Port Jervis and Scranton/Steamtown. 4-12-12

[Ohiorailfan]

Last 2 stops on my Trip.









































































last shot taken in Akron on the way home

[AARR]

You were spoiled with all the elbow room on this trip Whihc short line did those two ALCo's in revenue service belong too? Delaware & Lackawana?

[Ohiorailfan]

Thanks, yea they were DL

[railroadchoad]

It looks like you found the place where ALCos go when they die!

[MQT3001]

It looks like you found the place where ALCos go when they die!

Holy cow! Lots o ALCo...looks like the D&M was moved there (of course none of their power is ex. D&M, but the D&M ran mostly ALCos).

[GP30M4216]

Wow, great photo set! All those ALCOs =

I only visited Steamtown for the first time last summer, and I really like that place. YES, its government run, so there's a political side to its operation, but I think they're working on some great things. The recent asbestos abatement project has done some good things for their non-operating steam fleet, and has resulted in several locomotives getting some maintenance as well as a much needed coat of paint! I'm glad to see that CNJ painted F3B in the shop; some day it'll emerge matching the Lackawanna F3As on site. I hope to be able to visit again sometime this year. Here's a link to the photos I took from when I was there last August (scroll down): http://indianarailroads.org/board/index.php?topic=7308.0

Thanks for sharing!

[SW]

All those RS and F units! Thanks for posting. I was at Steamtown about 10 years ago and don't remember all that.

[Jetlink Driver]

I've been to steam town several times in the last 3 years. It looks like I may be in Scranton and able to visit again this Thursday assuming schedules don't change and flights don't get cancelled. Other than just walking around I've not been able to really understand all that is there. I took one of the guided tours through the back shops once and that was neat but it seems like there is still a lot more to take in and understand. Any suggestions on how to get a little more out of the visit. I don't travel with a camera and am not really into photography.

[GP30M4216]

Hmmmm this Thursday. Too early for the Scranton Limited excursion I think! I've only been to Steamtown once, and I did a little walking around right away but then got on the very next Scranton Limited, which is the short excursion that takes you around the yard. Some would call the excursion a joke, but I actually loved it. I had no idea how things were laid out or really what they even contained until I took that excursion. And rather than hanging my head out the window and trying to get lots of photos from the train itself, I made mental notes about the things I saw which interested me, then walked back later in the day to check things out. Since I don't think they're running the excursion just yet, maybe a walk over the bridge to the Steamtown Mall (which connects the park and the mall) is in order to try to accomplish the same thing. Then you can sort of plot out what looks interesting and start your wanderings from there. I found the area behind the backshop to be one of the most interesting during my visit - at the time, GTW 4-8-2 6039, B&M 4-6-2 3713's tender, RDG 4-8-4 2124, and the RDG F units were all parked out there. There aren't really signs directing you that way but it seems to be open to the public as long as you don't go crawling on anything. Have a good visit and let us know what you see!

[Jetlink Driver]

Well my long layover in Scranton didn't happen. I ended up getting rescheduled to another series of flights. Stayed in Chicago instead. I appreciated the tips. I've done a few of the things you mentioned but I never have ridden the excursion through the yard. I'll pull this thread back out next time it looks like I have a chance to go.

Last time I was there CN 3254 was under steam and pulled an excursion to Tobyhanna and back. I wanted to go but I was scheduled to leave on a 5 pm flight and the excursion wasn't to return until 3. That only gave me 30 minutes to get back to the hotel to catch the van to the airport by 3:30. I also questioned the reliability of a 100 ish year old locomotive. So I opted not to ride it. Lest confusion and delay prevail when the captain doesn't show up to the airport because his steam train was late/broken. I watched CN 3254 steam back to the round house way early at about 1:30. I was bummed I hadn't went when I saw her steaming back into steamtown.