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| CLASSIC PHOTOS: EAST STROUDSBURG (1651078) | |||
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CLASSIC PHOTOS: EAST STROUDSBURG |
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Posted by Jersey Mike on Wed Oct 7 10:02:09 2026 From 1992 through 2005 I would take an annual Pocono ski weekend with a church affiliated youth group. This would get me up into DL&W territory where I could visit points of interest like the Lackawanna Cutoff's Paulens Kill Viaduct. Although I might not have been aware of it at the time, 2005 would be my final trip of this type as I moved from school to employment. Fortunately I was able to take full advantage of the opportunity by visiting two former DL&W interlocking towers in the greater East Stroudsburg, PA metro area and combined with some related NEC travel I have enough content ( mirror ) to put together an interesting photo post.My trip started out in Meriden, CT where I had been dating a girl at the time. Here I am on the old low level platform as a 2 car southbound Springfield Shuttle train arrives with P42DC #102 leading. Due to issues with the Metroliner cab car, this shuttle set was running with two locomotives. Not the milepost 18 intermediate signal in the distance. Within 3 months the H-5 searchlight would be replaced by an LED target type color light.  P42DC #12 was the engine on the rear seen here at New Haven station.  Also in the station were some of the 33 second hand Mafersa coaches CDoT had obtained from VRE for Shore Line East service in 2004 to replace the old depowered Budd SPV's Here we have a backlit #V219 on track #10 still lettered and numbered for VRE.  Over on track #3 was Amtrak P42DC #93 at the head of another Springfield shuttle trainset.  My Regional connection at New Haven was hauled by penultimate AEM-7 #952, still with its blocky font number boards.  During the Penn Station layover I grabbed a photo of LIRR M1 car #9554 which had been tagged on the front window for a trip through the car washer.  At GRUNDY interlocking in Bristol, PA my Regional passed a CSX local freight with GP38-2 #2814.  SEPTA Silverliner IV #429 on the Connecting Railroad near North Philadelphia station.  Speaking of North Philadelphia, the interlocking tower there was still open at this point, but would close just a few months later.  Jumping ahead a few days, the former DL&W EAST STROUDSBURG tower (nee "S") in downtown East Stroudsburg, PA, dates from before the DL&W adopted its trademark use of reenforced concrete in the construction of interlocking towers and other railroad buildings. Saved from demolition by Conrail in the early 1980's, by 2005 EAST STROUDSBURG was less restored and more preserved in a semi-functional stat. As of 2025 it has had additional work put into it and it open for visitors on an unfortunately irregular basis.    The adjacent DL&W passenger station was not so lucky, suffering a fire in 2009 and eventually redeveloped into a mixed use apartment building.  Located a few miles to the west up the old DL&W main line, GRAVEL PLACE is one of the many DL&W concrete towers that have survived to the present day. Built when reenforced concrete was a cutting edge technology, the cast-in-place structures used a durable mix that shows little sign of deterioration a full century later. Built with a mechanical lever frame, the tower was closed when the interlocking was re-signaled for remote control in the 1950's. 20 years later GRAVEL PLACE has found itself consumed by vegetation that was still under control back in 2005.    Both GRAVEL PLACE and EAST STROUDSBURG feature surviving DL&W signal bridges that are a testament to the resources available to the DL&W when it was hauling premium "black diamond" anthracite coal for home heating use. When this fuel type declined in the post war period, this excess infrastructure was largely abandoned in place and eventually saved from scrapping via a transfer to public ownership.  Today this line is operated by the Delaware-Lackawanna short line, known for its fleet of Alco and MLW engines. That's all I have for now. Hope you all enjoyed it. |
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