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Over at an active "Bagpipes" topic, Irishchieftain notes:
If the Phoebe Snow operated through my town again (presumedly not stopping at Brick Church and Summit in New Jersey as in the past), that's exactly what prospective passengers would say today…in spite of not operating like the special chylde that has been upgraded to what all main lines in the USA ought to be.
I first ask the Forum's indulgence to divert from a strictly Amtrak topic, but IF there ever were to be Amtrak service over the DL&W (and the Blairstown Cutoff was miraculously restored) NY-Bignhamton, the Amtrak version of Phoebe Snow yielding same passenger capacity as the Miss Phoebe I once knew, would likely be a consist of two 84 seat A-I's and a Snack Bar 56 seat AmCafe.
Now I know that I have consistently held that publicly funded rail passenger service is about efficient movement of people from A to B, but I could not resist digging up material I posted elsewhere some eight years ago:
No comparasions this time. Simply said the Lackawanna Railroad's "Phoebe Snow" was "the way to go to Buffalo". The gold trimmed maroon and grey paint scheme was right up there with New Haven's Brewster Green and scrpit as the most attractive in the Northeast, and, unlike the New Haven, was always immaculately clean.
Likely, Mr. Slotkin will soon be at work on some Phoebe verse, of which the best known is as follows:
Said Phoebe Snow about to go upon a trip to Buffalo, My gown stays White from Noon to Night upon the Road of Anthracite
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If Phoebe had married Lucius she would have become Phoebe Beebe.
(Luscious Lucius, as he was often called, was not inclined that way, however.)
As a lad I spent my summers in Hallstead, Pennsylvania, which had a Lackawanna roundhouse and lay across the Susquehanna from the Erie line. In the 1940s I took Lackawanna locals to Hoboken with my mother, but not the Phoebe Snow -- that was before 1949, when the train was put into service. Around 1951 I took the Weary Erie from -- I can't remember; the station was west of Binghamton -- to Chicago.
Another splendid railroad sight close by was the Starrucca Viaduct. Whenever I'm in the neighborhood I drive over to have a look:
Those were the days to take a train. GBN, you have loosed the floodgates of nostalgia.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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Cup of coffee, Sunday morning ahead-- What better than a brand new GB Norman poetry thread?
Perhaps the elusive Mr. Slotkin shall appear With quatrains 'oer named trains of yesteryear?
Should it be so, I'll give thanks For a short verse about Nancy Hanks.Posts: 588 | From: East San Diego County, CA | Registered: Oct 2004
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Thank you, GBN, I think it was Owego where my grandfather put me on the Erie for Chicago. Normally it would have been Binghamton, 11 miles up the road from Hallstead, but there was some reason we could not go there.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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I rode a portion of the Old Lackawanna from Scranton, PA to Hops Bottom via Nicholson just this past Saturday.
Sadly the ghost of Ms. Phoebe is barely hanging on.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Current estimate for "startup" of commuter rail service over the Cutoff is now 2014. (Last estimate was last year.)
BTW, the DL&W's "Old Road" diverged from running alongside US 46 in Hackettstown, went southwest to Washington, then turned northwest again towards Oxford and Belvidere; it then ran alongside US 46 until it crossed the Delaware at Manuka Chunk, to Portland. The bridge across the river still stands, as do remnants of the right of way (which makes two unused DL&W bridges adjacent to each other). The Lehigh & Hudson River ran alongside US 46 between Belvidere and Great Meadows in NJ; remnants are still evident of that railroad (which used to be part of the original rail link between Boston and Washington DC).
It's remarkable how the Talgo never worked out in the USA (apart from the rather low-speed Cascades; right now, a Talgo is one of the fastest trains in revenue service in the world). The DL&W tested an ACF Talgo for service on its longer-distance trains, in the 50s. (Photographed on the wye at Denville NJ.)
Posts: 566 | Registered: Mar 2002
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My only exposure to the DL&W was the winter of 1964/65. My brother and I had driven up to Harmon to catch a glimpse of the Century. On the way home we stopped in Newark and saw the Phoebe. Even then it was a handsome train with its striking color scheme and classic observation car with a 10-6 pullman ready for occupancy on a very cold night.
The DL&W must have been quite a railroad. My son now lives in Morristown, NJ and I am amazed at the very substantial stations along the railroad - at least in commuter territory.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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