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Leggett's Gap Railroad

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Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Leggett's Gap Railroad, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 24 July 2025
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
Company typeRailroad
IndustryRail transport
PredecessorLackawanna and Western Railroad, Delaware and Cobb's Gap Railroad
Founded1853
Defunct1960
FateMerged with Erie Railroad to form Erie Lackawanna Railroad
Headquarters
Scranton
,
United States
Area served
Northeastern United States (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania)
Key people
Perry Shoemaker (president)
ProductsFreight transportation (anthracite coal, dairy products, livestock, lumber, cement, steel, grain), passenger services
ParentLackawanna Steel Company (at formation)

The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) was a prominent U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, Hoboken, New Jersey, and, via ferry service, New York City, covering a substantial distance. Established in Pennsylvania in 1853, its core business revolved around hauling anthracite coal from the Coal Region of Northeast Pennsylvania to key markets in New York City. Over time, the company extended its network to provide a direct rail link between Buffalo and New York City.

Throughout the early 20th century, DL&W maintained solid financial results primarily due to coal transportation. However, after 1959, its fortunes declined sharply following the Knox Mine Disaster and increased competition from trucking facilitated by the growing Interstate Highway System. In 1960, DL&W merged with Erie Railroad to create the Erie Lackawanna Railroad, which was later incorporated into Conrail in 1976.

Pre-DL&W (1832–1853)

Initially incorporated as the Leggett's Gap Railroad in 1832 but remaining inactive for several years, the company was reorganized and renamed Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1851. Its first route extended from Scranton northward to Great Bend, Pennsylvania. The railroad obtained trackage rights over the New York and Erie Rail Road reaching Owego, New York, and by 1855 had leased the Cayuga and Susquehanna Railroad (C&S), extending service to Ithaca.

The C&S line, reconstructed from the earlier Ithaca and Owego Railroad (which began operations in 1834), represented the oldest portion of this system. The entire network operated on a broad gauge of , consistent with the standards used by New York and Erie.

Chartered in 1850, the Delaware and Cobb's Gap Railroad aimed to extend eastward from Scranton toward the Delaware River. Before commencing operations, it merged with Lackawanna and Western under the ownership of Lackawanna Steel Company, leading to the formation of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1853. On the New Jersey side, the Warren Railroad was chartered in 1851 to continue from the Delaware River bridge southeast to Hampton on the Central Railroad of New Jersey line.

Expansion and profits (1853–1940)

The Southern Division became operational on May 27, 1856, incorporating the Warren Railroad segment in New Jersey. A third rail was installed on the standard gauge Central Railroad of New Jersey east of Hampton, which allowed access via trackage rights to Elizabeth; by 1864, this line extended further to Jersey City.

On December 10, 1868, DL&W acquired control of the Morris and Essex Railroad, fully integrating it by 1945. This route traversed northern New Jersey and provided an independent connection to Jersey City. The M&E tunnel beneath Bergen Hill opened in 1876, eliminating dependence on tunnels belonging to the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railway. Included in this acquisition were branch lines such as the Boonton Line (opened in 1870), which bypassed Newark for freight operations.

In 1869, DL&W purchased the Syracuse, Binghamton and New York Railroad and leased the Oswego and Syracuse Railroad, establishing a branch line from Binghamton northward to Oswego, a port on Lake Ontario. The Greene Railroad (organized in 1869) was leased immediately after opening in 1870; it provided a short spur from Chenango Forks to Greene. That same year also saw leasing of the Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley Railway, extending service northward to Utica with a branch reaching Richfield Springs (completed fully by 1872).

Founded in 1869 as well, the "Valley Railroad" connected Great Bend, Pennsylvania to Binghamton by October 1871, reducing reliance on Erie Railroad routes. By 1873, DL&W controlled the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad, linking Scranton southwestward to Northumberland with trackage rights extending to Sunbury. On March 15, 1876, DL&W re-gauged its entire system to standard gauge within a single day’s operation. The New York, Lackawanna and Western Railroad was chartered in 1880 and commenced service in 1882 by extending westward from Binghamton to Buffalo and Ontario via the International Bridge; a branch served downtown Buffalo. A spur from Wayland provided access to Hornellsville (now Hornell).

