Newsletter of the Rochester NY Chapter, National Railway Historical Society

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January 1997Volume 39NumberS

Mystery Photo - Can youidentify it?

This is a 'true' mystery. Lynn Heintz foundthe negative among the effects of a formerNYC employee. The location and dale areNOT kno\m - but we would like to know!

The nearest car appears to have these mark-ings: NYC & Harlem, # 54190. The timeappears to be around the turn of the century:mode of transportation was bicycles and theladies wore long dresses. An embankment,and possibly water, is suggested on the leftside. The tracks in the foreground areapparently sidings. (The 'break' in theforeground tracks is from the scanner ntis-matching the two scans; there are no 'breaks'in the photo.)

If you can identifY this wreck, please callLynn at 768.Q984 (p.O. Box #190, Bergen,NY 14416). Also let your editor know forfuture publication (544.Q22l).

Program CommitteeJackMatsik(Chairman) 442.Q269Bill Limburg 586-9470DanCosgrove 352.Q931DaveLuca(Boardliaison) 288-<>318

program for Janyary 16th;""t}€)qu ~f)

~[l~1J)}3~""

Presenter: Chris HaufA pictorial re-.;ew of the Rochester & GeneseeValley's Silver Anniversat). Celebration of theacquisition of the Industry Depot last July.Also some other highlights of the operations ofthe R&GV RR Museum.

For fun, wear )'our Silver Anniversary T-shirtto this meeting.

TheSelllaphore

- 50,000 (100%)

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!_ 40,000 (80%)

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i +$28,377(57%)

.~- 20,000 (40%)~

~• g:j- 10,000 (10%)

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A. J. Tony Leib205 Keyes RdHoneoye FaUs, NY 14472533-1204

•Mark & Elaine Philippy7 Caraway LaneSpencerport, NY 14559352-3613

Membership TaU,.:Regular thru Rochester: 216Local; National elsewhere: 9Family: 34Total: 259

Arthur P. Mummery15 Campus DrRochester, NY 14623334-4053

J. Keith DrysdtJle & Teresa Baerman58 Cambridge RdHilton, NY 14468392.5558

Sympathies are ExtendedOur thoughts are with Cal and RoseBulman, in the recent loss of Cal'sfather. Many of us had the opponu-nity to meet and talk "ith HowardBulman over the years.

We are saddened to repon the deathof Louise SChulmerich. Sbe. along"ith her husband, Leonard, havebeen members of the RochesterChapter for just a year.

Coffee cans neededEmpty metal coffee cans of 1# and 3#sizes are needed for various projectsthe depot. Drop them off anytime nearthe rear doors when you are in thevicinity. Include lids if available.

Membership CommitteeR~orl ••

Thomas A.Way, C~Welcome to these new Members:David L Berner14 Kimberly RdPittsford, NY 14534385-0715

The last of the new e.':terior panels wasplaced in position on Saturday, Decem-ber 14.

Work continues in making windowreplacements, installing insulation, andforming cur•.ed panels for the interior ofthe car.

Thanks to the dedicated tearn of CbuckWhalen, Bernie Cubill, Rick Israelson,Dave Behnke and others.

January 1997

E. Rochester 100thAnniversary Committeelooking for photos

During the summer of 1997, East Roch-ester will be celebrating its looth year ofincorporation. Since the viUage grewmainly because of the presence of theNYC's Despatcb Car Shops, the themeof the celebration will center on rail-roads.

Among the photographs we would likefor displays are any sho"ing the Des-patch Sbops and also the icing platform!facilities.

Our contact person is Chris Hauf, 28Candlewood Dr, Pittsford, NY 14534.Phone 716-381-8583. Chris providedthe effective display in the baggage car.

A 50-yearMilestone: EdwardM. VanLeer

Edward M. Van Leer has been acontinuous member of the NationalRailway Historical Society since 1946:50 years!

Mr. Leroy S. Dietrich, Chairman of theBoard of NRHS has sent Edward aleiter. Soon, Bob Miner, our Chapter'sNational Director, wiU present Mr. VanLeer his gold NRHS 50-Year Member-ship Pin. Bob made the announcementat the December meeting, but Edwardwas not able to attend.

