The Division actually stretched from a connection with the Main Line at Lackawaxen, PA via Hawley (where a branch diverged to Honesdale) to Scranton and Avoca, where Erie's engine terminal was located. A notable feature of the Division was the shops at Dunmore, PA, just outside of Scranton, which were severely damaged by Hurricane Diane in August, 1955, and not reactivated. (The main building is still visible today from the Southbound side of  I-81, just about where the Interstate crosses the old Lackawanna Main Line, north of the exit for the Central Scranton Expressway - and Steamtown - and is an auto parts warehouse). The Erie passenger station in Scranton, referenced in an earlier post today, is still standing on N. Washington St., and serves as a restaurant. Trackage south of Avoca was operated as the Susquehanna Connecting RR, and ran to a junction with the Wilkes Barre & Eastern RR at Suscon (a railroad name...very original!?!). The WB&E was a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York, Susquehanna & Western RR, and ran from just east of Stroudsburg, PA to Kingston, PA (and shortly was cut back to Plains, PA,). Thus, because the Erie controlled the NYS&W, it indirectly controlled the WB&E also, and reached the Wilkes Barre area (or actually Plains - Neither Kingston nor Plains was in W-B proper, so the WB&E never really reached its namesake city) via the WB&E. In the abandonment of the WB&E in 1938-39,  some trackage south of Suscon survived and was operated by the Erie, and may still survive today as industrial spur. The remainder of the Wyoming Division between Lackawaxen & Hawley, plus the branch to Honesdale, exists today as the Lackawaxen & Stourbridge RR. Trackage between Hawley and Rock Jct. is long removed. Some remaining track south of Rock Jct. is physically in place, but long out of service.
BTW, E-L employee timetables seem to indicate the boundary between the New York & Scranton Divisions was at the NJ/PA State Line. Scranton was Division Headquarters, and housed a Dispatcher right up until Conrail.
Don Dorflinger

>From: Seth Bramson <SBRAMSON_@_BELLSOUTH.NET>
>Reply-To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net 
>To: James Kelling <JAMES.KELLING_@_NARA.GOV>
>CC: james.dent_@_itochu.com, rshsdepot@lists.railfan.net 
>Subject: Re: (rshsdepot) Erie in Scranton, PA 
>Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 11:45:25 -0400 
> 
>I stand corrected and thank you for your input. I should have checked my Erie 
>timetables first. In 1906 there were seven trains daily in each direction in 
>and out of Scranton. Three of them were actually through trains from New York 
>(Jersey City). By 1930--and perhaps earlier, I didn't check the interim--there 
>were two trains a day from Lackawaxen into Scranton, but no through service, one 
>changed in Lackawaxen. Hope that helps. 
> 
>James Kelling wrote: 
> 
> > The Erie did serve Scranton pre-merger. It had a passenger station at 701 = 
> > N. Washington St. before 1940, and possibly later than that. 
> > 
> 
> 
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