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Re: (rshsdepot) Lackawanna Cutoff Delaware River Bridge Purchased



The Hoboken - Binghamton service proposed in the 1970's via Port Jervis and the old Erie Delaware Division was the pipe dream of a New York State Congressman, whose name escapes me at the moment. After an initial flurry of excitement (several pieces of passenger equipment were even reportedly set aside), nothing came of it and the idea died for lack of funding. 
 
The Lackawanna Cut-off is a nasty situation that has been haunting New Jersey and Pennsylvania since the mid-1980's. It is primarily Pennsylvania's fault that the line through Scranton was ultimately abandoned by Conrail. While New York was putting their own funding in to save the ex-Erie route and making Conrail's job of operating it easier, the Commonwealth of PA was making unreasonable demands on the railroad to keep the Lackawanna side open without offering a dime, and by throwing roadblocks in Conrail's plan to streamline operations there (witness the "Elmhurst fiasco" where Conrail had single tracked the ex-DL&W to Elmhurst and the Commonwealth demanded that they put the second track back. Conrail's response was to lay unconnected sections of "Snap track" on the ground alongside Track  #1). Sorry Lackawanna fans, the ex-DL&W was not the desirable route to Binghamton, primarily because of the severe grades over the Poconos and into and out of Scranton (that burned up fuel and required wear and tear on extra locomotives), plus the lack of a viable freight connection east of Mountain View (Wayne), NJ (due to the E-L's ill-advised plan to abandon the ex-DL&W Boonton Line through Paterson, and sell the property to the State of New Jersey as a right-of-way for I-80, rerouting freight down the former Erie Greenwood Lake Division, which was not equipped to handle long through freights). The tales of Monroe County, PA's ill-directed efforts to save the line in the 1970's are legend. New Jersey finally put the nail in the coffin, when they allowed Conrail to sell the Cut-off to Jerry Turco for $1,000,000 in the mid-80's, and rip up the track. The line was 24th out of 25th on NJ's short list for preservation, and had been bumped there by the State's fear of the rumor that Casino Gambling was coming to the Poconos, and a rail line there would siphon off customers from the infant Atlantic City Casinos. 
 
Now the State has spent $ millions to buy back property that was frittered away for only $ one million and Jerry Turco is laughing all the way to the bank. Typical bureaucracy and waste of taxpayers money. Had the two States any foresight in 1984, the rail never would have been ripped up in the first place. Many of you may recall a bond issue passed in 1987 by the voters of New Jersey that was to help purchase the Cut-off and restore passenger service to East Stroudsburg by 1995. Hah! It's 2002 and now they are talking 2006, and ONLY IF the funding is available. I think in my lifetime, the chances of seeing trains on the New Jersey Cut-off are slim to none. If it took 14 years to take the property, how long will it take to get the rails back down...and prices are climbing. Meanwhile, New Jersey continues to waste time and money on the "Sparta Project," a line which no one will ride once they find out how long it will take to get  from Sussex County to New York City over the twisting, winding Susquehanna.
On the Pennsylvania side, the ex-DL&W Main Line survives, and is currently operated from Scranton to Slateford Jct. and Portland by the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad out of Scranton. NS has retained the ex-DL&W Bangor & Portland Branch from Martins Creek to Portland to bring coal trains to the Reliant Energy power plant there, but if plans to convert that plant to primarily burn natuaral gas materialize, the future of the B&P may be in doubt, as there are no customers between the two end points, and DL could easily pick up Ulta-Poly at Portland, with NS retaining Con Agra at Martins Creek.
 
Nuff said.

>From: "Paul S. Luchter"<LUCKYSHOW_@_MINDSPRING.COM> 
>Reply-To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net 
>To:<RSHSDEPOT_@_LISTS.RAILFAN.NET> 
>Subject: Re: (rshsdepot) Lackawanna Cutoff Delaware River Bridge Purchased 
>Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 01:31:42 -0500 
> 
>I do remember talk of Amtrak service from Binghamton from mid 1970s for many 
>years. I think I do remember this. 
>-----Original Message----- 
>From: Jim Dent<JDENT1_@_OPTONLINE.NET> 
>To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net<RSHSDEPOT@LISTS.RAILFAN.NET> 
>Date: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 11:30 PM 
>Subject: Re: (rshsdepot) Lackawanna Cutoff Delaware River Bridge Purchased 
> 
> 
>Paul, 
> 
>Rails are still in between Hoboken and Binghamton. Hoboken to Port Jervis 
>is commuter territory, west of Port Jervis to Binghamton still gets 1-2 
>trains a day. 
> 
>There has never been serious discussion, or money spent, on restoring 
>passenger service west of Port Jervis. 
> 
>Now back to the Cut-off. Trains ply the DL&W on the Pennsylvania side not 
>daily, but regularly. 
> 
>Is it a pipe-dream? Who would have thought the NYS&W would reopen west of 
>Butler, NJ? But it did. 
>Re-opening the Cut-off is still a long way off - but I think it will happen. 
> 
>Jim Dent 
> 
> 
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Paul S. Luchter"<LUCKYSHOW_@_MINDSPRING.COM> 
>To:<RSHSDEPOT_@_LISTS.RAILFAN.NET> 
>Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 11:10 PM 
>Subject: Re: (rshsdepot) Lackawanna Cutoff Delaware River Bridge Purchased 
> 
> 
> > Is this a pipe dream? Binghamton to Hoboken never came about and there is 
> > still rail on that route (I think!). 
> > 
> > How much eminent domain use of the abandoned right of way might thee also 
> > be? 
> > 
> > Paul 
> 
> 
> 
>================================= 
>The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing 
>railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org 
> 
> 
>================================= 
>The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing 
>railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org 
> 
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=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
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