Stillwell Exterior PanelInstallation Done

\JV :EIO.A"X" :EIOA "p-"PE:LVED X:LVFEB-R."U.AFl.Y".~D37?

That was the month that the RochesterChapter of the National Railay Historical

Society was chartered!

Member looking for earlydepot pics

Chapter member, Mary Hamilton-Dann.is seeking visuals of four early Roches-ter depots:The Tonawanda Railroad Co., cU.1836.Auburn & Rochester Railroad, cU.1832.Lehigh Valley RR: its first depot onGriffith SI. extension cira. 1892.93.Pennsylvania RR terminal on WestAvenue (near Buffalo Road?)

Mary was the author of the recent articleon the "Manchester Wreck" that ap-peared in The Bullelin of NRHS.

Her phone number is 546-H 37 and beraddress is 10 Manhallan Square Drive,12-C, Rochester, NY 14607.

Year En ParB: Jan 11

J:....a.stCalls ... For ticketing Amtrakor VIA trips through VIP Travel (4~-7100) to benefit the Restoration Build-ing Fund. The deadline is Feb. I.

. . . To receive a discount on yourChapter's dues. Again the deadline isFebruary I.

Another call for volunteersfor train shows

As a pan of the Development Commit-tee objectives, the Chapter would like tostaff a membership table at the uainhobbist shows. If you can assist. pleasecall Jeremy Toke at 359-8944 or writeto him: 14 Robinwood Tr., Rochester,NY 14623.

Hope you are planning on attendinganother fabulous Year End Pany. at thedepot on Saturday, January 11. Theparty wiU start at 3 pm for those whomay not wish to drive in the dark.However, festivities will go weUinto theevening with opportunities for somenight photo shots as weU as visiting andriding our trains (weather permitting,and it takes reaUy bad weather to keepour crews from operating).

Reservations are requested. Call Rand orMarge Warner at 425-8586. The cost isS4 per person. Please: adults only, nochildren.

Need belp for Febnao. & April shOWS

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The Year 1996 In Review(

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Rand Warner, Chainnan, 425-8587

Major Accomplishments for1996

Track Right-of-way

Replaced mitch stand timbers and re-built mitch throws for all four mitchesatNYMT.Reclaimed excess ballast on ties forremainder of main line from Switch II(,to Reid's Crossing.

Reinforced all curves and mitches atNYMT end with gage rods and regagedfrog areas as necessary.

Completed work on Switch #7 andbegan Siding #7.Signals, Communications & Power

Installed forms and concrete for relaycases at top of hill for signal blocks.

Completed permanent block signal wir-ing in relay cases for hill block.

Extended track bonding north of SwitchII(, and excavated and set forms forsemaphore.

Extended power distribution system tonew stanchion at base of hill.

Extended permanent wiring in conduitto semaphore for hill block.

Submitted and renewed license for FCCand upgraded radios.

Tool Car & Shops

Created new area with workbench forSignal DeptInstalled new 4-drawer cabinets formaterials storage.

Reorganized all materials stored in De-pot baggage room.

Rehabbed NYC FIexivan trailer to sup-port heavy equipment

January 1997

Provided air supplies for all shop areas.Motive Power

Obtained new main reservoir for RG&E#1941.

Pumped out and strained ruel on NKP#79 and EKC 11(,.

Worked on sander equipment for LV#211.

Touched up paint and trim on EKC 11(,.

Rewired block heaters on Army #1843for 22Ov.Converted all locos to common plugs forblock heaters.

Passenger Equipment

Completed installation of all new steelpanels on entire east side of ErieStillwell coach.

Rehab of Pine Falls kitchen and loungeareas and polishing of windows.

Set up DL&W baggage car with attrac-tive displays to be an integral part of ourvisitor experience.

Leased out MU car for LA&L Chamberof Commerce special.

Freight EquipmentRestored one side and two ends of B&Obay window caboose in final paintscheme and lenering.

Rebuilt interior and repaired wTcckdamage on exterior of Penn-centraItransfer caboose. Primed e>.1erior.

Restored one side of MDT reefer. Fea-tured icing operations demo for visitorsusing I ton of real ice.

