Today, once again we ride a freight train of Allentown's great industrial past. In the early 1970's, the Redevelopment Authority tore down the neighborhood on either side of the Lehigh Street hill. At that time they had persuaded Conrail to move the the Barber's Quarry Branch line exclusively to the southern side of the Little Lehigh. The branch had crossed over and back to service the great Wire Mill. After crossing Lehigh Street, the train would proceed along the creek passing under the 8th Street Bridge. At the 10th Street crossing it would service another great industrial giant, Traylor Engineering.
In 2009 President Obama visited a successor, Allentown Manufacturing, which has since closed. The line would continue along the creek until it turned north along Cedar Creek to Union Terrace. After crossing Hamilton Street by the current Hamilton Family Diner, it would end at the current park department building. Nothing remains of the line, the tracks were removed. The Allentown Economic Development Corporation recently received a grant to rebuild the line to 10th Street, even though the plant Obama visited has closed. The neighboring former Mack Plant now houses a go cart track. How the money will be squandered remains to be seen. The top photograph was taken by local train historian Mark Rabenold in 1989. It shows the later relocated section of the track that was just east of the Lehigh Street crossing.reprinted from March of 2011
The pic of the Conrail geep was taken in the early 80s.The crew is cleaning out the flangeway so the loco can pass without derailing.The line was relocated by the Lehigh Valley Railroad during the urban renewal of the late 60s.Conrail didnt come along untill April 1st 1976.They CR had no interest in developing buisiness along most of their branches and let them wither away abandoning most by the late 80s.Aditionaly the cities were chasing most buisiness out to the suburbs and overseas.
ReplyDeleteIf the Allentown Development Authority got a grant to re-establish the rail line there had to be a plan or purpose in their grant proposal, what was it?
ReplyDeleteptsmith, they were speculating that perhaps if they had rail service, they might attract an industry to the former Traylor Engineering Building, that was heavy enough to want such service. That is a pie in the sky, taxpayer funded, pipe dream.
ReplyDelete