Seriously, after all the work Chuck has put in, there should be a plaque somewhere on the cutoff, maybe even at Roseville Tunnel, dedicated to the extreme hard work and perseverance Chuck Walsh has shown for making the historic Lackawanna Cutoff a 21st Century reality! Great work Chuck and all those involved!!
Edd, as much as I appreciate your wish, there are so many others who deserve credit who probably will never get it. I've mentioned a list in a previous video, but that list has grown.
I realize it' s not a one-man operation with Chuck, but he has been the face of the LC all these years. Something is needed to salute all those who made this possible, a trackside plaque maybe somewhere, and should include a dedication to the tireless efforts of Chuck and all those involved to make it happen.
I've been pushing hard for this on the N. J. Transit end for a long, long time. You have a friend in high places at NJT. I travel under the radar and maintain a low profile. I credit that for most of my many accomplishments. Most of you don't know me, but I have never given up on this project. Now, I think we're finally on our way. Yes, pun intended, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel and it's so sweet.
Best news in a long time. This kind of commitment means the State is serious about restoring service. I remember long ago the pleas from Western NJ and Eastern PA for preservation of the service and for keeping the cutoff in place. After all these years, it may just happen. Chuck doesn't deserve just a plaque. He deserves a couple of statues and his name on one or two significant stations along the way.
The Lackawanna Cut-Off was the 0.5 version of high-speed grade separated and straight right of way, which was constructed many decades before Japan’s Ministry of Railways built the first Shinkansen or bullet train line.
Chuck I went to the tunnel this past Saturday afternoon one last time and I ran into another train enthusiast we’re both in our late 20s early 30s and we had such a blast discussing the videos and you. Thank you and to everyone who makes these videos possible along with the website and Facebook page. Thank you so so much!
It's happening!! 👏👏 can't wait till it comes all the way to Scranton. This is just another piece of the puzzle put into place. Keep up the good work and for the update. 😁😎
It IS April 17 here in Missouri and it was exciting to see Chuck's report. I am a huge fan of the Cut-off, always have been and always will be. I grew up in Jersey and this is like "news from home."
Thanks for the update Chuck. I live about 5 miles from the Roseville tunnel. Glad their making progress on rerailling the cutoff. I've been to the tunnel many times. Heck I even went thru it on the Phone Snow when I was 10
The Andover station and Hudson Farm culverts: had the greenies been around one-hundred-twenty years ago the Cut-off would never have seen the first spade of dirt turned. I think that method of rockfall mitigation is popular in Japan when constructing new highways through mountainous regions. Must be effective if they keep using it.
Finally... having traveled all over Europe on high speed rail, I'm hoping that the Scranton to NYC trip, if it is EVER realized, will be faster than the "choo-choo" service that we currently have. Great job Chuck!
I’m new to this series and it’s fascinating and it’s been a long journey. I haven’t watched all the videos yet so maybe I missed something, but where this right of way has been dormant for so many years I’m really surprised the Rails to Trails people didn’t make a move on this line or at least parts of it. I’m glad it’s coming back.
Well that’s good! They’ve been pretty aggressive here in Massachusetts going after out of service, but not abandoned lines. Even one that was still active with occasional freight.
@@jerrys9226 I'm a big fan of cycling but I really don't like most of the rails to trails folks. it's one thing if it's redundant, or so shattered by development restoration is unrealistic, but good, straight ROW needs to be preserved.
Thanks Chuck. I can attest to the heavy traffic on the Lehigh line as I am a “victim” of the Aldine plan. Many times we have to wait for a “Conrail freight” to clear the left be before we can proceed west of Mewark. The track still being there from High Bridge to west of Asbury means that it only has to be upgraded, not reinstalled which as I recall makes things much easier. West of Bloomsbury AMTRAK could go back on the CNJ just east of P’burg requiring trackage rights from NS for the short distance from the junction west of Bloomsbury, over I 78 and then just east of P’burg. From P’burg to Allentown the old CNJ right of way could be used but AMTRAK would have to negotiate trackage rights for a short distance through Easton with the BR&W. Expensive environmental studies would have to be done between West Easton and Bethlehem because the tracks on this section were removed before Conrail’s creation.
Hi Chuck. I was in Bloomsbury, NJ yesterday. NS has flipped a 39’ section of rail on its side in the vicinity of where the old passenger station was. This signals the end of freight operations east of Bloomsbury to Vliet Farm Road.
Andy Muller has 2102 up and running on the Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern as of last week. Lots of good news on the NE rail scene. It'll be interesting when the grade crossing is installed.
