Erie Lackawanna
Railfan.net 'erielack' E-Mail List Photo Archive

1246+1241+1227+1238_Train_Port_Morris_Turn-Great_Notch_NJ_-_12-28-75_-_Rich_Campana.jpg   Original: 1325 by 862 pixels - Current: 1325 by 862 - 100%
                          Try your mouse wheel too!

(No Previous Image) 12671.jpg - Next Image

From: "Paul R DOT Tupaczewski" paultup AT comcast DOT net
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 19:58:54 -0400
Subject: Port Morris Turn and dates
"1246+1241+1227+1238_Train_Port_Morris_Turn-Great_Notch_NJ_-_12-28-75_-_Rich_Campana.jpg" - image/jpeg, 275091 bytes, 1325x862 (24bit)

Folks,

I've looked through my image collection, and realized I only have photos of
ONE EL-era "Port Morris Turn." I've already posted one, attached is the
other of the "return trip" at Great Notch, taken by Rich Campana. Of
interest is that the lead unit is 1246 IN BOTH DIRECTIONS, meaning that the
power went around the wye at Port Morris.

I have another shot of a trio of GP7s leading a "Port Morris Turn" at Great
Notch, taken by John Durant, but the photo date is the nebulous "1976".

- Paul






-----Original Message-----
From: erielack-owner AT lists DOT elhts DOT org
[mailto:erielack-owner@lists.elhts.org]On Behalf Of KSmollin@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2006 4:23 PM
To: erielack@lists.elhts.org
Subject: (erielack) freight on the cutoff-later years



The Port Morris Turn may have occasionally operated under the EL, but not
under that name. The Turn was created in 1978 (April or May?) when Conrail
revised the freight schedules on the Lackawanna. The last pair of trains on
the Cutoff (CS9 and SC8) were abolished with freight forwarded between Port
Morris and Scranton "as required". Since there was still a tremendous
volume of online freight from Port Morris east, Conrail instituted the Port
Morris Turn. I believe the Turn ran 6 days a week and it lasted up to
November 1981. At that time, it was abolished as part of the overall plan
to close Croxton. It was at that time that the Washington Secondary was
upgraded and freight was brought into Port Morris and Dover via Allentown.

Regarding the Cutoff, freight service became more and more sporadic
throughout 1978 until Conrail officially embargoed the line in January 1979.
After that, the only trains to run the Cutoff were the Amtrak Inspection
Train (for proposed Scranton service) that ran in November 1979 and the
scrap train in 1984/1985.

The last "hurrah" for the Cutoff came in August 1978 when a derailment on
the Delaware Division (Narrowsburg?) forced Conrail to detour everything via
the Cutoff. At the time, the Delaware was still busy (the Ford Plant in
Mahwah was still operating) and saw 8 to 10 trains a day.


1246+1241+1227+1238_Train_Port_Morris_Turn-Great_Notch_NJ_-_12-28-75_-_Rich_Campana.jpg

Click Here or on the corner X to close this window.


    All photos are the property of the original photographer unless otherwise noted and are to be used for personal viewing purposes only.

    The use of these photos on any website or other distribution media is strictly forbidden without the express consent of the image copyright holder.

    Linking directly to this page is permitted as long as "Railfan.net Erie Lackawanna Email List Photo Archive" is creditted on the linking page.