{"id":3867,"date":"2013-09-21T05:54:20","date_gmt":"2013-09-21T09:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=3867"},"modified":"2013-09-23T08:52:51","modified_gmt":"2013-09-23T12:52:51","slug":"delaware-lackawanna-freight-near-scranton-pennsylvania-october-14-1997","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/delaware-lackawanna-freight-near-scranton-pennsylvania-october-14-1997\/","title":{"rendered":"Delaware Lackawanna Freight Near Scranton, Pennsylvania, October 14, 1997"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lucky Photograph on the old Lackawanna Mainline.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mike Gardner and I were poking around Scranton on October 14, 1997. Although the foliage was nearing its autumnal peak, the sky was dull, so we were mostly exploring locations.<\/p>\n

\"Alco<\/a>
A Delaware-Lackawanna freight led by an Alco C-425 diesel passes below a former Erie Railroad bridge near Scranton, Pennsylvania<\/a> on October 14, 1997.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We drove into this spot along the old Lackawanna triple-track mainline used by Steamtown<\/a> excursions and Delaware Lackawanna freights. I was curious about the abandoned former Erie line that crosses in the distance on a truss.<\/p>\n

Neither of us expected to see a train, but to our surprise this Delaware Lackawanna local returning from Moscow came down grade. Even with 100 speed Fujichrome Provia 100F my exposure was difficult. I think this image was made at f4.0 at 1\/60th<\/sup> of second with my Nikon F3T and 80-200mm zoom.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, a decade later I made a project of photographing Delaware-Lackawanna operations while working on my book Railroads of Pennsylvania<\/a> published by Voyageur Press<\/a>. Between 2005 and 2007, I traveled about a half dozen times to Scranton and had several very productive chases of trains PT97\/PT98 on this route.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an excerpt from \u00a0Railroads of Pennsylvania:<\/p>\n

Visitors to Steamtown will be pleased to see the occasional passing of freight trains on the old Lackawanna mainline. These are not for demonstration but rather are revenue-earning for profit freight trains operated by Genesee Valley Transportation\u2019s Delaware Lackawanna railroad<\/a>. Since 1993, Delaware Lackawanna has provided regular freight service in Scranton. Today, the railroad operates on three historic routes. The most significant is eastward on the old Delaware, Lackawanna & Western mainline. Here D-L freights share the line with Steamtown excursions, much in the way the historic DL&W\u2019s coal trains shared tracks with its famous Phoebe Snow.<\/i> Three days a week D-L freights make a round trip eastward over the Poconos<\/a>, through the Delaware Water Gap to a connection with Norfolk Southern at Slateford Junction near Portland, Pennsylvania.<\/span><\/p>\n

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