RE: (erielack) Erie Wyoming Division

[gjokra_@_comcast.net]

Schuyler,
Thanks! that was great, I spent a few hours wandering around the Poconos checking all the old branches and railroad lines that I saw but did'nt know what they were. The older the map the more interesting they were!
Greg O

- -------------- Original message -------------- 

> If you want to follow the line along on old USGS maps, go to 
> http://historical.maptech.com/quadlist.cfm?stateabr=PA 
> 
> Pick the Hawley quad, and start with the north west part of that map. You can 
> follow it along by clicking appropriately. All the way to Scranton, I imagine. 
> 
> SGL 
> 
> > -----Original Message----- 
> > From: erielack-owner_@_lists.railfan.net 
> > [mailto:erielack-owner_@_lists.railfan.net] On Behalf Of 
> > gjokra_@_comcast.net 
> > Sent: Monday, December 13, 2004 10:32 PM 
> > To: Henry W Jarusik; erielack_@_lists.railfan.net 
> > Subject: Re: (erielack) Erie Wyoming Division 
> > 
> > 
> > Henry, 
> > I too, lived along the line, however, later in the early 
> > eighties, in Wimmers, near Mt. Cobb. I don't have a good map 
> > of PA handy but I know where most of the line went. If you 
> > were in Lake Ariel, you were on the branch that ran just a 
> > few miles from the main. (2 point something miles) The line 
> > came up from Scranton through Cobb's Gap and crossed the DL&W 
> > and Roaring Brook at "Nay Aug". This is just under the I-380 
> > bridge outside of Dunmore. The tracks followed Roaring Brook 
> > across from the DL&W to just before the Elmhurst Reservoir 
> > where it ran along side RT 590 to the top of the "Saddle". at 
> > which point it went across the small valley to 
> > Wimmers,(Passing under I-84 first) then around the hill to 
> > Saco. Saco is on RT 348 and the tracks crossed at DeLeo's gas 
> > station. There was a small yard here. Next it went through 
> > Maplewood, near Lake Henry and crossed RT 196 near Varden. I 
> > remember a small village called Gravity which had a grade 
> > crossing but my map doesn't show it. This is where I lose the 
> > tracks until they surface near Hawley and connect with the 
> > Honesdale branch and follow the Lackawaxen river to 
> > Lackawaxen and the juction with the Main Line. The last train 
> > through this line was in 1969. There are very few pictures of 
> > this area as it was still very r! 
> > ural and traffic was fairly light by the late fifties. I 
> > know that the line followed the path of the Pennsylvania Coal 
> > Co. gravity railroad right of way for much of the way. If I 
> > get a chance to look at a better map online some more of the 
> > little villages along the way will jar my memory. The man I 
> > bought my house in Wimmers from was a retired conductor for 
> > the Erie. He passed away not long after I moved in so I 
> > didn't have a chance to get more stories from him. He did say 
> > that later on, because traffic was so light here that he 
> > would get off the train at his house and they would pick him 
> > up the next day. The crew would cover for him so he didn't 
> > have to drive to and from Dunmore so often. His wife was a 
> > Hollister, an early settler family. 
> > If anyone has more to offer about this end of the division it 
> > would be great to know more. 
> > Greg Okrasinski 
> > ELHS #2887 
> > -------------- Original message -------------- 
> > 
> > > List: 
> > > 
> > > Was this the line that ran from Hawley, Pa. over to the 
> > Scranton area? 
> > > Can someone give me the general path it followed, and any 
> > other details? 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Our family farm [Lake Ariel Post Office] is along this now 
> > abandoned 
> > > right-of-way. The line was active and then removed in the 
> > early 1960s. 
> > > I was too young to ever see any railroad activity on the line but 
> > > remember the rails being there looking functional and in service. 
> > > 
> > > The Erie burned down the farm house in the early 1930s from the 
> > > exhaust cinders igniting the roof. As my father told it, 
> > everyone came 
> > > home from church one Sunday to see the house burning down. I don't 
> > > know how it was resolved, but they did build a new house on 
> > the old foundation. 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Henry Jarusik 
> > > New London, Pa 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > -- 
> > > Henry W Jarusik 
> > > hwjpa_@_fastem.com 
> > > 
> > 
> 

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