REDISCOVERING AN ENGINEERING MARVEL: SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF

Transcription

1 REDISCOVERING AN ENGINEERING MARVEL: SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF Gerald M. Kuncio Byways to the Past Harrisburg, PA June 14, 2018

2 Between 1912 and 1915, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad spent $14 million ($1.8 billion in today s dollars) to upgrade its main line west of Scranton to the New York State line at Hallstead/Great Bend, Pennsylvania Eliminated only 3.6 miles from the 39.6 mile main line SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF

3 What may sometimes seem like extravagance of construction very well may be, in the truest sense, economy of operation. - William Haynes Truesdale, President of the DL&W, 1915 SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF

4 By extensively manipulating the landscape and constructing tremendous cuts and fills the Lackawanna eliminated almost all grades and curvature SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF

5 Allowed the Lackawanna to run longer, heavier trains eliminate helper engines and their crews decrease wear on tracks and equipment and reduce the time needed on eastbound runs by one whole hour

6 Much publicized, nationally recognized engineering marvel Largest railroad project of its kind in the eastern U.S., famous for its bold and audacious design and construction and its extensive use of reinforced concrete SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF

7 Built more than 80 bridges and culverts, including two enormous open spandrel reinforced concrete viaducts

8 Also used concrete for a switching towers, stations, and a tunnel, many with architecturally distinctive designs

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10 Lackawanna at a competitive disadvantage due to: Heavy, bulky commodity Steep terrain Punishing grades SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF

11 Prelude: Lackawanna s New Jersey Cutoff mile route from Port Morris Junction on NY Harbor to Slateford Junction on the Delaware River, reducing the main line by 11 miles Cut across, rather than follow, drainages, requiring tremendous cuts and fills, bridges, and other structures. The total cost would be a $11 million

12 Clarks Summit to Hallstead Cutoff Considered to be even more audacious because of the steepness of the terrain west of Scranton Moved 13 million cubic yards of material Required fills as high as 145 feet and cuts as deep as 115 feet Eliminated the equivalent of seven full circles of curvature Most of the route was either 3 or 4 tracks 70 mph operating speed SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF

13 Between 2013 and 2015, as mitigation for the replacement of a bridge over the railroad line, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) had the entire railroad line surveyed to see what still remained Created a detailed history of the Clarks Summit to Hallstead Cutoff Recorded what resources remained Resulted in the Cutoff being determined eligible for National Register of Historic Places listing under Criterion A for Transportation and Criterion C for Engineering SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF

14 SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF

15 Used World War I era Valuation Maps to determine what had been built Drove the line, photographing what built resources remained 88 total resources SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF - METHODOLOGY

16 MARTINS CREEK VIADUCT

17 11 SPANS, 1,600 FEET LONG, AND 150 FEET HIGH 2 ND LONGEST REINFORCED CONCRETE BRIDGE IN WORLD WHEN BUILT

18 TUNKHANNOCK VIADUCT

19 10 SEMI-CIRCULAR ARCHES WITH 18O FT CLEARSPANS 2 APPROACHES WITH 100 FEET CLEARSPANS 2,735 TOTAL FEET 240 FEET ABOVE THE STREAM BED USED AS MUCH CONCRETE AS THE LACKAWANNA S OTHER THREE LARGE REINFORCED CONCRETE BRIDGES (MARTINS CREEK, PAULINS KILL, AND DELAWARE RIVER) COMBINED THEODORE DREISER CALLED IT A NEW WONDER OF THE WORLD TUNKHANNOCK VIADUCT

20 OPEN SPANDREL ARCH BRIDGES

21 Crisman Arch and Gilmore Cut OPEN SPANDREL ARCH BRIDGES

22 CLOSED SPANDREL ARCH BRIDGES

23 RAILWAY AGE CREDITED THE LACKAWANNA WITH INTRODUCING FLAT TOP REINFORCED CONCRETE SPANS T-BEAMS AND SLABS

24 FLAT TOP REINFORCED CONCRETE BRIDGES

25 FLAT TOP REINFORCED CONCRETE BRIDGES

26 CONCRETE ARCH TUNNELS

27 CONCRETE CULVERTS

28 3,360 feet long excavated to 34 x 54 feet through mostly rock Lined with two foot thick concrete, and finished with vitrified brick Two 135 foot deep ventilations shafts were driven through earth and rock. The tunnel s arched opening had a radius of 18.5 feet FACTORYVILLE/NICHOLSON TUNNEL

29 FACTORYVILLE/NICHOLSON TUNNEL

30 FACTORYVILLE/NICHOLSON TUNNEL

31 SIGNAL TOWERS AND STATIONS

32 SIGNAL TOWERS

33 SIGNAL TOWERS

34 Built 8 new stations, joining 3 existing ones No two alike Used concrete; brick; concrete and brick; concrete, half-timbering and fieldstone; frame Only 5 remain STATIONS AND DEPOTS

35 STATIONS AND DEPOTS CLARKS SUMMIT

36 STATIONS AND DEPOTS GLENBURN

37 STATIONS AND DEPOTS LA PLUME

38 STATIONS AND DEPOTS HALLSTEAD

39 STATIONS AND DEPOTS - ALFORD

40 STATIONS AND DEPOTS - ALFORD

41 PUMP HOUSE (NEAR NICHOLSON)

42 After building the Clarks Summit to Hallstead Cutoff, the Lackawanna moved coal and a more diversified traffic mix, including Agricultural products and supplies General merchandising Fast passenger service to Chicago SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF

43 Thanks to Truesdale s commitment to Modern Railroading, during his presidency ( ) the Lackawanna s traffic density increased 169 percent in passenger carried 141 percent in freight Hauled 224 percent more freight per train and 129 percent more passengers SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF

44 Demise: Lessening demand for anthracite coal and playing out and sale of anthracite mines Loss of shipping to trucks, especially for dairy products Rise in use of personal automobiles Ruinous overbuilding and competition among railroads After WWII, the Lackawanna s super-railroad of 1915 gradually became one of the most underused stretches of first quality line in the nation SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF

45 Merged with the Erie Railroad in 1960 to form the Erie- Lackawanna Traffic shifted to Erie lines to avoid the Pocono Mountains Folded into Conrail in 1976 Cutoff lost Main Line status 1978 Became part of D&H, the CP, as of 2015 part of the Norfolk Southern SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF

46 THANK YOU! PennDOT Pat McKnight, Chief Archivist of Steamtown National Historic Site SURVEYING THE DELAWARE, LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAILROAD S CLARKS SUMMIT TO HALLSTEAD CUTOFF