Maintenance of Way EquipmentRehabbed Fairmont track crane andboom car and put into operationalservice.Completed RoeMobiIe track motor carand Barb Richards trailer car #3 and putinto operational service.

Put new roof on Kershaw snow broomand prepared for operational service for

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this 1997 winter.

Put air brakes on MaderMobii trackmotor car and trailer car #3, and putinto operational service.

Acquired and put into service FordHi-Rail boom/dump truck.

Visitor Operations

Developed expanded operations manualand conducted training classes prior toseason opening.

Gandy Dancers Day for visitors, featur-ing track work demos, special displays,and special videos presentations.

Developed 1997 theme year displayfeaturing Rochester area railroad indus-try suppliers.

Expanded pool of tour hosts to handleincreased tour activities.

Train Operations

Developed expanded track car trainingmanual and conducted training classesprior to season opening.

Conducted crew training classes, rule-book, instruction, hands-on e>.l"'rience,and testing for locomotive hauled trainoperations.Review, edited. published and distrib-uted new rulebook.

Expanded pool of track car operators tohandle three sections of track motor carsand trailers.

Heavy Equipment

Received and put into service Austin-Western 6-ton yard crane.

Rebuilt steering on Ford fork lift andput back into operational use.

Received Mack DM IO-wheel dieselcement truck and began rehab/conver-sion for multi-purpose use.

Received and put into service Mack6-wheel diesel dump truck.

ConstructionCleared land and graded north alongwest side of LA&L Mortimer line

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another 200 feeL

Relocated hundreds of ties and timbersand over 100 tons of steel rail andhardware, for new building site.

Developed grading approach for newrestoration building and began excava-tion and fill efforts.

Engineering

Prepared, submined and got approval onsite plan for new building from Town ofRush.

Prepared grading plan for new building.to minimize excavation and fill efforts.

Staned compuler aided drafting (CAD)files for our latal facilities; showingland. contours, utilities, property lines,track" drainage, and buildings.

Completely reorganized engineering af-lice area and installed 4 new files and 2new bookcases - to bener suppon allour functional areas.

SafetyConducted safery training session oncranes.

Supponed 1996 safery audit miew byinswance cameroContinued follow up on safery auditaction items from 1993 review.

Improved signage and barriers for aff-limits areas al NRHS and NYMf toprotect visitors.

Electrification

Dc\'elaped standards and geometry foroverhead "ire.Staked locations for poles for first 1000feel of line.

Procured 20 new poles 10 carry wiresfirst 1000 feeL

Developed process and equipment andput up lirst two poles.Supponed acquisition of lWOoperationaltrolleys for NYMf.Developed data base and network oftrolley bodies, power supplies, line ma-terials and other resources.

Development

Put up Rochester Chapter and ourMuseum on InternetIWarid Wide Web.

January 1997

Formed Development Comminee andbegan to establish goals and philosophy.

Raised over $26,000 towards $50,000Capital Fund Drive for new RestorationBuilding.

Built data base of financial and gifts-in-kind resources.

Raised over $3,000 to date via Wall ofFame promotion, dedicated to honoringformer railroad employees, suppliers andcontractors, mth engraved name plateson large wood plaque.

Buildings & GroundsAcquired and moved in a former Roch.ester, Lockpon & Buffalo interurbanwaiting room, formerly in service atSweden.Walker Road. originally calledEast Lake Road.

Repainted much of the Depot exterior inconjunction mth 25th Anniversary Cel.ebratian.

Planted and maintained gardens andshrubbery at three track bumpers, southside of Rle 251, at our billboard sign,and along ROW near S"itch #6.25th Anniversary Celebration for

MuseumConducted celebration for membershipThursday, 18 July, at regular summerevening meeting.

Conducted celebration for media. Fri-day, 19 July, featuring leading politicaland industrial personalities.

Conducted celebration for general pub-lic, Saturday & Sunday, July 20 & 21for almost 1200 visitors.

First use of shuttle buses; to doublethroughput. rate capaciry betweenNYMf and NRHSMuseums.

