Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad

Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad
legal form	Corporation
founding	1985
Seat	Scranton , Pennsylvania ,
management	David J. Monte Verde ( President )
Branch	Rail transport
Website	https://www.gvtrail.com/delaware-lackawanna.html

The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad ( AAR reporting as mark: DL) is a Class-3 local railroad - railway company , since 1993, rail freight in the Northeast of the US state of Pennsylvania provides. The subsidiary of the Genesee Valley Transportation Company (GVT) operates on several routes with a total length of 142 km, which are owned by the local counties.

history

DL diesel locomotives in Scranton, 2003

In the 1980s, the previous operators of two railway lines in the counties Lackawanna and Monroe withdrew. The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) acquired the Scranton – Binghamton section of the former main line of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) from the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) in 1980 . It was thus able to bypass the Penn Division between Scranton and Nineveh ( Colesville ; east of Binghamton), which had been used up to now, which was topographically much more demanding . North of Carbondale , this line was closed in sections in 1982 and 1986, respectively. The section from Carbondale to Scranton, however, was acquired on April 15, 1985 by the Lackawanna County Railroad Authority (LCRA) in order to secure the connection of local industries to the rail freight network. The Lackawanna Valley Railroad (LVAL) was commissioned to operate. In 1991 Conrail also sold the Scranton – Mount Pocono section of the former DL&W main line to the LCRA, on which the Lackawanna Railway (LRWY) took over the operation of freight traffic.

In 1993, the LCRA asked potential operators to submit offers and concepts ( request for proposals ; RFP) for the further implementation of freight traffic on their railway lines. Among the bidders was the Genesee Valley Transportation Company , which won the bid and founded the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad (DL) as an independent subsidiary. On August 27, 1993, the DL took over the traffic on the total 93.3 km (58.0 miles) long railway lines of the LCRA. The previous operators LVAL and LWRY had ceased operations the day before.

On September 29, 1993, the DL was commissioned by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) through Directed Service Order to take over the freight transport services of the insolvent Pocono Northeast Railway (PNER). The directive, initially issued for 60 days, was extended to the maximum permitted period of 180 days, ie until May 23, 1994. During this period, the DL served several of the lines and connecting railways between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre that were previously used by the PNER, including the Minooka Industrial Track . Many of these services were then taken over by the Luzerne and Susquehanna Railway (L&SR), newly founded by the owners of LVAL and LRWY , while the infrastructure was partially handed over to the Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority by PNER's sister company F&L Realty .

In 1994, the Monroe County Railroad Authority (MCRA) acquired, with financial support from the state, the section of the former DL&W main line to Analomink (Milepost 84.6 near Stroudsburg ) from Conrail, which connects to the LCRA line from Scranton in Mount Pocono ( Milepost 101) . At the intermediary of the LCRA, the DL also took over the transport services on the MCRA infrastructure. The subsequent section south of Milepost 84.6 came when Conrail was split up in 1999 to the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), which called it the Stroudsburg Secondary Track . As of September 14, 2001, the MCRA rented about 16 km of this route to Slateford (Milepost 74.4) in Northampton County for use by the DL.

DL freight train in Pocono Summit, 2013

On July 28, 2000, the LCRA acquired two together almost 8 km (4.96 miles) long route sections from the real estate company F&L Realty: A 1.3 km (0.85 miles) long section of the diamond branch of the former DL&W in the urban area of Scranton as well a 6.6 km (4.11 mile) portion of the Laurel Line of the former Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad in Moosic . DL was named as the operator of rail freight transport on both routes. It also serves the Minooka Industrial Track at the end of the Laurel Line , which was also acquired by LCRA in early 2002.

LCRA and MCRA merged in 2006 to form the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority (PNRRA). At the beginning of 2009, the PNRRA acquired the previously rented section of the Stroudsburg Secondary Track from the NS.

On August 27, 2010, the PNRRA renewed the contract with DL. The rights to carry out rail freight traffic on the PNRRA routes were granted exclusively to DL. The PNRRA only reserved the option of granting NS overhead trackage rights for the management of national freight trains between Scranton and Slateford. In return, the PNRRA has been determined to receive 10% of the revenue from transportation to and from locations in Lackawanna County and 10% of the revenue or $ 8,000 a month for transportation to and from locations in Monroe County. Operating and maintenance costs for the infrastructure are borne by DL. The agreement can be extended by five years at the end of the term. In December 2013, Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad (RBMN) filed a lawsuit against this extension option in the local Court of Common Pleas and appealed to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) because it was not allowed to submit its own offer. While the STB referred the matter to the courts in June 2016, the court proceedings are still ongoing. After the renewal of the contract between PNRRA and DL, which had meanwhile taken place, RBMN renewed the lawsuit in February 2020.

Infrastructure

Slateford Junction, Pennsylvania, 2006

The PNRRA route network used by DL consists of four parts:

The designated by the DL as Carbondale Main , 30.7 km (19.1 miles) Scranton-Carbondale route is part of the former main route of the D&H from Scranton to Albany . It begins in Scranton and leads via Dickson City and Olyphant in a north-easterly direction to Carbondale, with the northern end of the route already in the area of Fell Township .

