Locations / Name:
Windsor/Binghamton NY, Broome County
Lanesboro/Susquehanna/Oakland PA, Susquehanna County
What's Here:
Starrucca Viaduct (Lanesboro PA)
NYS&W (former Erie) Mainline / Binghamton to Port Jervis NY
CP Mainline / Binghamton to Scranton PA
Former Erie depot (Susquehanna PA)
Former Erie SR tower (Oakland PA)
Former D&H Line
The lines out of Binghamton cross two of the more "famous" railroad bridge
structures in the east, Starrucca and
Tunkhannock/Nicholson Viaduct , which is on the D&H/CP line heading to
Scranton. Starrucca was built by the Erie RR in 1847/48.
Originally sporting a single broad gauge track, it was replaced with two
standard gauge tracks in 1886. The bridge is 1,040 feet long, and has
17 stone arch spans, each 50ft wide.
The two railroads that originally came thru here were the Erie and DL&W
RR's. Now, the DL&W (D&H) right-of-way is gone, and the Erie now is
operated by the New York, Susquehanna & Western RR. The D&H line on
the left side of the map is operated by the Canadian Pacific.
In addition to the Starrucca Viaduct, the line also runs over Main St in
Lanesboro on a similar looking concrete structure.
"Down" in Susquehanna, we still have a former Erie depot standing, housing a
restaurant, and at least back in 2009, a bunch of old signals on display
(not in service) near the tracks.
Over on the other side of the river, the old Erie SR tower still stands in
the middle of an interlocking, where the tracks go from one to two tracks.
I haven't been to the area recently, but back in 2009, the signals on the
Susquehanna line were a combination of searchlight and "tri-light" signals.
Acknowledgements:
Denver Todd
Google Maps
Bing Maps
I-81, either north or south to I-86 east, get off at exit 79.
From the west, it's I-86/NY17 all the way to exit 79.
For the Lanesboro PA area:
I-81 exit 230 in Halstead PA, then east on PA 171 - it's about 8.5-9 miles to Oakland/Susquehanna/Lanesboro PA.
If you're already in Windsor NY, head south on Main St/NY79, which turns into PA92.
OR
You can go over one exit on 86 to State Line Rd/NY14 (exit 80) and head south, which
turns into Damascus Rd in PA - it's about a 9-10 mile ride. This route more
or less follows the D&H line, and at the 86 exit, you can still find
remnants of the line as seen in the aerial view of the exit 80 area below.
GPS Coordinates: 42.07251, -75.63341
In contrast to when I came thru here in 2009, someone has fixed up the old
freight shed, and brought in a caboose, and painted up in D&H colors - good for them!
The R-O-W has long been covered up with brush, and can no longer be seen, at
least from above.
Lanesboro PA - NYS&W (former Erie) Over Main Street
Oakland PA - NYS&W (Erie) Over the Susquehanna
GPS Coordinates: 41.94330, -75.62109
There are two separate bridges crossing the Susquehanna, one has four spans,
and the other is a single span
Windsor NY - D&H Over Chapel St
GPS Coordinates: 42.07168, -75.63364
In contrast to other areas, the former D&H right-of-way running through
Windsor is GONE! Other than the bridge going over Chapel Street, there
is almost NO evidence that a railroad ever came thru here, as you can see from the wide view aerial below.
Even the small open walk-path you can see in the snow scene above at the freight
shed is completely overgrown.
Courtesy of the University of Texas Library, click
here for their index page.
Below is a portion of the 1935/1944 re-issue USGS Susquehanna quadrangle map.
Disclaimers:
I love trains, and I love signals. I am not an expert. My webpages reflect what I find on the topic of the page. This is something I have fun with while
trying to help others.
Please Note: Since the main focus of my two websites is railroad signals, the railfan guides are oriented towards the signal fan being able to locate them.
For those of you into the modeling aspect of our hobby, my
indexa page has a list of almost everything railroad oriented
I can think of to provide you with at least a few pictures to help you detail your pike.
If this is a railfan page, every effort has been made to make sure that the information contained on this map and in this railfan guide is correct. Once in a while,
an error may creep in :-)
My philosophy: Pictures and maps are worth a thousand words, especially for railfanning. Text descriptions only get you so far, especially if you get lost or
disoriented. Take along good maps.... a GPS is OK to get somewhere, but maps are still better if you get lost! I belong to AAA, which allows you to get
local maps for free when you visit the local branches. ADC puts out a nice series of county maps for the Washington DC area, but their state maps do not have the
railroads on them. If you can find em, I like the National Geographic map book of the U.S..... good, clear, and concise graphics, and they do a really good job
of showing you where tourist type attractions are, although they too lack the railroads. Other notes about specific areas will show up on that page if known.
Aerial shots were taken from either Google or Bing Maps as noted. Screen captures are made
with Snagit, a Techsmith product... a great tool if you have never used it!
By the way, floobydust is a term I picked up 30-40 years ago from a National Semiconductor data book, and means miscellaneous
and/or other stuff.
Pictures and additional information is always needed if anyone feels inclined to take 'em, send 'em, and share 'em, or if you have something to add or correct.... credit
is always given! Please be NICE!!! Contact info is here
Beware: If used as a source, ANYTHING from Wikipedia must be treated as being possibly inaccurate, wrong, or not true.