Construction & Equipmentbi' Joe Scanlon

Thanks 10 the generosiry of Mr. HenryVinceguerra, owner of the former AcePaving Company, the Rochester Chapterhad a big Christmas present under thetree this year - a Galion 'Chief threewheel diesel powered road rollerIThrough the efforts of member GeorgeKnab, Mr. Vinceguerra offered 10 do-nale the roller to the chapter, and

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IGeorge Knab, Art Mununery and JoeScanJan got the unit operational. Withthe help of Mendon Enterprises tilt~lowboy, the unit was moved out to thedepoL At first the diesel engine dido'twant to run. but George Knab and ArtMununery put their diesel mechanicskills to work and in a maner of acouple hours time, the Galion Chief wasready 10 ralll Art Mununery is currentlysearching for a pair of pinion gears toreplace the badly worn ones on the uniL

The acquisition of the Galion Chiefroller is significant because the chapternow possesses enough equipment on itsown to perform the heavy excavation upon the hill for the proposed maintenancebuilding. Get ready to watch a bigearthmoving operation up on the hillthis spring!

Equipment maintenance is continuingthrough the winter. Bob Mader andGeorge Knab are removing heavy equip-ment baneries for winter storage. ArtMununery has the charging system andthe brakes working again on the Austin-Western crane. A couple of hYdrauli.system upgrades remain to be done, thethis crane should be operational soon.

Work mil continue on the grading westof the LA&L line during the winter andplanning "ill proceed through the mn-ter so that the 25th Anniversary Mainle-nance Building site grading mil resumeon a large scale ne>.1spring.

Tom Phillips recently had the Barber-Greene conveyor running under its ownpower. Tom hopes to have this machineon the ready line by springl

Come spring we plan on having a bigpush on the maintenance building siteexcavation, and we'll need a sizeablecrew of equipment operators, truck driv-ers, surveyors, grade checkers, etc., andwe could use your help! If you'reinterested in getting in on the action,call Joe ScanJan at 392-8841 or GeorgeKnab at 352~276.

Our special thanks to Mr. Henry Vince-guerra for the Galion 'Chief rollerdonation, and to Mendon Enterpri.Inc. for moving itt Thanks to membersBob Mader, Tom Phillips, Art Mum-mery, George Knab and Joe ScanJan fortheir varied effans and expenisel

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LACKAWANNAMEMORIES

by 1. Edward (Ted) Jackson

The slide talk that Sheldon King gaveabout Phoebe Snow at the NYMf thissummer took me hack a good manyyears to my childhood when I used to.watch Lackawanna freights work theirway over Dansville Hill. Dansville wasmy father's home town and my grand-mother still lived there until her deathin 1931.The Coming of the Lackawanna

Until the Penn Central merger, Roches-ter was represented by five major rail-roads, the New York Central, Erie OaterErie-Lackawanna), Lehigh Valley,Pennsylvania and Baltimore & Ohio.Only one of these, the NYC wasrepresented by a main line, the rest wereall branches. The Lehigh branch con-nected "ith its main line only 13 milessouth of the city; the Eric connectionwas 95 miles south. The Pennsy and theB&O, on the other hand were hundredsof miles from their main line connec-tions. There was, however, anotherrailroad whose mainline came \\ithinabout 30 miles of Rochester. This wasthe Delaware, Lackawanna and West.em. The Lackawanna. like the LehighValley, had its beginnings in the anthra-cite region of eastern Pennsylvania andlike the Lehigh, initially transferred itswestbound traffic to the Erie. For theLehigh, the transfer point was Waverly;for the Lackawanna. it was Binghamton.In the 1880's. both railroads decided toextend their lines to Buffalo.

The extension of the Lackawannaroughly paralleled the Erie main linefrom Binghamton to Coming and wasbuilt right next to the Erie's Rochesterbranch from Coming to Wayland. FromWayland the Lackawanna struck out onits own. passing through Dansville andMount Morris and heading west toBuffalo. In choosing their routes, it isapparent that the main motivation forboth the Lehigh and DL&W in con-structing these extensions was to diverttheir through traffic from the Erie.Generation of local traffic was appar-ently of secondary interest for both and

January 1997

is reflected in the fact that very little ofeither of these extensions has survivedConrail (although Conrail has a historyof do"ngrading and/or abandoning lineswhich could have the potential of be-coming competitors in the future andthese two like the western end of theErie are cases in point).

