The spandex yuppies, who have been championing for decades for Rails to Trails, have created a dilemma for themselves. This is the same constituency who would like to see rail service reestablished between Lehigh Valley and NYC. Norfolk Southern, the current rail freight operator, has informed those yuppies that there is essentially only one track left, and that they need it exclusively for the freight service.
molovinsky on allentown is a teacher and student of our past rail history. I have documented all the major rail and spur routes that intersected Allentown. Recently, I protested against the riverfront NIZ removing the last remnant of the Lehigh Valley Rail Road Old Main Line from along the Lehigh River.
$Millions have been wasted on both removing tracks for the spandex crowd, and planning to restore rail service on tracks that no longer exist. Even as I write this, the Allentown Economic Development Corporation has a plan to restore a freight track back to its building on S. 10th Street, although a tenant who could possibly utilize such service hasn't existed for 50 years. Spare us the expense of bureaucrats who want to fund solutions to problems that they helped create.
Shown above, a Lehigh Valley RailRoad freight train heads north on it's Old Main Track. That track has recently been removed to make more Rail to Trail.
reprinted from September of 2016
Actually the track in the picture is still there and still in service.The branch you are referring to is the Barber Quarry branch and that was removed in2001.There was rumor after rumor of track being reinstalled .Lots of talk and I believe some studies but then the Fuller plant was vacated and what ever left of their now captive rr was removed in 2011.
ReplyDeletethe Old Main section along the river, through the former Structural Steel, behind the Neuweiler , behind Bucky Boyle, has all been removed as part of the Waterfront NIZ
ReplyDeleteSad. Even as a teenager in the 90's, I can remember trains running through Bucky Boyle during baseball practices and games. It was pretty awesome.
ReplyDelete