Eastern Railroad Discussion > Lykens Valley RR, Still in existence?

Does anyone know if the Lykens Valley RR is still in operation, from Millersburg, PA to Lykens, PA? It ran this nice little ALCO in the mid 1970's.

Bandob

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bandob Wrote:
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> Does anyone know if the Lykens Valley RR is still
> in operation, from Millersburg, PA to Lykens, PA?
> It ran this nice little ALCO in the mid 1970's.
>
> Bandob


It's long gone. There is a preserved station or two along the line, and the right of way is still identifiable.

Art

A rare photo you have there. The Lykens Valley lasted less than a year, from April 24, 1978 to April 14, 1979. The rails were torn up shortly afterwards.

Was it originally a PRR branch?

pramer Wrote:
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> Was it originally a PRR branch?

That's correct. It was one of the many lines that Conrail petitioned for abandonment shortly after it was created. The shortline only operated the branch as far as East Elizabethville. The original PRR line went up the valley as far as Lykens, where it met with a branch of the Reading RR from Tremont. This branch was fairly interesting because it came over the mountain into Lykens Valley using a switchback near Tower City. I don't have any information about when this portion was abandoned.

There still is a station in existance in the town of Lykens.

During the per-diem box car craze, they possessed a fleet of rebuilt box cars with LKVY reporting marks, used mainly in paper service out of the Midwest.

Pepperidge



>>
> It's long gone. There is a preserved station or
> two along the line, and the right of way is still
> identifiable.
>
> Art

A cool website for the Anthracite region of PA:

http://www.undergroundminers.com/

Dave

And Elizabethville...