The Lackawanna's primary connectionin Buffalo was the Nickel Plate althoughit did also interchange there \\ith theMichigan Central, Wabash, Pere Mar-quene and Grand Trunk. On the way toBuffalo, the DL&W connected \\ith thePennsylvania (originally WNY&P) inMl Morris, \\ith what is now the G&Wat Wadsworth and \\ith the BR&P atBR&P JeL oater B&O JeL). It did notinterchange \\ith the Erie at Ml Morris.Dansville was also served by the Dans-'ville and Ml Morris which had origi-nally been part of the Erie and thishandled most of Dansville's freightbusiness. However, the Foster Wheelerplant in Dansville campaigned for aD&M - DL&W connection in Grovelandwhich was opened June 8, 1933. Afterthat, the D&M's traffic to the Eriedwindled to the point where the Erieabandoned its Ml Morris branch in1940 and the D&M cut its line hack toGroveland. (Originally, the line fromMl Morris to Dansville was to havebeen extended to Bums on the Eriemain line but this was never done. Itwould be interesting to conjecture whatthe completion of that line would havehad on railroad operations in this area.)

Train Operations

The DL&W e"..tension to Buffalo wascompleted in 1882 \\ith the first passen-ger uain arriving there on September25th of that year. Regular throughservice was established the followingyear. By the turn of the century, therewere five through passenger trains eachway plus a local each way betweenScranton and Buffalo. In addition therewas a local between Groveland andBuffalo which left Groveland at 6:45AMand returned at 6:45PM. The Grovelandlocal came off in the mid 19200s.World War U finished off the other localand one of the through trains. The otherfour remained until the E.L merger. Thegeneral pattern of these eight trains for

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Dansville changed very little over thespan of over half century except forhaving faster schedules later on and thetrains receiving names. The 1956 Offi-cial Gnide was as follows:

Westbound:9:44 AM # 15 The Owl4.28 PM #3 Phoebe Snow11:42 PM #5 Twilight Limited

Eastbound:4:43 AM #2 Pocono Express10:32 AM #6 Phoebe Snow6:28 PM #10 The New York Mail11:20 PM #8 The New Yorker

In addition, there was another west.bound train, #7, The Westerner, thatcame through Dansville about 2AM butdid not stop. #8 was a flag stop. Even aslate as 1956, there was sleeper servicebetween Hoboken and Chicago using aNickel Plate connection in Buffalo onTrains 3,7,8 and 10. There was also asleeper service between Hoboken andDetroit, via the Michigan Central, usingTrains 2 and 5. Hoboken-Buffalo sleep-ers were carried on Trains 2,7,8 and 15.The Phoebe Snow carried a lounge car.All trains except #7 and #8 carrieddiners. With the discontinuance of thelocals, Trains 8 and IS added a numberof stops during the western parts of theirjourneys and carried a lot of head endcars.

I was only privileged to ride the Lack-awanna a couple of times. In 1947 Itook #6 from Dansville to Hoboken anda few weekS later returned on #5.(Trains #3 and 6 were still called TheLackawanna Limited and were alreadydiesel-powered. They were renamed thePhoebe Snow in 1949.) The scenery,particularly through the Poconos wasspectacular. (On #5 we travelled throughthem late in the day - appropriately, #5

NO.3, The Lackowanna Limited in Dans-ville,NY.

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was called The Twilight) I recall on ourtrip on #6, one passenger who wasdestined for Hoboken become very in-ebrialed 10 the poinl thaI he passed oulin a car other than the one he had beensitting in. By thaI time, a new crew hadcome on board and I guess they thoughlthaI he was getting off al Stroudsburg sothey pul him off there, stretched oul ona baggage cart. They did nol know abouthis overhead luggage which, unfortu-nalely, did go 10 Hoboken. Some of uspointed this oul 10 the Conductor whenwe gol 10 Hoboken but since the identityof the man was unkno"u, I oftenwondered when or if this gentleman andhis luggage were reuniled.

