Lackawanna Coal Car on the Road of Anthracite

Traveling by train in the late 1800's and early 1900's could be a very grimey event for passengers who often completed their rail journey covered with coal soot.  Unless, of course, they were riding on a train pulled by an engine powered by relatively clean-burning anthracite coal.  The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company owned huge tracts of land rich with anthracite coal which they used on their trains.  This allowed them to boast about having clean passengers at the end of a journey.  They capitalized on this by creating an ad campaign that featured pictures of a fictional woman named Phoebe Snow dressed in clean white clothes, and the following poem:

Says Phoebe Snow, about to go
Upon a trip to Buffalo,
"My gown stays white from morn 'til night
Upon the road of anthracite."

Engine 663, Ready to Rumble

Say hello to the front end of the pushmi-pullyu train.

The Pushmi-Pullyu Train

When I saw these train engines I immediately thought of the pushmi-pullyu (pronounced push me pull you) from Dr. Doolittle.  It was a gazelle-unicorn cross in the original book, and a llama in the movie with Rex Harrison, and now two Lackawanna engines at Steamtown National Historic Site.

Train in Vain Station

The lack of passenger trains can be explained away, but the heartache's in this station 'till this day.  Unlike the subject of the Clash song "Train in Vain", who sang about being alone and keeping the wolves at bay, this abandoned station could not keep the vandals away.

Mount Pocono Train Station

Freight trains still rumble down this track which leads to Hoboken, New Jersey.  A plan to have passenger trains travel here from Steamtown in Scranton had built up a head of steam, but somewhere along the way got derailed.

Marcellus Shale Trail

Northeastern Pennsylvania marks the northeastern border of a huge area of Marcellus shale that extends to the west and south into Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky.  A huge amount of natural gas is obtainable, but there is substantial risk to waterways and wells, and a huge battle is raging between supporters and opponents of drilling.  More information and maps providing details can be viewed at geology.com

Caboose Day

It's Caboose Day, at the rear of the year.

Workin' on the Railroad

I was driving along a road that paralleled a railroad track on the southern outskirts of the city when I passed this contraption that was furiously roaring, creaking and clanking while it appeared to be slowly doing nothing more than throwing up huge dust clouds.