Harrisburg - Scranton

I live north of Harrisburg in Millersburg and that line is the NS route going into Sunbury.  There also is the Reading and Northern that runs just above Reading in Port Clinton and the Northward to the Scranton area.  Here is the info I found on train orders that might help you?

http://www.trainorders.com/dis...n/read.php?2,2567505

Steve,

 

Checking my handy dandy, 1954 Official Guide of the Railways, the answer is: not directly.  Harrisburg was served by the PRR and Reading.  Scranton's only passenger service was via the D L & W.

 

ChipR

Hmmm... just looking at a map, (showing them connected by the Interstate highway

system) and with the feeling that railroads once ran all over the place in Pa., looks like there would have once been some direct passenger connection between these two important Pa. cities....interurban or ?, 1940 and prior?

You can't take 1954 as the definitive year for passenger service. I'm sure that around 1910 there was a need to run passengers on many direct lines that were freight only by 1950.
DL&W ran passenger trains on it's Lackawanna & Bloomsburg route from Scranton to Northumberland. This served as a union stationfor the roads and was at times called the Sunbury station. PRR would take these riders to Harrisburg. I am not aware of a similar D&H/PRR arrangement.

You don't like 1954?  Let's try 1947.

 

Lv Harrisburg 4:05 am, arrive Scranton 10:30 am.

Lv Scranton 5:40 pm, Arrive Harrisburg 10:50 pm.

 

ChipR 

Nearly 6 1/2 hours.  Which explains why it wasn't offered by 1954.  A bus could make the trip in half the time.  Interstate travel is about 2 hours

Wow!  Thanks to everyone.  So at least there is track there.  Bloomsburg runs a "Polar Express" during the holidays from Bloomsburg to Danville.  It's a short hop from there down to Northumberland and not too far in the other direction to Scranton.

 

laz57 - thanks for the link to trainorders.  Some good stuff there but haven't looked at it in detail yet.

 

ChipR - the 1947 schedule seems to say there was service.  It's about 120 miles from Harrisburg

to Scranton.  I believe trains could average between 40-50 mph in the 40's so a non-stop trip should take about 3 hrs.  The 6-1/2 hours seems to indicate many stops and/or a much slower average speed.

 

Tim - great input and ChipR ran with it to get the 1947 schedule.

 

coloradohirailer - it makes sense that one would think that there would be direct service between these two cities.  I think that there was emphasis on Philadelphia as a hub and trains going northwest from there would have probably been associated with the Lehigh Valley and/or Reading.  Philly to Harrisburg was probably PRR and/or Reading.   I don't know what ran north from Harrisburg other than the NS that iaz57 mentioned.

 

Now that I've got some stuff to work with, I'll check this out in more detail.  Again, thanks to everyone for their input.

 

Steve

Walter,

 

Good info.  When was Mauch Chunk renamed?  The 1954 OG does not show the Interstate Express on the DL&W, whilst the '47 OG does.

 

Back to Harrisburg - Scranton.  In the 1947 OG there was a through train between Pittsburgh and Scranton via Harrisburg with a 12-1.  Switched to the DL&W at Sunbury PA.

 

In 1954, Scranton had only passenger service via the DL&W on their main line, so to get from Harrisburg to Scranton required changing trains from PRR to DL&W at Elmira, NY, with a long layover in the middle of the night. 

 

ChipR

 

p.s., rolling around in the minutia of old Official Guides is a h** of a lot of fun!

Steve,

 

Steam Powered Video publishes atlases of all-time railroads in the US.  The volume covering NY, NJ, DE, MD and PA is $34.95 MSRP.  Available from many sources.

 

ChipR 

Walter - what can I say?  Thanks for the detail information.

 

ChipR - so the service from Harrisburg to Scranton was roundabout and not a "direct" shot.  Elmira is quite a bit off  from following the Susquehanna which is what I thought would be the route.  Thanks for the info on the atlas for PA.  I'll look into it.

 

Steve

 

Steve,  In 1947, direct.  In 1954, change at Williamsport with a 1 hour and 45 minute layover, then change again in Elmira with a 1 hour layover.  ChipR

When was Mauch Chunk renamed?

According to Wikipedia, Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk boro's merged and renamed to Jim Thorpe in 1953.

Ah so, the railroads must be slow.  June 1954 OG shows Mauch Chunk, no Jim Thorpe