The Lackawanna handled a 101 offreighl right up 10 the end. I have adispalcher's time sheet for January 27,1954. Westbound, thaI day, were fivesymbol freights from Hoboken (one in,"0 sections), one 'from ScranIOn, onefrom Binghamton and an extra. lotal481 loads and 243 empties. Eastbound,there were three symbol freights 10Hoboken (IWO in two sections), Iwo 10Binghamton and one 10 ScranIOn, lotal584 loads and 99 empties. (The Bing-hamlon freights were called NE 4 andNE 6; I assume they wenl onlo theD&H.) There was also a wayfreighl ineach direction between Elmira and Buf-falo. It was freezing thaI day forcing onefreighl to operale "ith reduced lonnage.Another had a problem with frozenswitches al 8&0 Jet.

The Dansville Hill

RJlilroads traversing western New Yorkhave to conlend with the Genesee Rivervalley. The New York Central WalerLevel Route solved this very nicely bysticking to fairly level ground thrnugh-oul this area as did the Lehigh Valley.The Erie's Rochester-<:Orning freightsoften required helpers betWeen Avonand Wayland. The Pennsy had a similarsituation as did the 8&0. The lack-awanna had this problem in spades.Like the Erie they had 10 climb OUIofthe Genesee Valley to get 10 Waylandbut unlike the Erie which was only abranch line and had a 30-mile grade,the DL&W eastbound trains had toachieve the nearly the same climb inonly 14.5 miles over Dansville hill and

January 1997

Pusher on eastbound freight between Grove-land Station and Dansville (The persoo in thepietwe is Walter Dixon, the same person thatnarrated the recent video on the RochesterSuhway.)

il was a main line operation 10 boot(Unlike the Erie. instead of using helperengines, they used pushers.) In addition,their westbound trains had 10 negotiatethe Linwood grade. Although this gradewas aboul half as steep as Dansville hill,il mighl also reqnire pushers. Thesepushers were operaled in both directionsfrom the Lackawanna division poinl alGroveland Station. I lived in Dansvilleduring pan of 1931 and 1 vividlyremember the eastbound freights goingup the grade on the East Hill. The noisefrom the engine exhausts completelydominated the village any time one ofthese freights wenl by. Laler, when 1lived in Conesus, on a still summerC\'ening they could be heard over tenmiles away. (It should be poinled OUIthaI these weren'l the only pushergrades on the Lackawanna - the Scran-100 Division had SC\'erai - bul they werethe only ones on the whole line beyondBinghamlon. )

The D3DS\ille depol was high above thetown just 10 the west of the inlersectionof the railroad and Depol Street. Oneconsequence of thaI grade was that theeastbound passenger trains whichSlOPped at Dansville. including theLacka"anna Limiled, had 10 start on thegrade and 1 recall seeing the locomotivedrive wheels spinning in the effort. (Ialso recall thaI when 1 was learning todrive, the first hill I had to stop andstart on was that same road crossing. ALackawanna train was coming throughjust as we were coming up the road and1was the first car in linel)

The exhaust from steam locomotivesmayor may nol be quickly dissipateddepending on the atmospheric condi-

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Itions. These smoke and/or vapor trailsmighl remain in the sky for a Ion•.period nf time, sometimes an hour <w,"0. 1 remember when coming fromConesus Lake thrnugh Groveland you

.- would eventually come over the crest ofthe hill and see the beautiful GeneseeValley. And in those days, il wouldoften be decorated with the remains of atrain having ascended the Linwoodgrade.

Nol only did eastbound trains generallyrequire pushers up Dansville hill bul thewestbound trains had their problemscoming down. Even in the diesel ageafter locomotives were equipped withdynamic brakes, if certain tonnages wereexceeded (for example, 4500 tons with,"0 units), the retainers had 10 be sel upon 25 cars. For engines withoul dynamicbrakes. . the Iimil was 3000 IOns. Thespecific instructions for westbound trains on Dansville Hill required nearly afull page in the employees timetable.(Eastbound trains coming down Lin-wood hill did nol share this travail.)Another consequence of Dansville Hillalocated as il was above the village, ,..,.thaI the toilets on the passenger trainshad 10 be locked between Dansville andPerkinsville I

The pushers operated oul of GrovelandStation, the Division point This was nolunlike many other division points inthaI no village existed al thaI locationbefore the railroad came through andthaI the newly formed village wasentirely dependenl on the railroad. Thiswas a big operation whal with a round.house, a big yard, crew changes and theusual activities thaI are associaled withdivision points. Hard 10 imagine whenyou drive by there now on NYS Roule63.

