In General
Getting Here
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Bridges
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In General

Location / Name:
Lanesboro & Susquehanna PA, Susquehanna County

What's Here:
the Starrucca Viaduct on the north side of Lanesboro
former Erie RR depot in Susquehanna"
Numerous railroad bridges of assorted types

Data:
GPS Coordinates: 41.964529,  -75.583603 (center of the viaduct)
Phone A/C: 570
ZIP: 18847

Access by train/transit:
None

The Scoop:

The big draw to this area is the Starrucca Viaduct, built by the Erie Railroad in 1847/48.  Impressive structure, but nestled away in the hillside so a really good shot of it is no longer available due to overgrowth, unless you have a drone! :-)

The D&H Penn Division ran from its connection with the PRR (Pennsylvania Railroad) at Buttonwood Yard in Wilkes-Barre PA, 70 miles north to a connection with the Erie Railroad’s mainline at Jefferson Junction near Lanesboro PA, and continuing north, eventually merged with the D&H’s own Susquehanna Division at Nineveh NY, 23 miles later (a total distance of 93 miles from Wilkes-Barre to Nineveh).

In addition, Susquehanna sports a former Erie depot, complete with a small collection of signals for railfans to check out, and west of there, after you have crossed the river, is a still standing Erie coaling tower - don't know how accessible the location is for photographing, but it is possible since Doug Lilly and others have been there for pictures, you may want to try going into the "dirt" area between the speedway and the gravel company.

A special thanks to Nelson Lawry for sending me a number of greatly detailed emails about the lines and bridges of the area.

Acknowledgements:
Nelson Lawry
Richard J. Allen
Mike Guzzi
Kevin Burkholder/Steel Wheels Photography
Mike Bischak
Doug Lilly
Jim Kleeman
Donald Haskel
John Bjorklund
Denver Todd
Google Maps
Open Railway Map

For additional information:
http://bridgehunter.com/pa/susquehanna/starrucca/
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/pa1270.sheet.00003a/resource/ drawings of the viaduct
http://loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Photograph:%20pa1270&fi=number&op=PHRASE&va=exact&co%20=hh&st=gallery&sg%20=%20true
http://www.american-rails.com/erie-railroad.html  Erie History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susquehanna_station the Susquehanna Depot
https://www.nepaview.com/dh-jefferson-junction.html
https://www.nepaview.com/dh-brandt-to-lanesboro.html
http://mattforsyth.com/?page_id=1093
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/Locopicture.aspx?id=7075 includes pictures from this area

Maps


The above map in a PDF format can be found here


The above map is shown for reference, and the numbering is different than the Lanesboro map, in PDF format is here

Below is a map from --Open Railway Map--, denoted with the places of interest mentioned on this page, without reference numbers
if you want to print off something not as cluttered.



An undated early topographical map showing the Jefferson Connector, provided by Nelson Lawry.




Sights


    The Starrucca Viaduct













The pictures below were found on the Library of Congress website at the links provided above.
In several of the photographs, you can see pretty good detail of the D&H R-O-W below, and the signals.














Below is a postcard of the viaduct, altho the title of being the oldest stone bridge goes to Thomas Viaduct in Relay MD....
 







And finally, my own pictures from a dreary snowyish day back in 2009.....

 

 

 

 

 



  The Infamous Erie RR Milepost JC188 Photograph and Postcards

I was unaware of this photograph until recently when Barbara P. sent me a request to see if I could figure out where it was located.  I sent out emails to the few railroad groups on Yahoo, Railway Signaling, Pennsy Signaling, the Virginian Group, and the Baltimore Railfan group.  The easy part was getting the city of origin right, as "JC" stand for Jersey City (NJ).  This almost assures you that it is on the Erie RR.  Then we had to figure out on which route the photo is from.  This is a little harder, unless you already know.  Mike Shylanski pinpointed it almost immediately, and found a PDF copy of an Erie system map that included the shot, and labeling it as "along the Susquehanna near Gulf Summit NY".... well, it's kinda closer to Lanesboro than Gulf Summit, but who's counting yards? :-)  Placing it near Gulf Summit also puts it in the wrong state!  The other railroad in the view is the Delaware & Hudson.

 

 

 





The original photo that prompted the research and this page..... bought 20 years ago in a thrift shop in Kansas City.




    The Former Delaware & Hudson Right-of-Way - Going Under The Viaduct

For a thorough pictorial treatment of this area, check out:
http://www.nepaview.com/dh-starucca-to-melrose.html and http://www.nepaview.com/dh-thompson-to-starucca.html


D&H Excursion approaching Starrucca Creek and the Viaduct, April 1974, unknown photographer up on the Starrucca Viaduct

 

1976, unknown photographer -- with three trains in the shot, it's the kind of picture we ALL wish we were around for!!!






  the former Erie Depot in Susquehanna PA - The Depot Restaurant

GPS Coordinates: 41.944719, -75.609708
Built in 1863 by the Erie RR.  More info at the sources listed above.





 

 

  







  the Jefferson Connector

GPS Coordinates:
    41.959988, -75.582764 at the top
    41.958613, -75.559448 at the D&H

It kind of amazing, that 30-40 years later, we can still tell where the ROW used to be! :-)





In this aerial view from BING, they are still showing the Jefferson Connector as an active rail line.



At the top of the Jefferson Connector, at Jefferson St, we have a D&H freight heading onto the connector in 1985.  Note the dwarf searchlight signals.



