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Map 4 - Scranton to Nicholson via US11


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Sights


Because there is a lot on this page to view, I've included the shortcuts below to make it easier.
1     3     4     5     6     7     8


     Steamtown National Park

Steamtown is a national park, and sits on 62 acres of the former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroad yard in downtown Scranton.

Steamtown assembled what was left of a superb collection assembled by F. Nelson Blount in the 50's and 60's.  The Steamtown Foundation was formed by him in 1964.  In 1984, he moved the collection to Scranton with help from the town in return what was expected to be a huge draw for the area that never materialized.  After two years, he was facing bankruptcy.

In 1986, the Congress appropriated $8 million dollars of pork barrel money to develop the attraction, and formerly took over the operations in 1995.  They then dumped another $66 million into the project, which many railfans are critical of the U.S. Governments handling and operation of the museum (at one time, they would not allow the trolley museum to run trolleys over several hundred feet of Steamtown's track because the management are, well, you know what I'm going to say, and it isn't nice (can't we all get along for the betterment of US?).

They do have nice displays, which one would expect after spending millions.  Most of the roundhouse has been rebuilt, so it is not original, although sections from 1902 and 1937 do remain.

Blount had sold off a good portion of his collection to pay off debtors.  So the government got what was (mostly) leftover and not as good as what was sold off.  How they wound up with NKP 759 is a mystery, but I'm glad they have it, for it is one of my favorites having photographed it many, many times when it ran around the Baltimore and Harrisburg area in the 70's.

Since taking over the collection, they have sold off additional Blount pieces in trade for acquiring engines more representative of the area. except for UP's Big Boy #4012..... Hope they keep that one, for it is truly one amazing engine!

Low visitor attendance and the costly removal of asbestos (gee, no surprise there) has spurred talk about privatizing Steamtown.... anyone have a few spare dollars they want to contribute so I can buy the thing?  :-)

More info can be found on Wikipedia's page for the museum.

    UP Big Boy #4012

  Info booth by the parking lot

      First impressions inside the main entrance

        Sitting "way" outside

                At the roundhouse

                In the roundhouse

            General inside shots

      My favorite Steam Engine, NKP #759

                  Signal stuff





    The Mattes Avenue Tower

I don't have any info on this tower....









  unknown

  unknown


    The (Radisson) Lackawanna Station (Hotel)

     


     Steamtown Mall

OK, so it's not a railroad attraction, but if your wife or girlfriend is looking for something to do while you're checking things out and taking pictures, here is something she might find to do as an alternative if she isn't into trains :-)  Notice they conveniently put in an overpass to Steamtown (read: good spot for taking pictures).  if you're hungry, there are a number of places to eat inside the mall.


     The George Street Tunnel

I  don't know if there are any other tunnels on streetcar rides in the United States, but this one is pretty darn cool!

     


  Delaware-Lackawanna RR Shops



The facility is owned by the Northeast Pennsylvania Rail Authority, and operated by the D-L.  One of the largest Alco collections in the United States is worked on here.
They are in the process of building a new engine shop, for this one is getting tight on space.

This facility is easy to get to, and easy to access from both sides.  I know a lot of ya'll out there aren't into taking pictures of engines with several paint schemes showing thru, but when these engines are gone, they are gone forever!!!  It's like when I visited the Connecticut Central back in 1984 with a bunch of other railfans, and their stuff looked like this.... then, on my next visit, they were were gone, and every trace of them ever having been around was gone, and I was glad I took what I did.... A couple of the other fellows didn't take any pictures there either, and could now kick themselves in their hind quarters :-)  I see at least 12 different paint schemes sitting on those rails, that's better than some museums!







Quick Inventory Run Thru of their Spare Parts Roster on Easter Sunday 2019
If I lived near Scranton, I would ask if I could paint one of their RS-11's/DL-701's in New Haven colors :-)
Caboose C-703 used to be used on freights, sometimes, but due to maintenance issues, the practice has been discontinued.
Lackawanna #885 used to be used as the office car until they got Erie-Lackawanna #2, which sits up by Tower 60.

               

               

               


 
Taylor Yard

Don't wander in, the CP Rail cops are not known for their kindness and/or forgiveness!  :-)







Railroad Bridges and Overpasses


  Triple Bridge



               



  Washington St Overpass







  Cedar St Overpass

Adjacent to the Mattes St Tower

  unknown





  the US 11 Overpass









  Oak St Bridge











  
Roaring Brook Bridge

This bridge is at the entrance to the trolley tunnel and spans Roaring Brook.  I haven't tried, but you might be able to get pictures coming in off of Laurel Line Dr by the Scranton Iron Furnaces to the tennis courts, and walking behind the courts to the creek.







Disclaimers:

I love trains, and I love signals.  I am not an expert.  I do these pages because I love spending my time doing them - although I do a reasonable amount of research to make sure the information presented is accurate! :-)  :-)

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, oooooooops, oh well! :-)  

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.

BTW, 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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2011_0903

New 08/28/2011
last Modified: 22 Apr 2019