Birth and Evolution of the Delaware,Lackawanna & Western Railroad

Erie Lackawanna Railroad-Anatomy of The Friendly Service Route

Birth and Evolution of the Delaware,Lackawanna & Western Railroad

This page covers, in condensed form, the development of the Delaware,Lackawanna and Western Railroad from birth to merger with the Erie Railroad in 1960, thus forming the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Company. It is NOT meant to be nor is designed to be a complete timeline and list of top men in the railroad's HOTSEAT (President's Chair), but list the more important events in the life of the railroad, list what is left in operation, and what has been abandoned, to name a few.

To get a grasp of how the Delaware,Lackawanna & Western Railroad aka The Lackawanna Railroad developed into the trunk line system it became, it is felt that presenting a rough family tree would not be a bad place to start. Here it is:

1.Cayuga & Susquehanna (Ithaca Branch)
2.Ligget's Gap RR
3.Delaware & Cobb's Gap RR
4.Syracuse & Utica
5.Lackawanna & Bloomsburg RR
6.Bangor & Portland RR
7.Warren Railroad
8.Morris & Essex RR
9.Passaic & Delaware (Gladstone Branch)
10.Montclair & Bloomfield (Montclair Branch)
11.New York,Lackawanna & Western

Once these companies and leases were consolidated, the form that the Lackawanna Railroad would take began to take shape. Some of the men who built the Lackawanna Railroad included the following. George J. Phelps, George and Selden Scranton,Lincoln Bush,Samuel Sloan,William Truesdale,John Davis,William White, and Perry Shoemaker, who was the last president the Lackawanna Railroad would ever have.
THREE DIVISION STRUCTURE
Until 1957, the Delaware,Lackawanna & Western Railroad was divided into three operating divisions, each with its own headquarters located in an appropriate city. The Morris and Essex Division, was largely commuter territory,which covered between Hoboken,Port Morris Jct.,Branchville, and Washington and Slateford Jct,PA. The Scranton Division covered the territory between that point, Utica,Syracuse, Johnson City,NY. It also included the Bangor and Portland and the Bloomsburg branch as well. The Buffalo Division covered the territory from Johnson City to Black Rock,NY.
Total mileage breaks down as follows:
New Jersey, 219.74 miles
Pennsylvania,250.04 miles
New York, 492.4 miles
Total: 462.18 miles

Equipment in operation as of December 31,1953.

While listing equipment in operation at that time, 7 years before the merger, much of it survived to see Erie Lackawanna service after the two railroads became one.

FREIGHT CARS

Coal (open top hoppers and gondolas) 6819
Box Cars 7549
Reefers 204
Covered Hoppers 823
Covered Gondolas 80
Stock Cars 2
Flat cars 41
Cabooses 143
Total DL&W Freight Cars: 15661
PASSENGER CARS
Coaches 127
Milk Cars 52
Baggage & Express 161
Motor Cars,electric 141
Motor trailers,coach 120
MT's passenger & mail 15
Club Cars 4
Parlor Cars 4
Sleeping Cars 28
Passenger & Baggage 12
Passenger & Mail 1
Dining cars 6
Buffet Lounge Cars 6
Postal Cars 4
TOTAL PASSENGER CARS 699
LOCOMOTIVES; 200
COMPANY SERVICE EQUIPMENT
Misc. Work 339
Air Dump Cars 56
Locomotive Cranes 13
Snow Plows & Flangers 18
Pile Driver 1
Heavy Steam Derricks 5
Scale Test Cars 2
Business Cars 3
Spreaders 3
Work,floating 7
total Company Service Equipment: 447
MARINE EQUIPMENT
Tugboats 12
Ferry Boats 7
Barges,Lighters,floats 176
Total Marine Equipment: 196

Much of this equipment survived the 1960 merger with the Erie though the exceptions were the oldest freight cars in the fleet and those of types not needed by the new railroad, such as the two livestock cars.