Operations began on December 1, 1903 for the Erie and Central New York Railroad, a branch running east from Cortland Junction to Cincinnatus. By 1909 DL&W controlled the Bangor and Portland Railway—a line branching southwest from Portland to Nazareth with an additional Martins Creek branch. The Delaware Valley Railway (active between 1901–1937) intended to connect Lackawanna northward with Erie Railroad at Port Jervis but only operated between East Stroudsburg and Bushkill before ceasing operations in 1937.

DL&W’s main locomotive and car maintenance facilities were situated in Scranton. In 1910 these shops underwent a $2 million expansion including a massive machine shop measuring 582 by 342 feet. Additional freight car shops were constructed at Keyser Valley near Scranton in 1904; passenger car shops opened at Kingsland, New Jersey—located nine miles from New York City—in 1906.

New terminals and route improvements

The company was responsible for constructing prominent Beaux-Arts style terminals, including Hoboken Terminal (1907), Scranton station (1908, currently operating as a Radisson hotel), and a waterfront terminal in Buffalo completed in 1917.

In 1908, the "Lackawanna Railroad of New Jersey" was established specifically to construct the Lackawanna Cut-Off, which commenced service in 1911. This low-gradient bypass located in northwestern New Jersey incorporated significant engineering feats such as the Delaware River Viaduct and Paulinskill Viaduct, greatly improving operational performance. From 1912 through 1915, the Summit-Hallstead Cutoff was developed to modernize the corridor between Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania and Hallstead, Pennsylvania, featuring monumental structures like the Tunkhannock Viaduct and Martins Creek Viaduct. These strategic cutoffs removed numerous at-grade crossings, enabling faster train speeds and bolstering the railroad’s infrastructure competitiveness.

Passenger services

The railroad managed prominent passenger lines originating from Hoboken Terminal—serving as the main gateway to New York City—and extending to important destinations such as Scranton, Binghamton, Syracuse, Oswego, Buffalo, and Utica. Notable trains included:

  • Trains Nos. 2 Pocono Express / 5 Twilight (Hoboken to Buffalo with connections to New York Central’s Chicago routes)
  • Trains Nos. 3 / 6 Phoebe Snow (Hoboken to Buffalo)
  • Trains Nos. 7 Westerner / 8 New Yorker (Hoboken to Buffalo with Nickel Plate connections to Chicago)
  • Trains Nos. 10 New York Mail / 15 Owl (Hoboken to Buffalo)
  • Trains Nos. 1301 / 1306 Interstate Express (Philadelphia to Syracuse)
  • Trains Nos. 1702 Keystone Express / 1705 Pittsburgh Express (Scranton to Pittsburgh)

Commuter rail services linked North Jersey suburbs with Hoboken via lines including Boonton, Gladstone, Montclair, and Morristown. The company’s promotional efforts prominently featured the "Phoebe Snow" persona to highlight the use of clean-burning anthracite coal, reflecting a sophisticated approach to branding passenger service excellence.

Decline (1940–1960)

Anthracite coal represented the railroad’s most lucrative freight commodity, constituting more than 14% of Pennsylvania’s production between 1890 and 1940. Other significant freight categories comprised dairy products, livestock, lumber, cement, steel, and grain. The Pocono Mountains region—a favored vacation spot with several major hotels along the route—generated considerable passenger volumes that supported expanding mainline tracks to three or four.

Following World War II, economic transformations undermined the railroad’s profitability. The regional economy trailed other American cities; coal was supplanted by fuel oil and natural gas as dominant energy sources; textile manufacturing relocated southward or overseas; and mechanical refrigeration diminished ice shipments from the Poconos. Additionally, changes in dairy farming practices resulted in fewer milk shipments that had previously provided steady freight revenue.

Natural calamities further compounded operational difficulties. In August 1955, Hurricane Diane inflicted extensive flooding across the Pocono area, destroying approximately sixty miles of track and causing damages estimated at $8.1 million (in 1955 dollars). The Old River line suffered irreparable harm leading to its abandonment. Service disruptions lasted for weeks due to suspended or rerouted operations, severely affecting income and recovery efforts.

The January 1959 Knox Mine Disaster devastated anthracite mining along the Susquehanna River corridor, essentially terminating coal extraction in the region and delivering a critical blow to the railroad’s freight foundation.