Finis

When the end came, il came rather fast.The Lackawanna had had a number offinancial reverses all through the 1950's.First and foremost was the decline in theanthracite coal business which was theoriginal purpose of building the ~road. In 1955, two hurricanes ~widespread damage 10 the DL&W. In1957 there was a cemenl strike and alongshoreman's strike in New York

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City, both of which affected the Lack-awanna and finally in 1958 the StLawrence Seaway opened which allowedsome ships to skip New York Cityentirely • ships whose cargoes theLackawanna could have handled.

The Erie was suffering from some of thesame problems and so the two of thembegan to discuss , if not outright merger,at least some combining of operations.To this end, most of the DL&W betweenBinghamton and Coming was aban.doned and all DL&W traffic mitchedover to the Erie between those twopoints. Then on September 12, 1960, thetwo railroads were merged to form theErie-Lackawanna. The former Erie fromHornell to Buffalo became the 1st Sub-Division of the Buffalo Division and theformer DL&W from Coming to Buffalobecame the 2nd Sub-Di,ision. Thoselocated on the former DL&W felt thatthere was something onimous about thechoice of numbers, particu1arly since the2nd Sub contained Dans>ille Hill. Andthey had reason to be.

In March 1961, Trains # 2 and #5, werecut back to run between Binghamtonand Hoboken. In March 1962, Trains #7and #8, which had been renumbered andwere now referred to as the BuffaloSections of the Lake Cities Lintited,were diverted over to the 1st Sub-Division. Finally in July 1962, the otherfour trains were also moved over to theformer Erie trackage. Freight traffic wasreduced to a single wayfreight each way,then to tri-weekly service and finally onDecember 17, 1963, all service ended onthe former DL&W between Grovelandand Wayland. Dansville Hill hadclaimed its victim.

PostlogAlthough a lot has been wTinen aboutthe Lackawanna and a lot of photos andvideos are now available, most of it hasto do with the portion from Binghamtoneast as well as the suburban network inNew Jersey. For whatever reason, thewest end has gonen short shrift over theyears. Even DansviJle Hill is relativelyunknown. Fortunately, Sheldon King'sbook does describe the Buffalo Dhisionand contains a number of photos alongthis section, several by John Woodbury.

IJanuary 1997

There is anothJ book which has a verygood coverage' of the DL&W in theDans>ille area. This is D&:M andDL&:W;Putting Dansville on the Rail-road Map by Wilfred J. Rauber. Thiswas a labor of love published privatelyin 1980. I don't know how many copiesthere were or where you might find one- I guess I would start with theDansville Library. About half of thisbook relates to the Lackawanna (ThePinsburgh, Shawmut and Northern alsogets a little space, the rest is the D&M.)and is very well done. There is quite abit of material related to the wTeck ofthe Lackawanna Lintited in Wayland in1943 in which 29 people died includingthe rescue efforts by the people ofWayland and the inquiry that followed.There are als6 a number of photosincluding three of Groveland by DaveMonteVerde.

I shot a few o1o'ie sequences in 1960,just before the E-L merger, at Perkins-ville and vicinity which consume aminute or two in Revelation Audio-Visual's "Before the Hyphen". Theyinclude the eaStbound Phoebe Snow, a17<ar Owl (Jxlwered by FT's) and aneastbound freight By this time thepushers had been eliminated. Thefreights had to slog up on their own andthe longer ones had to double the hill.(Some of the accompanying narration in"Before the Hyphen" is incorrect as issome Erie footage around Avon).

