(erielack) Meat / BD Tower

[RAILDATA_@_aol.com]

Meat was indeed a big commodity on the DL&W. REcall many hours of may 
"wasted" youth sitting on the Scranton DL&W station platform wathcing meat 
refrigerators from every packing company.

In scranton the DL&W served Wilson, Armour distribution plants on Mifflin 
Ave.. The D&H took care of Swift on Wyoming Ave. and the CNJ serviced Cudahy, 
although I am pretty sure these two came in on the DL and were switched over to 
the other lines.

There was a small "slaughter house"(as the natives called them) operated by 
Switft at Halstead. They were still getting livestock in the ir by rail in 
1954. Meat was shipped out by truck. 

Scranton was the major point for distribution of meat, produce and graceries 
but Ido reacall a small meat distribution palnt served by the DL at the corner 
of State  and Lewis Sts in Binghamton. I came to that area in 1953 and never 
saw any reefers there but the overhead meat rail trolly tracks were still in 
palce. Think it was Cudahy but I'm not sure.

As far as I know, the orginal BD tower in Binghamton was located between the 
Erei tracks and Front St, across the trackf from the later BD cabin. There is 
a phto of a wreck published in an Erie book that occurred at BD and it shows 
the tower there.
As I recall, the cabin BD was built when the DL&W and Erie started sharing 
trackage between Binghamton and Big Flats. The crossovers and junction at "West 
BD"n Johnson City was built then. Also the track that allowed trains from East 
Binghamton to cross over and get on the old Erie main without having to go up 
the DL&W tracks past the passenger station. They never did put in a track to 
allow passenger trains coming from Port Jervis to cross over on to the  old DL&
W tracks to reach the DL passenger station, resulting in a very awkrad 
backing to an fro to PJ trains to reach the DL passenger station.

West BD and the CTC panel for Chenago Forks were conrtolled from the BD 
cabin. Spent many hours in the cabin with Charlie Waskovitch along with Del Porta 
the EL cop shooting the breeze.

Orginally there ere three towers in Binghamton. BD as discussed (which I 
think was an Erie but don't really know), Then Liberty St. which would be just 
about where  Route 17C crosses the yard now. It handled trains leaving the DL 
pass stub tracks and going  to Syracuse and Utica. And a D&H tower  where the DL&
W Syracuse & Utica branch crossed the D&H. Before E. Binghamton Yard was built 
about 1923 the DL&W roundhouse was in the center of the wye fromed by these 
three towers and there must ahve been a lot of traffic crossing the Erie main. 
 
Maybe SGL can shed more light on the towers since he is a native of the area 
and my recollections only go back to '53.  We wasted all our time and film on 
roster shots locos and wedge views of trains in those days and never paid much 
attention to facilities, much to our regret!

Chuck Yungkurth
Boulder CO




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