I saw and photographed some tracks at Susquehanna State Park but haven't discovered who might have built them. I did see markings on the track (which I did not photograph) that seemed to indicate they were made in Scranton in 1895. Here is a view of some of the track: Here is a stitched image of a bridge used by the railroad: A few more photos can be found here. About as many are photos of the park as they are of the track but there's only 13 photos total: http://travel.webshots.com/album/556019083rKwKXQ What's the story on these tracks? Thanks.
They parallel the river on the West (or South) bank. The link below should show the bridge in the center of the photo. I followed the tracks south of the bridge. You may notice the canal - the tracks are between the canal and the river. http://local.live.com/default.aspx?...49003&style=a&lvl=17&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000
Try Topozone.com to start I checked the location on Topozone.com and was able to see several tracks in the area. Most showed CONRAIL as the owner. You may be able to figure out where the track starts and stops, was it a mainline or a branch, etc by researching topozone.com. Once you have location(s) it becomes easier to plug this information into a database and see what comes up. I have used this method with success on my recent railroad archeology trips and have had good results. The date on the rail only shows when the steel was cast and at what mill. It could have been ripped up and relayed several times over its life. Judging from the trees around the rail, that line has been out of use for 30-40 years. The fact that the track was not ripped up, but left in place, tells me the owner did not have the money and or manpower to go and tear up the track for re-use or scrap. This would indicate a rather sudden down turn in fiscal solvency or a fast ownership change. These factors lead me to speculate that it is an old branch line that was abandoned after the Conrail merger. As I do not know anything on east coast operations, I can't speculate on the original owner. You may be able to with enough research. Good luck.
A closer look at my wall map shows it could have been Norfolk Southern owned track, but this is post Conrail so it still could have been anybody's track. And yes, the fact that the track is still there is quite interesting and part of the reason I am curious about the background. Thanks for the response.
Do you know what County the track is located in? The parcel may be on the tax rolls. These may be available on line (most county property tax rolls are) with a map. The PRR had several miles of track on either side of the Susquehanna River parallel to the NE corrdor main that ran to the old bridge. So this would be to the right going Northbound. Pennsy used to park scrap cars on the line North of the river, saving them for scrap steel prices to rise. The only line PRR had parallel to the river was the Columbia & Port Deposit ("The Port Road") from Havre de Grace to Harrisburg, on the East side of the river.
Third Rail: That sounds like what I am looking for. It must be The Port Road. Thanks. So it seems like it was a shortcut for the PRR from Baltimore to Harrisburg.
