Delaware–Lackawanna Railroad

Delaware–Lackawanna Railroad

DL RS32 #2035 switches the Diamond Branch in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Locomotive was built as NYC 8035
Reporting mark	DL
Locale	Northeastern Pennsylvania
Dates of operation	1993–Present
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	85 miles (137 kilometres)
Headquarters	Batavia, New York
Website	Genesee Valley Transportation Co., Inc.

The Delaware–Lackawanna Railroad (reporting mark DL) is a shortline railroad operating in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The DL began service in August 1993 and is the designated operator for 85 miles (137 kilometres) of trackage in Lackawanna 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.

The Lackawanna County Rail Authority approached GVT to operate its owned rail lines within Lackawanna and Monroe Counties from Scranton northeast to the city of Carbondale on lines of the former Delaware and Hudson Railway's Penn Division mainline, from Scranton southeast into Monroe County on lines of the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, and from Scranton southwest to Montage Mountain, Moosic on lines of the former Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad third-rail interurban streetcar line.

These are the lines hosting the seasonal passenger trains of both the Steamtown National Historic Site and the Electric City Trolley Museum and now under the jurisdiction of the new Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Rail Authority.

In 2015 the authority extended the Delaware–Lackawanna's lease for five years.^[2]

Poconos expansion

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

Since the summer of 1998, the DL, under a haulage agreement with the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP Rail), has been operating unit Canadian grain trains between Scranton and the Harvest States Grain Mill at Pocono Summit, Pennsylvania. Operated by DL crews, these trains average approximately 45 cars and up to four locomotives provided by CP Rail.

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.

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 #2457 in the summer of 2016, and now #3000 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, Moosic.
• The 2006 Annual Convention of the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners (AAPRCO) took place in Scranton on the 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 the DL lines.
• The 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 Pullman sleeper and the two Budd dining cars from the Lackawanna Phoebe Snow.
• Recently, the DL, in connection with the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society, has started operating a "heritage fleet," including a Jersey Central RS-3 and a Lehigh Valley C420.

References

1. R.R.B. Ruling 08/16/96
2. "Delaware-Lackawanna signs five-year operating agreement extension". Trains. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015. (subscription required)

External links

• Genesee Valley Transportation Company, Inc.
• 2010 N.R.H.S. Annual Convention, Scranton, PA, June 22-26, 2010