Delaware-Lackawanna
Railroad - (en)
The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad (AAR reporting marks DL) began service
August, 1993, as designated operator of over 85 miles of Lackawanna County
trackage north, east and south from the Scranton, Pennsylvania, terminus
in Northeastern Pennsylvania as a part of the Genesee Valley
Transportation Company, Inc.
Overview
Delaware-Lackawanna lines in Pennsylvania, as depicted on a 2006 GVT
system map.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 north to
the city of Carbondale on lines of the former Delaware and Hudson
Railway's Pennsylvania Branch, from Scranton east into Monroe County on
lines of the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad and from
Scranton south 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.
Poconos expansion
The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad mainline runs from Scranton,
Pennsylvania, over the Pocono Mountains to the Delaware Water Gap towards
New Jersey and the New York City market.Since the summer of 1998, the D-L,
under a haulage agreement with the Canadian Pacific Railway, has been
running unit Canadian grain trains between Scranton and the Harvest States
Grain Mill at Pocono Summit, PA. Operated by D-L crews these trains
average about 45 cars and up to 4 locomotives provided by the CPR. Even
though CPR EMD SD40-2s are the rule, occasionally a rare specimen will
make its way onto the D-L.
The D-L Railroad, according to its website, provides "friendly
customized service" to over 25 customers in the Scranton / Pocono
region, and interchanges with two Class I carriers: Norfolk Southern and
Canadian Pacific Railway.
Delaware-Lackawanna is renown as a bastion for both rebuilding and
operating 50-year-old ALCO diesels up and down the Pocono Mountains of
Northeastern Pennsylvania on a daily basis.
A new unified color scheme of gray and white with red and yellow stripes
has begun to be applied to GVT system units in 2006 as they exit the South
Scranton shops this year.
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 Red Barons stadium off Montage
Mountain Road, Moosic.
The 2006 Annual Convention of the American Association of Private Railroad
Car Owners (AAPRCO) takes place in Scranton on the D-L at the Steamtown
National Historic Site on site behind the Mall at Steamtown September 20,
2006-September 24, 2006, travelling a Cincinnati – Chicago – St.
Albans, VT – Steamtown, PA – Chicago – Cincinnati route over the
14-day event. Many past Presidential and historic rail cars will be in
attendance with a round-trip steam-powered run to the Delaware Water Gap
planned for Thursday, September 21, 2006.