These adversities mirrored wider industry patterns: postwar declines in both freight and passenger rail traffic—driven by competition from trucking and automobiles—resulted in bankruptcies of regional railroads such as the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad (1957) and Lehigh & New England Railroad (1961). Over subsequent decades, financial challenges or insolvency became common among Northeastern U.S. rail carriers.

Erie Lackawanna

Following the devastation caused by Hurricane Diane in 1955, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) experienced a significant financial downturn, further strained by the elevated property tax rates imposed on railroads in New Jersey. In an effort to revive the company’s fortunes, DL&W president Perry Shoemaker proposed merging with the Nickel Plate Road, envisioning a rail network exceeding 1,100 miles connecting St. Louis and Chicago to New York City. Despite the potential to safeguard vital mainline routes, this proposal was declined by Nickel Plate executives, who later opted to merge with the Norfolk and Western Railroad.

Shoemaker subsequently explored merger or cooperative operational opportunities with both the Lehigh Valley Railroad and Delaware and Hudson Railway, but these efforts did not come to fruition. Ultimately, he achieved a merger with the Erie Railroad—historically DL&W’s competitor—resulting in the formation of the Erie Lackawanna Railroad (EL) on October 17, 1960. Although the merger attracted criticism and led to Shoemaker’s eventual exit after being marginalized by Erie management, it was intended as a strategic consolidation amid mounting industry pressures.

Before merging, overlapping routes prompted partial abandonment of DL&W’s mainline between Binghamton and Buffalo in favor of shared operations utilizing Erie’s tracks. Infrastructure modifications included converting the Lackawanna Cut-Off to single track and divesting parts of the Boonton Branch for highway development. After consolidation, EL redirected most freight traffic onto former Erie lines due to their connection with the New Haven Railroad at Maybrook, New York.

The 1969 incorporation of New Haven into Penn Central followed by the closure of New Haven’s Poughkeepsie Bridge in 1974 disrupted EL’s freight corridors. Consequently, traffic was rerouted back onto former Lackawanna routes, while some Erie lines faced downgrading or potential abandonment. Freight was also diverted over less optimal routes such as the Greenwood Lake Branch, placing strain on infrastructure not designed for heavy loads.

In 1972, when Central Railroad of New Jersey ceased Pennsylvania freight operations, additional through freight services were operated between Elizabeth, NJ, and Scranton over EL tracks until Conrail’s establishment in 1976 terminated this arrangement.

Throughout its existence, EL expanded its freight portfolio by securing contracts from Lehigh Valley suppliers and Chrysler for automotive parts transported from Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. The railroad was an early adopter of intermodal shipping but could not counterbalance declining coal volumes amid escalating labor expenses and taxation. The construction of parallel interstate highways I-80, I-380, and I-81 further shifted freight traffic toward trucking, hastening EL’s decline.

By 1976, despite performing better than some contemporaries, Erie Lackawanna faced insurmountable financial difficulties and petitioned to become part of Conrail—a newly formed regional railroad consolidating seven bankrupt northeastern railroads—ending its independent operation.

Conrail

On April 1, 1976, EL’s rail infrastructure was transferred to Conrail. Initially constrained by labor agreements limiting changes to freight timetables, Conrail eventually suspended through freight operations on the Lackawanna side by early 1979. Freight was consolidated away from the Hoboken-Binghamton mainline due to infrastructure limitations including the severance of the Boonton Branch and challenging grades near Pocono Mountain.

The Morristown Line remains as the sole multi-track section within the approximately 900-mile Lackawanna network, maintaining its historic triple-track configuration established nearly a century earlier.

The Lackawanna Cut-Off was abandoned in 1979 and dismantled by 1984. After extended legal disputes, the Slateford Junction to Scranton segment was acquired with a single track preserved. In 2001, New Jersey purchased the Cut-Off right-of-way for $21 million using funds from a $40 million bond approved in 1989. NJ Transit estimates that restoring service to Scranton would require approximately $551 million including new rolling stock. Efforts to rehabilitate a 7.3-mile stretch between Port Morris and Andover, New Jersey have encountered environmental delays and are now expected to resume service no sooner than 2025.

