Eastern Railroad Discussion > D&H Land - Phoebe Snow and Miss Liberty

Saturday March 20, 2021

1. & 2. Train 22K comes north through Afton, NY and it is beginning to look more and more each day that Spring is actually going to arrive soon. Power is NS 6965, 6971 and 9623.

3. Down on the former DL&W at the east end of East Binghamton yard the K81 is arriving from Scranton at Shaw Road.Power is NS 6330 and 7676.

Story from an old DL&W old-timer: Back in the 50's an old engineer named Spicer came out of Scranton with four F units on a freight. Well they clocked him by Hallstead at 92 mph. They had the reds set here and the officials met the train and forced him to take his pension. He was out of Elmira. Prior to this, he had three 800 series Train Masters and pulled to a stop on the reds short of the yard. He got a signal to advance in and then it was taken down, twice for whatever the reason. The third time he was determined that when they gave it to him he was going to take it come hell or high water. He got the signal and yanked the throttle on those big gutsy F-M's and broke his train into three pieces. Back in the day the hot freights were expected to make a drop and pick up and be on the move in less than 20 minutes. If that didn't happen a call was to be made to the Division Supt. R.W. Jones, night or day. No one wanted to make that call and most trains usually got the work done in coordination with the yard engines. East Binghamton was also called "The New Yard" for many years, it was not built until the mid 1920's.

 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/21 19:17 by train1275.

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4. The K81 heads into East Binghamton yard on what was once one of the finest pieces of railroad in North America. The Lackawanna - Route of the Phoebe Snow.

5. Further down the line we catch the 12Z coming over the famous Nicholson Bridge. 

6. Miss Liberty traveling the Route of the Phoebe Snow. Power is NS 1071, 9521 and 3659.

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7. Coming up the line between New Milford and Hallstead. The 12Z will go in the hole here for the return of the K81.

8. Here is the K81 out of East Binghamton and through Conklin just north of the NY / PA State Line heading down for the meet with the 12Z.

9. K81 and 12Z made the meet and here we are still at Stillwater Crossing catching the 12Z - same place as the above photo.

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10. 12Z approaching Shaws just below the East Binghamton yard.

11. 99ROCK on the CNJ Logo

12. Nice light as 12Z enters East Binghamton yard. It was an interesting chase, the first real chase here in almost 40 years and many changes. It is single track, brush and vegetation has gone wild and speeds are very, very slow compared to "the old days".

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Although the days are longer, not everything is in daylight. 11R is late tonight and it's dark as they approach MP 559 south of Oneonta.
And that is it !

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Nice stuff ...... And here is Miss/Ms/Mrs. Phoebe herself eastbound,approaching Cresco, Pa in June 1966.  I was on my first honeymoon at the nearby Mt. Airy Lodge..



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/21 19:17 by cinder.

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I really enjoy your photos from D&H Land & look forward to getting up there myself someday for a look at the searchlight signals etc.  Photographically speaking, I long for the colorful days of NYSW as the D&H trustee-appointed operator or even the CP days, but it is interesting to see how things continue to evolve.
-Alex

train1275 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Story from an old DL&W old-timer: Back in the 50's
> an old engineer named Spicer came out of Scranton
...
> with four F units on a freight. Well they clocked
> him by Hallstead at 92 mph.
...
> and be on the move in less than 20 minutes. If
> that didn't happen a call was to be made to the
> Division Supt. R.W. Jones, night or day.

As always, enjoy your posts!  After reading this, I immediately went to my 50s era DL&W timetable, and found R. W. Jones on the cover.  I always enjoy stories that makes connections like this.

92 mph at Hallstead!  That would have been quite a sight.  For reference, the fastest allowable speed I could find for Hallstead in the same timetable was 70 MPH, which was only applicable to passenger trains, and specifically those led by one of the E8A's 810-820.


 

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Excellent post. The bridge is a wonder of civil engineering.

Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1