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RE: (erielack) Erie Wyoming Division



Glad you liked it.  It's a great way to get a real understanding of where things
were, and how they got there from here.

Sometimes also a thing to keep you up WAAAAY past your bedtimre . . . 8^)

SGL

> -----Original Message-----
> From: gjokra_@_comcast.net [mailto:gjokra@comcast.net] 
> Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 7:55 PM
> To: Schuyler Larrabee; 'Henry W Jarusik'; erielack_@_lists.railfan.net
> Subject: RE: (erielack) Erie Wyoming Division
> 
> 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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