Good Afternoon! I am a little late, but here we go with yet another edition of Midweek Photos. Welcome!
I was in Honesdale, PA today. This old town in the Poconos of Pennsylvania is known as the birthplace of American Railroading. Sad to say, there is no railroad operating there at this point in time.
Honesdale was the west end of the Delaware & Hudson canal, which began operation in 1823. From Honesdale west to Carbondale, traveling over the Moosic Mountain, D&H used a gravity railroad; a series of inclined planes using coal jimmies like those above to transport coal. This re-created car of coal is on an example of the steep planes. They were engineered to allow gravity to take the empty cars downhill in a train at around 25 mph. Going uphill, a stationary steam boiler provided power to operate the pulleys hauling loaded cars of coal. Hemp rope was considered ideal for hauling the cars, since it was durable and showed frays as it wore out. This allowed the company to replace or repair the rope before the cars took off on their own.
The grooves in this stone post are from years of the rope nearly constantly rubbing the sides as part of the routing of the rails around corners. The rope would otherwise make a straight line from the engine house to the car. Having these posts along the way allowed for better guidance of the cars up the plane.
There is a now defunct tourist railroad still located in the downtown. The Stourbridge Line Rail Excursion last ran 2-3 years ago with this consist of passenger cars. 3 Lackawanna MUs and a Delaware Otsego coach which may have been from the Reading or Central RR of New Jersey. All sit in the weeds now.
A neat old wooden snow plow also graces the rails.
A few blocks down the line lies this locomotive shop. It is not much to look at, but inside sits one of the few operational BL2 diesel locomotives left. It was originally Bangor & Aroostook number 54.
Outside the shop is this neat GP7, which originally ran on the Maine Central. It is owned by a private individual.
That does it for me. I now hand you the thread. Have you caught any dormant relics lately? How about rejuvenated rail lines and locomotives? Even if it is a regularly scheduled train with "nothing special," we are happy to look at what you want to share. Thanks for helping! Enjoy what is left of your summer. Fall begins September 23.
