LV-D&H Trains; was: RE: (erielack) As long as we're asking about track layouts.....

["Paul Brezicki" <doctorpb_@_bellsouth.net>]

This operation was intriguing for the reasons Mike mentions, plus the fact 
that interesting power often appeared, most notably the D&H Baldwin 
Sharknose units. Adding insult to injury for the EL (whose predecessor Erie 
evidently came out on the bottom of this deal), there's a photo in LV in 
Color-3 showing EL SDP45 3647 hauling NWB-4 on LV rails near Smithboro; the 
caption says May, 1973, which is post-Dereco! LV used Alcos primarily. By EL 
years the interchange was down to a pair of trains, FO-2/OF-1. O=Oneonta on 
D&H, not sure about the "F", perhaps N Falls or the symbol for Manchester 
NY, which was an active yard until 1967. In 1972 the symbols were changed to 
NWB-4 and BNW-3 (B&M-N&W). The operation is one reason why I'm modeling 
Bingo-Owego; I get to run trains of LV, one of my favorite RR's.

Paul B

From: Michael Connor <mjconnor_rr_@_hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: (erielack) As long as we're asking about track layouts.....

Bob
The single-track Lehigh Valley went under the double-track Erie (and, 
further southwest, the DL&W) on its Sayre-Owego-Freeville-Auburn, etc. line. 
It was Bridge (JC) 249.88, a double-track Thru Plate Girder 59' 0" in 
length.  The LV and Erie Center Lines were skewed the Erie being generally 
E-W and the LV running from SW to NE.
        The Sayre-Owego segment was built in 1870 as part of the Southern 
Central Railroad's Sayre-North Fair Haven (a coal transfer location on Lake 
Ontario) line.  The first through trains operated on 3 January 1871 (though 
only to Auburn as the final work to NFH and the dock was not completed until 
16 May 1872.  This gave the LV (through its control of the SC and others) a 
outlet for coal on Lake Ontario.  Until the early part of the 20th Century 
the line was a neighbor, and little else, to the Erie.
    The changed c. 1906 IIRC when the D&H acquired Trackage Rights over the 
Erie from Binghamton to Owego, 22.19 miles.  As coal and other traffic 
declined the portion between Owego and Sayre became relatively more 
important, being used about 6 times daily IIRC in the mid-60's, twice by EB 
and WB LV locals to Owego and north.  The D&H and the LV had a joint service 
between Sayre and Binghamton whereby a D&H crew operated a Binghamton-Sayre 
turn while an LV crew operated a Sayre-Binghamton turn, thereby accounting 
for 4 movements daily.  I believe these trains carried traffic in both 
directions.
What the Erie got from the D&H (or LV) for granting this strategic piece of 
Trackage Rights eludes me at this time (I seem to recall it might have 
involved the Erie getting access to the Moon Milling complex at Binghamton 
but that might not be the "rest of the story") but it was a major factor in 
the LV's competitive posture.  The only saving grace, insofar as the Erie 
(and the DL&W, which also suffered from having a third railroad at 
Binghamton courting the D&H's traffic) was concerned was the the LV route 
involved an intermediate handling at Sayre while the Erie and DL&W managed 
to make D&H blocks from at least East Buffalo.
         The LV Sayre-Owego line closely paralleled the Erie east of Barton 
and the area looked like a triple-track railroad, albeit with the north (LV) 
track being clearly of a lower standard.  Sometime in the 1960's, I 
understand, the LV had a derailment in this area, and fouled at least the EL 
WB Main (the tracks were very close in this area).  A brouhaha arose, I was 
told, over the LV's very slow response so that the EL wrecker was brought to 
the scene and set the fouling derailed cars on LV property.  Allegedly this 
kept the lawyers occupied for a while until cooler heads prevailed.
          Another anomaly was that the LV timetable direction between Sayre 
and Owego (and beyond) was westward while the Erie/EL's was just the 
reverse.  For those of a contemplative nature this created a situation where 
Erie and LV Westbound Trains would pass each other while going in physically 
reverse directions.
         The LV between Sayre and Owego was abandoned effective 1 Apr 1976 
in the Conrail massacre.
         Hope this answers your question and a little more.
MJC




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