D-L serves a network of former Conrail and Delaware & Hudson trackage including the Scranton-Portland, Pa., segment of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western main line, the Scranton-Carbondale portion of the D&H Penn Division, and the former Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley “Laurel Line” from Scranton to Minooka. The D-L operation and agreement with the PNRRA, notes Monte Verde, is an excellent example of a private/public partnership that works.
The train, operated on May 5, 2018, was the first of several specials D-L is running “to celebrate the years of success with friends, family, associates, and the Authority and elected officials that have been with us through our journey,” notes Monte Verde. The celebration will continue with another train on July 27th and culminate with private luncheons and short trips for the PNRRA Board and elected officials in Monroe and Lackawanna Counties on Aug. 22 and 23, the signature date of the contract forged 25 years ago. D-L’s success has been hard earned. “Agony and ecstasy,” says Monte Verde. “I wouldn’t change a thing,” adds Thomas.
A pristine pair of D-L Alco Centuries — C424 No. 2423, built for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and C420 405 built for Lehigh Valley — led the special on a 120-mile round trip from Scranton, over the Pocono Mountains and through the Delaware Water Gap to the Norfolk Southern connection at Portland, Pa. The five-car train included four borrowed cars from the Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society: a former Amtrak baggage-HEP car, an ex-NJ Transit commuter coach, Nickel Plate 10-6 sleeping car City of Lima, and DL&W dining car 469. Carrying the markers — and an original 1920s DL&W drumhead — the star of the show was GVT’s heavyweight Pullman business car Erie Lackawanna 2, a DL&W original.
Best known by enthusiasts as a bastion of Alco and MLW power, D-L is better known on its home turf for its friendly and efficient service. An economic driver in the region, D-L has increased carloads by 450 percent during its tenure of operation of the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority-owned lines. It’s the perfect partnership observed Mike Delvecchio as the special rolled through the Poconos: “the right people are in the right places at the right time for the right reasons.”
I grew up in Scranton and by the time I left railroading was nearly dead there. Big change for the good now. One hint – a few years ago, I was driving down Lackawanna Avenue away from the station, and traffic just stopped. I looked up, and in the distance, there was a train crossing the street on tracks I’d never seen in use decades before. I’d love to see a detailed article on how rail has come back to life in NE PA, and what else remains to do, including restoration of the Lackawanna Cutoff.
One goof: PRR 2415 was the only C424 on the roster, thus 2423 is more likely a C425.
Thanks to Trains for the beautiful picture of the train at Scranton!
There is a lot of great things happening on the D-L and ELDCPS in Scranton! Congrats on the 25 years.
A Picture of the whole train would be Nice.