News From Scranton, 2007
Updated 1/7/07
Happy New Year 2007!
The Ice Train Commeth!  On Saturday January 13th, Steamtown will operate its popular "Ice Harvest Train" to Tobyhanna.  Of course with the weather as of late, there probably will not be much ice to be found, but the trip will run either way!  In other quasi-Steamtown news, Bill Fredrickson was relieved of his duties as the head of the K4 rebuild project by the Altoona Railroader's Mermorial Museum.  Time will tell whether this move will prove harmful or benificial to the project in the long run.

The DL has continued to overhaul and paint engines during the second half of 2006.  Both the DL 405 and the DL 2035 got ground up prime mover work this past fall and it is hoped that the 405 will get a shiny new coat of paint sometime in '07.  Look for the 2452 and 4118 to possibly return to service this year as well.  The GVT revolving door of ALCo's has seen MHWA 2453, a corporate painted C-425, assigned to Scranton for several months now while C-420 #2034 (aka 334) has left the property.

In other news the Electric City Trolley completed a very successful season which saw the ride extended all the way to the Lackawanna Stadium, now home to the Scranton/WilkesBarre Yankees!  A number of ball trips operated to sold out crowds in 2006, look for more of the same in '07!
Steamtown NHS 5/20/06:
5/22/06- Steamtown NHS has resumed steam operations for the summer.  On May 20th Steamtown ran a trip with CN 3254 4 cars (and a diesel leading) from Scranton to East Stroudsburg, PA.  The excursion coincided with the East Stroudsburg Tower Society's "Armed Forces Day Railroad Spectacular" and East Stroudsburg's "Chicken Festival and Railroad Day".  For show, the diesel was taken off point at Analomink and the train was run into town under steam.  After winter repair and maintenance work, the 3254 got a mechanical thumbs up and should see solo road work Mermorial Day Weekend.  All photos below courtesy of Andrew Ottinger.
After cutting off the NKP 514, CN 3254 chugs through East Stroudsburg
Diesel-led special arrives at servicing stop in Tobyhanna
The special arrives at the well attended festival
LNE Bobber:
5/22/06- Taking a break from the festivities in East Stroudsburg, the Scrantontrains staff chose to investigate reports of a Lehigh & New England "bobber" caboose at Memorytown USA in nearby Tannersville PA.  Unfortunately the cabin car has fallen into poor condition over the years.  All photo below courtesy of Andrew Ottinger.
Steamtown Shop Update May 06:
Work Continues on the maintenance and overhauls of several steam locomotives at the Steamtown Shops in Scranton.  Baldwin Locomotive Works 0-6-0 #26 is in the throws of a major rebuilding.  Currently the boiler is separated from the frame.  A new rear tube sheet has been installed, the boiler and firebox have both received extensive work and a new front tube sheet sits nearby.  Pennsylvania Railroad K4s 1361 is still going back together.  A recent visit to the Steamtown shop found the new backhead attached to the locomotive while most of the firebox sheets have yet to be installed.  Work has slowed on the B&M 3713 project while shop forces focus on getting the 26 back on line.  CP 2317 is on hiatus in the roundhouse awaiting cylinder and wheel work.  CN 3254 is expected to be the only steamer to see service in Scranton this summer after receiving firebox and other work over the past 4 months.  As of 5/18 the CN 3254 was fired up and moving in the yard for the first time since 1/17.  The following shop photographs were taken in on 5/14/06
BLW 26 Firebox
BLW 26 Boiler New rear tube sheet installed in boiler
BLW 26 Frame
B&M 3713 firebox B&M 3713 (L), PRR 1361 (R) New backhead installed on PRR 1361
New rear tube sheet waiting to be installed
CN 3254 had a rare winter outing on January 17th when it was used to power an excursion from Steamtown to the Ice Harvest Festival at Tobyhanna.  While the train ran with quite a crowd on board, the weather was less than ideal for an ice festival with temperatures hovering in the mid 50's on Saturday the 17th. 
What a difference a day can make!  DL 3642 is seen in charge of the DL's famed "Portland Turn a scant 24 hours later (and 40 degrees colder) at the same location (Lehigh Road) on January 18th, 2006.
The DL:
Traffic remains steady on the DL, with several new customers expected on line in the next year.  The DL currently maintains a 6 day per week operation (Sun-Fri).  Recently the DL has begun a program of painting several of its locomotives into the GVT Rail corporate Colors.  So far DL 3642 has been run through the paint shop and has entered the regular service rotation.  Compare the photos below with the January 18th photo above.  Also recently completed was the 2035, an ex NYC RS 32, seen below.  Several of the DL's more historic locomotives including RS 3 4118 and SC # 426 have been loaned to Steamtown.  DL&W 426 has been placed inside the museum plaza while the ex D&H 4103 is seen below coupled to a short photo freight in the Steamtown yard.
East Stroudsburg Railroad Tower Society
The society will present their "Armed Forces Day Railroad Spectacular" on Saturday May 21st.  A highlight of the event will be an excursion from Steamtown to East Stroudsburg to commemorate the event.  Last year the DL sent M636 # 3643 and a caboose to East Stroudsburg for the day, as seen below.  As of press time the CN 3254 was scheduled to power the train.  More info at the official Steamtown website www.nps.gov/stea
The Electric City Trolley:
Work nears completion on a half mile extension of the Electric City Trolley route.  Currently the Electric City Trolley operates to the Lackawanna County Visitor's Center at Montage Mountain.  This final extension will allow cars to travel up to the Lackawanna County Stadium (Home of Red Barons AAA Baseball).  At the end of the line a large trolley storage and restoration facility has been constructed.  Visitors will be able to enter the building and watch restoration work taking place on several historic electric cars.  The additional trackage is expected to see service in late June or Early July of this year.  As of 5/17/05 (the date of the photographs below) track has been tamped and ballasted and poles are in place. For more information on the Electric City Trolley visit www.ectma.org
On to the stadium grounds... Ending at massive carbarn...
New trackage begains at the Visitor's Center... Parallels Montage Mtn. Road...
Penn Argyl, Still Standing, for Now:
The massive former Lehigh & New England shops at Pen Argyl, PA have long been silent and without an active rail connection.  The site (about an hour east of Scranton), while dormant and cut off from live rail, this facility remains one of the more complete and intact steam locomotive facilities on the east coast.    Most recently, developers have proposed to level the site and construct a discount superstore.  Since businessmen and local politicians have been unable to work out the details, the shop and roundhouse remain, but for how long?  The following photographs supplied to Scrantontrains by Aaron Stout, a pilot and Steamtown locomotive engineer show the facility from the air.
Random Things:
With the variety of motive power on the DL sometimes its easy to overlook neighboring CP Rail.  With almost a dozen trains a day however, one can usually find something interesting.  Witness a rare lashup of three "Red Barn" CP SD-40-2F's in early may of 2005.  There's always something going on in Scranton, come for a visit!
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