But no-one seems to know what to do with it.
Here's an article from todays nj.com concerning the old Lackawanna's Paulinskill Viaduct, once a vital part of the Lackawanna Cut-Off line, now a white elephant. Interesting reading.
https://www.nj.com/news/2020/11/this-historical-rail-bridge-is-an-nj-treasure-but-nobody-knows-what-to-do-with-it.html
Flintlock76But no one seems to know what to do with it.
And if the property holders don't like the promise of new development that would come with better service... I'm not real sympathetic.
This ain't Tenafly.
That's a beautiful part of the state, so I can understand why the locals don't want any further development out that way.
The thing is, it's likely to come one way or another, whatever their wishes are. And then a high, or just high-er, speed rail line will look very good indeed, especially if it gets all that commuter traffic off the roads.
For example, have a look at this, "The Route 80 (Commuter) Rant Page."
Stand by, it's North Jersey in the raw! Language alert!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1959587334362143/
Maybe Biden will push for it to be rebuilt so he can finally take Amtrak home to Scranton :)
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
On those rare days when one of my work kids has to take the NJ Turnpike I always tell them try to keep up with the flow of traffic. One of my Owner Ops said I don't have warp capiblity in my truck yet. He literally said he could be doing 70 on the Pike and get his doors blown off by cars doing triple digits on a routine basis. He had a nickname for the Pike. He called it the NJ version of Talladega that everyone was trying to cause the Big One in.
Shadow the Cats ownerOn those rare days when one of my work kids has to take the NJ Turnpike I always tell them try to keep up with the flow of traffic. One of my Owner Ops said I don't have warp capiblity in my truck yet.
My relatively recent experience had been that there is too much traffic and too many entitled loons to get to warp speed north of New Brunswick. I have even now not gotten used to 95 connecting through to the Turnpike, so perhaps that part of it is faster. Of course none of this has been in the pandemic, so interesting things might be possible...
I stayed at the Lackawanna Hilton in Scranton when I visited Steamtown about 35 years ago and they were talking about restoring the cutoff then. Sounds like a good idea but I doubt it will ever happen.
By the way, I never saw so much abandoned track and bridges as I saw in Scranton.
54light15Sounds like a good idea but I doubt it will ever happen.
The original scheme was to run to Stroudsburg, where presumably it would connect to Martz Trailways for whatever spread into Pennsylvania would be profitable. There is comparatively little, to my knowledge, along the 380 route from Stroudsburg to Scranton, it's a hell of a haul back down 81 to 80 again, and I suspect little traffic 'back to the east' along 84. So yeah, I hope the 'Biden thing' works out better for Scranton than the "Donald Trump thing' did for Gateway.
Of course if it were up to me I might run service north of Carbondale ... north of Lanesboro, perhaps? Perhaps connecting service with a train using B&M 3713 which will be done about then?...
Well, waddaya know?
I was perusing the "Rant Page" and found this:https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/mc-nws-pa-amtrak-expansion-scranton-20201130-5agzmgj7k5dgrintppe6d22wm4-story.html
Will it happen? It is just a proposal after all.
"Ashes to ashes and dust to dust, if Jersey won't do it Uncle Sam must?"
Note that something which has changed in the past 10 years or so is the great development of TLS like the one used in the Springfield improvements. There should be relatively few subgrade improvements needed to lay appropriate track on most of this route with minimal delay or adverse ecological impact.
Improvements in station and parking facilities for the communities enroute -- and perhaps local service via NJT -- would be a different concern.
If service to Binghampton via Scranton is restored, would there be a possible restoration of service to Syracuse?
54light15 If service to Binghampton via Scranton is restored, would there be a possible restoration of service to Syracuse?
Maybe, and it's a very big maybe, if there's enough of a demand for it or a perceived demand.
Remember, the main idea behind a revitalization of the old Lackawanna Cut-Off is for commuters, in this case the people who work in the Greater New York area but who have bailed out into Pennsylvania to get away from the high taxes and cost of living in New York and New Jersey. That's supposedly the unspoken reason why NJ Transit's dragged their heels on restoring the Cut-Off, although no-one in NJ Transit is going to admit this publicly:
"Why should we spend a ton of money on a bunch of traitorous bail-outs who don't live in this state anyway? To hell with them, let 'em rot on Route 80!"
As an aside, according to United Van Lines New York and New Jersey are in the Top Ten states for move-outs*, New Jersey is #1, New York is #3. Illinois is #2, if anyone's curious.
* Specifically, more moving out than moving in.
Possible Biden connection ? Train to birth place might be to curry favors. NJ Transit restores it for funding Gateway ?
blue streak 1 Possible Biden connection ? Train to birth place might be to curry favors. NJ Transit restores it for funding Gateway ?
I doubt it. How often does Joe Biden go to Scranton? He made Delaware his home decades ago. And if he does go to Scranton when he's the Prez it's not likely to be by train, even if he'd like to.
Gateway's a whole 'nother matter.
Something else to add to the "Don't expect anything soon" folder.
It probably belongs under "Transit" but I might just as well link it here.
https://www.northjersey.com/story/opinion/2020/12/04/nj-transit-kevin-corbett-diane-gutierrez-scaccetti-must-go/3816275001/
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