IWith the advent of Conrail, much of therest of the original DL&W was alsodowngraded or abandoned. At this pointin time, the main line of the formerLackawanna rrdm Buffalo to Wadsworthhas been abandoned. The segment fromWadrn'Orth to Groveland is now ownedby the G&W and is dependent on theFoster Wheeler]plant in Dansville (and,ice versa at the moment - the line is inlimbo). From Groveland to Wayland ithas been abandoned. From Wayland toBath, it is ownOdby Steuben County andcurrently operated by the Livonia, Avonand Lakeville although the stretch fromWayland to Cohocton is out of service.Conrail owns from Bath to Coming.From Coming to Binghamton it is prenymuch gone. ITbe Canadian Pacific,through its eastern subsidiary, the St

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Lawrence and Hudson, operates betweenBinghamton and Scranton although thatmay also now be in limbo as the CPR isc"ncentrating on its western operations.From SCTantonto Anolomink (4 ntiJeswest of Stroudsburg) there have beenseveral name changes but currently it isthe Delaware-Lackawanna and it isalong this stretch that most of theStearntown runs are made. The portionbetween there and Port Morris, NJ ispreny much all abandoned. There ismove afoot by New Jersey Transit toreactivate at least the eastern part of thisstretch to expand commuter senice andeventually possibly extend it to SCTan-ton. NIT owns the remaining trackagefrom Port Morris to Hoboken. Not muchleft of a railroad that once ran like aSwiss watch.

References

King, Sheldon S. (1986) The Route ofthe Phoebe Snow, Railroad AvenueEnterprises, Flanders, NJ.

Rauber, Wilfred 1. (1980) D.&:M. andD.L. &: W.; Putting Dansville on theMap, Published privately.

Thanks toCharles Harshbarger and Neil Bel-lenger for new StihI gas powered chain-saw.Charles Harshbarger and JimJohnson for new file cabinets for engi-neering area.

Charles Harshbarger and JimJohnson for new Sears Craftsman com-pressor for heavy equipment support.

Dan Waterstraat for 5 gal Caterpillarlube oil & new Skill Classic circularsaw.

What a nice Christmas for theMuseum!!

What do you know about a Charles O.Wehb?

Chris Hauf received a query by Internetfrom a relative of Mr. Webb, who livedin Buffalo and Rochester areas in theearly 1900's. He may have worked forthe NYC or BR&P. He died in Buffaloin 1922, but was buried in Rochester.Chris will forward info (381-8583) .

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The Semaphore January 1997 Page 10/

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Panels to be Installed• Panels Installed

Stillwell Coach Panel Installation Status: DONE III

The installation of all new panels on !be exterior of !be Erie Stillwell Coach wascompleted on December 14, 1996. The graphic below will now be "retired".

The Semapboreis publisbed montbly by !be Rochester, NY Chapter, Nati9naI Railway Historical Society. It is mailed free to allChapter members. Non-member's subscriptions are $5.00 and run from January I to December 31. Chapter meetiogs are beld!be third Thursday and !be Board of Directors meets !be first Thursday of eacb month.

Contributions to The Semapbore are welcomed and encouraged from all readers.They sbould be mailed to: GaleE. Smith, 299 Seneca Park Avenue,' Rocbester, NY14617-2433. Phone: (716) 544-6221. Contributors using a computer are asked tosend their submissions on any MS-DOS diskette in ASCII formal, as well as aprinted copy. Deadline: Tbe first of each month.

Rocbester Cbapter NRHS Officers:President: Dave LucaVice President: John WeberTreasurer: Ira CobenRecording Secrerory: Jeremy TukeCorrespondence Sec.: Don ShillingNaTional Director: Bob MinerTrustees: Neil Bellenger, Charlie Harsh-barger, Steve Oagley, John Redden,Joe Scanlon, Rand Warner,

The Semapbore Staff:Editor: Gale SmithPrinting: Da,'e Luca

interNet (World Wide Web) address:http://w\\w.rochester.ny.uslrailmuse-um.hunJ

•The SemaphoreRochester Chapter

National Rajfway Historical Society

P.O. Box 664

Rochester, NY 14603

Non Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDRochester, NY

Permit #826

Chapter Meeting & Program:

.2J11' Anniversa')' and a LinuBit More~'

by Chris Haul

8:00 PM, Jan 16, 1997

40 & 8 Club

933 University Ave.