Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad

The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad (reporting mark DL) is a shortline railroad operating in Northeastern Pennsylvania, especially the Scranton area.

Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad
DL RS32 #2035 switches the Diamond Branch in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Locomotive was built as NYC 8035
Overview
HeadquartersBatavia, New York (Corporate headquarters), Scranton, Pennsylvania (DL main office)
Reporting markDL
LocaleNortheastern Pennsylvania
Dates of operation1993–Present
PredecessorConrail
Delaware and Hudson Railway
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length88 miles (142 kilometres)
Other
WebsiteGenesee Valley Transportation Co., Inc.

DL began service in August 1993 and is the designated operator for 88 miles (142 kilometres) of trackage in Lackawanna, Wayne, Northampton, and Monroe Counties. It is a subsidiary of holding company Genesee Valley Transportation Company, Inc. (GVT). It was founded by Jeffrey Baxter, Charles Riedmiller, John Herbrand, Michael Thomas and David Monte Verde who continue to make up its corporate ownership.[1]

Overview

GVT began in 1985 in upstate New York marketing rail-related services to both private and public industry throughout the northeast.

Through a competitive bid process, the Lackawanna County Rail Authority selected GVT to operate its owned rail lines within Lackawanna and Monroe counties from Scranton northeast to the city of Carbondale on the former Delaware & Hudson Railway's Penn Division mainline (now called the Carbondale Mainline), from Scranton southeast to Slateford Junction in Monroe County on the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad's (DL&W) Southern Division mainline (now called the Pocono Mainline), and from Scranton southwest to Montage Mountain, Moosic on lines of the former Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Railroad electric interurban streetcar line.

These are the lines hosting the seasonal passenger trains of both the Steamtown National Historic Site, the Electric City Trolley Museum, and the Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society. The Pocono Mainline has hosted a number of excursions out of Steamtown, including excursions of the Nickel Plate 765.[2][3]

In 2015 the authority extended DL's lease for five years.[4]

Poconos expansion

The DL interchanges with Norfolk Southern Railway in Taylor, PA and via Slateford Junction near Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania and the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad via Duryea Yard outside Pittston, Pennsylvania, thus connecting to the Great Lakes via Sayre Yard and New Jersey and New York City via former Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) assets.

Since the summer of 1998, the DL, under a haulage agreement with Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), has operated unit Canadian grain trains between Taylor, PA and the Ardent Mills Grain Mill at Pocono Summit, Pennsylvania. Operated by DL crews, these trains average approximately 52 cars.

The DL is renowned as a bastion for both rebuilding and operating 50+ year-old ALCO diesels on a daily basis. It is the only railroad operating four ALCO RS-3s and the owner of the only ALCO C636 in existence.

A new unified color scheme of gray and white with red and yellow stripes was to be applied to GVT system units beginning in 2006 as they exit the South Scranton shops; the most recent being rebuilt ALCO C425 No. 2457 in the summer of 2016. No. 3000 appeared in September 2016

Recent activity
  • A new 2,000-foot extension connects the county's trolley line, the Electric City Trolley Museum, from the Steamtown National Historic Site, Scranton, to a new station and trolley restoration facility, immediately adjacent to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders stadium, PNC Field, off Montage Mountain Road in Moosic.
  • The 2006 Annual Convention of the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners (AAPRCO) took place in Scranton on DL at the Steamtown National Historic Site on site behind the Mall at Steamtown September 20–24, 2006, traveling via Cincinnati-Chicago-St. Albans, Vermont-Scranton-Chicago-Cincinnati route over the 14-day event. Many past Presidential and historic rail cars attended with a round-trip steam-powered run to the Delaware Water Gap on September 21, 2006.
  • The 2010 Annual Convention of the National Railway Historical Society took place in Scranton on June 22–26, 2010, with numerous events run on DL lines.
  • DL has been the motive power for several trips run by the Erie-Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society, a preservation group that owns and operates several historic passenger cars, including a Nickel Plate Road (NKP) Pullman sleeper and two Budd Company dining cars from DL&W's Phoebe Snow.
  • In connection with the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society, DL started operating a heritage fleet, including a CNJ RS-3 and Lehigh Valley Railroad C420.
  • Starting in 2017, Office Car Specials and inspection trains have become more frequent on DL. These trains use a mix of ELDCPS and company-owned passenger equipment, most notably NKP sleeper No. 211 City of Lima, DL&W diner No. 469, and Erie Lackawanna Railway business car No. 2.
  • Completed in September 2020, the DL constructed a new shop for their locomotives, the Von Storch Locomotive Shops. The new shop is located in the Green Ridge Yard in Scranton. Genesee Valley Transportation Co., Inc. Invested more than $2 million into the new shop.

References
  1. R.R.B. Ruling 08/16/96
  2. Crosby, Dave (August 28, 2015). "TRAINS Chase guide: Nickel Plate Road 765, Scranton, Pa., to the Delaware Water Gap". Trains. Retrieved 11 April 2020. (subscription required)
  3. "Spanning the Gap: Pocono Mainline Rail Excursion, Delaware Lackawanna & Western Railroad" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  4. "Delaware-Lackawanna signs five-year operating agreement extension". Trains. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015. (subscription required)
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