Endicott to Binghampton,NY

[Fr.Al]

Last weekend, my son's godfather came to visit me with his wife, here in Pennsylvania. Greg is slightly younger than myself, turning 65 in December. He is a lifelong resident of Endicott, NY, which is about 20 miles west of Binghampton. He said when he and his siblings were young and their mother didn't have a car, she would take them by train to Binghampton. I would guess that they rode either the Erie or Lackawana, unless it was after the merger of 1960. He further thinks he rode behind a mixed train. I think that's unlikely, but I'm not in a position to refute that. He's more of a Sports Fan, than Railfan. I doubt that even back then there were commuter runs there. I'm curious if someone could offer an educated guess as to what Greg could or might have ridden.

[Jones1945]

Fr.Al

He is a lifelong resident of Endicott, NY, which is about 20 miles west of Binghampton. He said when he and his siblings were young and their mother didn't have a car, she would take them by train to Binghampton.

Source: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=45912

This is a DLW map from 60s which showing that Endicott was the 2nd station west of Binghamton. Hope this helps!

[Ithaca and Owego]

Binghamton = Bingham's Town, not Binghampton, which, if it existed, would be on Long Island.  To the question: Endicott to Binghamton would be on the Erie, the DL&W was here on the S side of the Susquehanna in Vestal. The line through Endicott is still in use as the NS Southern Tier main line. The DL & W is long gone west of an industrial area in the eastern edge of Vestal.

[Fr.Al]

Sorry for the msspelling. When I hear the city"s name, I always think of the captain on McHale's Navy! Anyways, thanks for the information.

[bedell]

Perhaps the idea of a mixed train could be from the heavy head end traffic the Erie carried on its passenger trains.  Some of the head end cars could have been express boxcars and even some TOFC.  I traveled that route in the 50's and 60's and the trains had several freight type cars ahead of the coaches.  Great memories.

[GeoffS]

In the October 1965 Official Guide both the westbound "Owl"

and "Phoebe Snow" of the E-L stopped in Endicott and Binghamton

while the "New York Mail" and the "Phoebe" stopped eastbound.

The next Guide I have is from Dec. 1969 and Endicott is off the

timetable for the only L-D train left on the EL, the "Lake Cities."

Geoff