Delaware and Hudson (subsequently Canadian Pacific)

In 1979, Conrail divested most of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western assets located in Pennsylvania; the main line connecting Scranton to Binghamton, which includes the Nicholson Cutoff, was acquired by the Delaware and Hudson Railway. The Delaware and Hudson was later absorbed by Canadian Pacific Railway in 1991. Canadian Pacific managed this route until it sold the line to Norfolk Southern in 2014.

New York, Susquehanna, and Western

Conrail transferred ownership of the Syracuse and Utica branches situated north of Binghamton to Delaware Otsego Corp. This company operates these lines as the northern division of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway.

Norfolk Southern

In 1997, Conrail agreed to a joint acquisition proposal from CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway. Effective June 1, 1999, Norfolk Southern took control of numerous former Conrail routes in New Jersey, including most lines formerly belonging to DL&W as well as the Bangor & Portland branch in Pennsylvania. Norfolk Southern continues to provide local freight services on these tracks. In 2014, it purchased the former DL&W main line stretching from Taylor, Pennsylvania to Binghamton, New York from Canadian Pacific Railway and has maintained operations since.

NJ Transit

NJ Transit Rail Operations assumed responsibility for passenger rail services in 1983 with financial support from New Jersey state subsidies for lines previously run by Erie Lackawanna and subsequently Conrail. NJ Transit operates over former DL&W tracks along much of the Morris & Essex Railroad extending to Gladstone and Hackettstown. In 2002, it consolidated the Montclair Branch and Boonton Line into the Montclair-Boonton Line, while continuing service on the southern segment of the Boonton Line known as the Main Line. Hoboken Terminal serves as NJ Transit’s central hub.

The inauguration of the Kearny Connection in 1996 enabled Morristown Line trains to access New York’s Pennsylvania Station directly, significantly enhancing NJ Transit's Midtown Direct service. This connection increased through track availability on former Lackawanna routes, thereby boosting commuter throughput.

Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority

Following Conrail’s division in 1999, ownership of the former DL&W main line between Scranton and Slateford transferred to the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority (PNRRA). Freight and tourist operations along this Pocono Mainline are conducted by the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad. Through a haulage arrangement with Norfolk Southern, it transports Canadian grain unit trains between Scranton and Harvest States Grain Mill at Pocono Summit, along with wood shipments destined for Bestway Enterprises in Cresco. Additional customers include Keystone Propane located in Tobyhanna. Tourist excursions feature historic locomotives such as Nickel Plate 765 running routes from Steamtown to Moscow and Tobyhanna.

The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad also oversees Lackawanna County’s heritage trolley system operated by the Electric City Trolley Museum, utilizing electrified overhead wires on original segments of the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad. It runs trains on a surviving portion of the DL&W Diamond branch within Scranton.

In 2006, authorities from Monroe and Lackawanna Counties established PNRRA with the goal of promoting restoration of passenger rail service connecting New York City and Scranton.

New York

The majority of the main line westward from Binghamton, New York, has been discontinued, with preference given to the Erie’s Buffalo route through Hornell. The longest surviving segment of the main line is between Painted Post and Wayland, where shortline operations are conducted by B&H Railroad, serving communities such as Bath, Hammondsport, and parts of the Livonia, Avon, and Lakeville Railroad. Additional remnants include the Groveland to Greigsville section operated by Genesee & Wyoming, as well as the stretch from Lancaster to Depew, managed by Depew, Lancaster & Western. The branch line to Richfield Springs was dismantled in 1998; however, in 2009 its former right of way was purchased by Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley LLC, which now runs a narrow-gauge tourist railroad and walking trail on parts of this corridor. Around 1999, a portion of the Cortland-Cincinnatus Branch was reconstructed for industrial purposes.

Pennsylvania

By 2018, the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern controlled the former Keyser Valley branch extending from Scranton to Taylor and also operated the former Bloomsburg branch stretching from Taylor to Coxton Yard in Duryea. The segment of the Bloomsburg branch between Duryea and Kingston is under the jurisdiction of the Luzerne and Susquehanna Railway, while service from Northumberland to Hicks Ferry is provided by the North Shore Railroad (Pennsylvania).

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Related profiles

DDelaware and Cobb's Gap RailroadDDelaware, Lackawanna and Western RailroadPPort Morris JunctionEErie Lackawanna MU Cars
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