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The Susquehanna Division's territory, bounded by Port Jervis on the east, Hornell,NY on the west, Tioga,PA, is where the Erie
Railroad was born. In fact, the very birth of the then New York and Erie Railroad was born at Deposit,NY when the first spade
full of dirt was turned thus beginning construction of the New York and Erie Railroad. The Susquehanna Division formed an
integral part of a fast freight route, for which the Erie Railroad became well known. The major shop facilities were located
at Hornell, for locomotives, Susquehanna for passenger cars. Hornell Yard performed classification for trains on both the
Buffalo main line and the Chicago line . The Susquehanna Division encompassed 347.3 miles of railroad,most of it the mainline
between Hornell and Port Jervis,NY. Several branch lines contributed the rest. Major passenger stops along the way in this
territory were at Binghamton,Endicott, Waverly,Elmira,Corning, and Hornell. Major switching of the passenger trains was done
at either Elmira or Binghamton. This is particularly true of Buffalo and Chicago sections of these trains.
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The Susquehanna Division consisted largely of the main line between Hornell and Port Jervis, NY, but also included a couple
of branches; The Blossburg Branch running from Gang Mills,NY to Blossburg,PA,and the Honesdale Branch running from Lackawaxen
to Honesdale,PA. Major yards on the Susquehanna Division were Hornell,Elmira, Binghamton, and Port Jervis. In later years,
Hornell was downgraded to storage of surplus freight cars and serving local industries. Elmira primarily served local industries
and interchange of traffic with the Pennsylvania Railroad (Later Penn Central). The ex Erie Yard at Binghamton primarily served
Erie Side industries, and did little in the way of assembling blocks of cars. Sparrowbush Yard at Port Jervis did some classification
work, but in later years did block swapping among trains passing through Port Jervis and little else. The following is a list
of the principal stations on the mainline from Hornell to Port Jervis:
HORNELL
Canisteo
Cameron Mills
Addison
Corning
Big Flats
Horseheads
Elmira
Southport
Chemung
Tioga Center
Waverly
Smithboro
Owego
Endicott
Johnson City
Binghamton
Great Bend
Kirkwood
Susquehanna
Gulf Summit
Deposit
Lordville
Hancock
Callicoon
Pond Eddy
Hales Eddy
Mast Hope
Lackawaxen
Shohola
Mill Rift
Sparrowbush
PORT JERVIS (Note: Order of listing is approximate,not exact).
The Susquehanna Division main line was largely a double track railroad handling scores of trains, both freight and passenger
in its prime. The passenger trains west of Port Jervis have been gone since November 28,1966 and west of Binghamton since
January 5,1970. Freight traffic is considerably less than when EL operated the line. The last of the semaphore signals, inherited
from the Erie Railroad, has been retired and signalling is done with color light signals of one type or another. The main
line has been largely reduced to single track with lengthy passing siding s in strategic locations. Other than the abandonment
of the Blossburg branch and these other changes, the Susquehanna Division remains largely intact. Port Jervis is a base for
commuter trains serving that station, and some trains layover there between runs. West of Port Jervis is freight only, with
New York,Susquehanna and Western now providing the freight service between Port and Binghamton. Depots still stand at Hornell,
Elmira, Chemung,Owego,Binghamton,Susquehanna, Callicoon, Lackawaxen, and Port Jervis.
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FREIGHT CONNECTIONS AND JUNCTION POINTS ON THE SUSQUEHANNA DIVISION: Elmira: PC,LV;Corning: PC, Bath;B&H,Owego:LVRR;Binghamton:
D&H.
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