At the "bottom" of the Jefferson Connector, at Jefferson Junction.  Thanks to Doug for braving the cold and snow waiting to take these pictures, as I've spent a lot of time around the Binghamton area in the same conditions, and for some reason, it seems colder than a Baltimore snow! :-)  :-)



A D&H freight just coming off the Jefferson Connector at the top at Jefferson Street heading towards Binghamton.



Below is a shot of a D&H freight starting the climb up the Jefferson Connector, again, heading into Binghamton.



Back at the "top", we have a D&H freight joining the "Erie" mainline headed in Binghamton.

10/1985, John Bjorklund photo



  the D&H Cascade Wye

GPS Coordinates: 41.987519, -75.598448
https://www.nepaview.com/dh-cascade-wye.html
Not sure when the wye was put in, because in the brochure, it is not pictured.
You can still see evidence of it in an aerial shot.











  Erie RR Coaling Tower

GPS Coordinates: 41.943962, -75.626174











The Other Bridges of the Area


  Bridge Over Main St in Lanesboro - Susquehanna RR/former Erie

GPS Coordinates:  41.954631, -75.585898









  Bridge Over the Susquehanna River on the "Erie"

GPS Coordinates:  41.954631, -75.585898







  Bridge Over the Susquehanna River on the "Erie"

GPS Coordinates:  41.943273, -75.621222







  Former D&H Bridges over Starrucca Creek #1

GPS Coordinates:  41.965481, -75.580489

Here we have an older through-truss type bridge sitting next to a through-plate-girder bridge.  The girder bridge dates to 1929, and rests on concrete abutments.  The other bridge dates to 1904, and sits on stone abutments.  The newer bridge was removed in June of 2016 by Canadian Pacific, present day owner of the D&H R-O-W, due to issues with high water.  At some point, the D&H re-aligned the curve to go over the newer bridge.  Thanks to Nelson Lawry for this information.







In the 2020 aerial view from Google, we can see that the girder bridge has been removed.

2016

in 2020

1985







  Former D&H Bridges over Starrucca Creek #2

GPS Coordinates:  41.957190, -75.555971

Can anyone help out with the details of these bridges?  Has one of them been re-decked for a trail?  Dunno, can't tell from up here....



photo: Nelson Lawry



  Former D&H Bridge over Cascade Creek

GPS Coordinates:  41.98874, -75.59855
Can be seen from Damascus Road.



unknown photographer/date

4/2009, photo by Mike Guzzi







Signals


    Signals adjacent to the Erie depot



 

 



    Interlocking Signals

I don't know for sure that there are signals here, but since it is an interlocking point, my guess is that there are since a few miles west there is an interlocking - if anyone has pictures.....



    WB D&H Signals on Bracket Post

These beautiful and graceful signals, which played the part in so many of the photographs under the viaduct, were permanently gone by the early 1980s, well before the abandonment and removal of the last segment of the D&H’s Penn Division between Jefferson and Nineveh Junctions.  It was definitely a classic signal!



A D&H Alco C628 heads towards Nineveh Junction in 1971, thanks to Nelson for finding this one!





  WB Erie Signals - Erie MP (mile post) JC188

Only reason I know there WAS a signal here is because it is pictured in the photo below.





  Signals - Top of Viaduct

These signals are long gone, but noted here for reference. The dwarf searchlight signals were for the Jefferson Connector.  The high signal is an intermediate for the "western" track of the bridge.  I'm sure there must be a 4th signal here, but so far, have not been able to locate a photo of a train coming "up" the connector that shows it - the 4th signal would have been in control of the train in the first picture, heading off onto the connector....

from the Mike Bischak photo

from the Doug Lilly photo

from John Bjorklund photo



Fire and Police


Susquehanna Fire Department






Historical USGS Maps


The top part in "B&W" is courtesy of the University of Texas Library, click here for their index page.





Disclaimers:

I love trains, and I love signals.  I am not an expert. 

Please Note:  Since the main focus of my two websites is railroad signals, the railfan guides are oriented towards the signal fan being able to locate them.  For those of you into the modeling aspect of our hobby, my indexa page has a list of almost everything railroad oriented I can think of to provide you with at least a few pictures to help you detail your pike.

If this is a railfan page, every effort has been made to make sure that the information contained on this map and in this railfan guide is correct.  Once in a while, an error may creep in :-)  

My philosophy: Pictures and maps are worth a thousand words, especially for railfanning.  Text descriptions only get you so far, especially if you get lost or disoriented.  Take along good maps.... a GPS is OK to get somewhere, but maps are still better if you get lost!  I belong to AAA, which allows you to get local maps for free when you visit the local branches.  ADC puts out a nice series of county maps for the Washington DC area, but their state maps do not have the railroads on them.  If you can find em, I like the National Geographic map book of the U.S..... good, clear, and concise graphics, and they do a really good job of showing you where tourist type attractions are, although they too lack the railroads.  Other notes about specific areas will show up on that page if known.

Aerial shots were taken from either Google or Bing Maps as noted.  Screen captures are made with Snagit, a Techsmith product... a great tool if you have never used it! 

By the way, floobydust is a term I picked up 30-40 years ago from a National Semiconductor data book, and means miscellaneous and/or other stuff.

Pictures and additional information is always needed if anyone feels inclined to take 'em, send 'em, and share 'em, or if you have something to add or correct.... credit is always given! BE NICE!!! Contact info is here

Beware: If used as a source, ANYTHING from Wikipedia must be treated as being possibly being inaccurate, wrong, or not true.

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