The approximately 103 km (64 miles) long Pocono Mainline of the DL, which is a route of the former DL&W, later the Erie Lackawanna Railroad and Conrail, runs from Scranton in a southeast direction . Via Moscow , Tobyhanna , Mount Pocono , East Stroudsburg and Delaware Water Gap , it reaches Slateford near the state border with New Jersey . In Slateford, the former DL&W route ( Old Main ) continues south, while the Lackawanna Cut-Off branching off there and dismantled in 1984 once established a more direct connection to the east.

The 1.3 km (0.85 mile) long Diamond Branch in the city of Scranton was also built by DL&W. It now links the main lines of the DL with the routes of the Norfolk Southern Railroad in Scranton.

The 6.6 km (4.11 miles) portion of the Laurel Line of the former Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad runs from Scranton to Moosic . It is largely electrified in order to be able to offer trams from the Electric City Trolley Museum there. However, DL also uses the route to serve local freight customers.

traffic

DL freight train in Scranton, 2014

The DL mainly transports grain and flour, sand for fracking for natural gas extraction from the Marcellus Formation , plastic, wood, propane gas and consumer goods. In 2019 the DL carried 9690 freight wagons. In 2018, 9,453 wagons, in 2017 8,572 wagons and in 2015 8048 wagons were moved. In the mid-1990s, the number was around 2,300 freight wagons per year.

Car swaps can be made with the Norfolk Southern Railway at Taylor near Scranton and Slateford and with the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad at Pittston near Scranton.

Museum train trips are carried out several times a year on the PNRRA and DL routes , in particular through the Steamtown National Historic Site on the Pocono Mainline and the Electric City Trolley Museum on the Laurel Line .

vehicles

Like all GVT railway companies, the Falls Road Railroad almost exclusively uses diesel locomotives from the manufacturer American Locomotive Company (Alco). The DL has around 15 locomotives of the types RS-3 , RS-32 , C 420 , C 424 , C 425 and C 636 at its disposal. Maintenance facilities are used in Scranton, partly together with the Steamtown National Historic Site.

Web links

Commons : Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad - Collection of Pictures, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b ^c Edward A. Lewis: American Shortline Railway Guide (5th Edition) . Kalmbach Publishing, Co., 1996, ISBN 978-0-89024-290-2 , pp. 100 (English).

^ Surface Transportation Board : Finance Docket No. 32334; The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad Co., Inc .; Operation exemption; Line of Lackawanna County Railroad Authority . In: Federal Register . tape 58 , no. 176 , September 14, 1993, pp. 48077-48078 (English).

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Surface Transportation Board : STB Docket No. 35956; Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad Company - Petition for Declaratory Order . In: Federal Register . September 10, 2015 (English, full text; PDF, 38 MB ).

↑ United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations: Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1995: Department of Transportation . US Government Printing Office, 1994, ISBN 978-0-16-044419-7 , pp. 278 : “On September 29, 1993, the Commission issued Directed Service Order No. 1513 authorizing Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad Company to operate lines of the Pocono Northeast Railroad (...) until May 23, 1994 ”

↑ Surface Transportation Board : STB Docket No. 32653; Luzerne and Susquehanna Railway Company - Lease and Operation Exemption - Certain Lines of Luzerne County Rail Corporation, F&L Realty Inc and Pocono Northeast Railway Inc. In: Federal Register . tape 59 , no. 184 , September 23, 1994, pp. 48900 (English).

^ Delaware Lackawanna . In: Railfan & Railroad Magazine . tape 18 , no. 10 , 1999, ISSN 0163-7266 , p. 26 (English).

↑ Surface Transportation Board : STB Finance Docket No. 34092; Monroe County Railroad Authority-Lease Exemption-Norfolk Southern Railway Company and Pennsylvania Lines LLC . In: Federal Register . September 28, 2001, p. 49741 (English, full text ).

↑ Surface Transportation Board : STB Finance Docket No. 34091; Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad Co., Inc.-Operation Exemption-Monroe County Railroad Authority . In: Federal Register . September 28, 2001, p. 49740 (English, full text ).

^ Surface Transportation Board : Lackawanna County Railroad Authority - Acquisition Exemption F&L Realty, Inc. In: Federal Register . tape 65 , no. 146 , July 28, 2000, pp. 46549 (English): "The parties report that they intend to consume the transaction on or about July 28, 2000."

↑ Surface Transportation Board : STB Finance Docket No. 34162; Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad Co., Inc. — Change in Operators Exemption — Lackawanna County Railroad Authority . In: Federal Register . January 29, 2002 (English, full text [PDF]): “Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad (...) to operate 1.5 miles of rail line to be acquired by Lackawanna County Railroad Authority (LCRA). The line, known as the Minooka Industrial Track, has been operated by Luzerne and Susquehanna Railway Company (L&S), and extends from Little Virginia Junction to the Davis Street Crossing. "

^ ^A ^b Charlie Wood: Genesee Valley Transportation . In: Railfan & Railroad Magazine . tape 36 , no. October 10 , 2017, ISSN 0163-7266 , p. 48-51 (English).

^ Pennsylvania rail authority to buy NS Water Gap trackage. Trains Magazine , December 19, 2008, accessed April 8, 2020 .

^ Surface Transportation Board : Decision on STB Docket No. 35956; Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad Company - Petition for Declaratory Order . June 6, 2016 (English, full text ).