I always thought so but selling a chunk of the min line for Rt. 80 back in the 70s didn't help prospects for the future. EL made that decision. Actually, the Cut-Off has been getting downgraded since the 50s. Chuck mentions that in one of his captions.
Great & informative video there. When the construction work begins and New Jersey Transit doesn’t want a ventilation shaft on the Roseville tunnel, shortening the length by 124 feet would make the tunnel be 950 feet in length, cut 62 feet at each end when shortening the tunnel length would be good.
I hope this portion gets finished and not left unfinished 3/4 of the way through. $32.5 isnt a lot of money for the amount of work & union labor coming 50 miles away each day. 🤞
Schiavone is a big time contractor in the transportation field, and they have an excellent reputation. They have economies of scale that smaller companies can't compete with. They'll finish this on time and maybe even under budget.
@@LackawannaCutOff thank you for all you do with the updates chuck, I grew up in stanhope and remember watching them pulling up the tracks as a kid and can't wait to ride the rail someday 😀
@@LackawannaCutOff down in the railyard in Newark this morning and there's an old "erie lackawanna" locomotive down here shuffling cars around the yard! Pretty cool to see 👀
I had heard maybe a year or so ago that the Mount Pocono site was "up in the air". In other words, the actual site had not been determined. So, this may have been in the works for a while. I know Amtrak really likes cooperation from private companies. So, I think it's a big positive.
Chuck, AMTRAK was aiming to have service to Scranton within three years of the passage of the Infrastructure bill. I imagine AMTRAK can start working east from Slateford and meet NJT at Andover? Schiavone has worked on many other transit projects in the NY/NJ area; let's hope they can finish ahead of schedule. Are there any updates on AMTRAK's expansion to Allentown, PA? One would guess the primary route for this would be the NJT (CNJ) Raritan Valley line.
@@LackawannaCutOff Thanks Chuck. Some of the cost estimates to go to Allentown are off the charts. How can it be so much more money to go from High Bridge to Allentown than it costs to go from Port Morris to Scranton? Keep in mind that most of the CNJ right of way east of the I-78 overpass on NS and through Phillipsburg is still in tact as is most of the right of way in PA.
@@johns9571, that the track is still there is of somewhat limited value because it would need upgrading. But the big ticket item that Norfolk Southern could demand would be for upwards of 20-25 miles of additional trackage from the CNJ connection in NJ to Allentown, which would eclipse the cost of the Cut-Off. NS's Lehigh Line is near capacity and NS will argue, with some merit, that there is no extra capacity available for passenger service. Nevertheless, Allentown's BIGGER problem appears to be the lack of local political support as well as the lack of an entity to shepherd all the prep work--coordination and interactions with Amtrak--that would need to be done. In short, Allentown service appears to be stalled without any apparent way to "unstall" it.
@@johns9571, I haven’t see any cost estimates for Allentown other than what was done about 8-10 years ago. No idea what NS would fight for now, but I stick to my claim that it could involve upwards of 20-25 miles of new track, not to mention rehabbing everything west of High Bridge.
About Andover Train Station in New Jersey for New Jersey Transit Train in Sussex County,NJ Will the New Jersey Transit Train be the final stop of Blairstown in Warren County,NJ or not? @Lackawanna Cut-Off
According to current plans, NJ Transit would stop at Andover and that would be the terminus of that service line. Anything west of that would be Amtrak.
Hopefully and God willing when the entire former DL&W mainline to Scranton, PA is rehabilitated and in service by NJT, will the future ownership and daily use of the line interrupt the Steamtown excursions? Particularly to the Delaware Water Gap? Would love to know that.
I am aware that the planning for the cutoff will never anticipate freight, BUT will they deepen the tunnel for double stack clearance just in case that should change?
@@LackawannaCutOff If I recall correctly, Mr. Walsh, your video on Cut-off freight trains discussed how the loss of the Boonton Branch (not Line, but BRANCH) is a major deterrent to restoration of through-freight service to the Hudson River. The Cut-off is the western half of what was the DL&W's low-grade line, with the now-gone Boonton Branch serving as the eastern portion. I think, too, it's not just the Roseville Tunnel's clearance that is a problem, but moreso that under all the catenary east of Port Morris (the latter actually being more problematic than the comparatively short former.) Also, I can't believe it is FOUR YEARS since you first spoke about the Hudson Farm culvert in its own video. And rebuilding the darn thing hasn't even started yet.
@@michaela.chmieloski3196, some purists called it a branch, but it has most often been called a line. The severing of it for Interstate 80 near Paterson was in retrospect a really, really bad move on the part of the Erie Lackawanna.
You mention that provisions are being put in place through the tunnel to allow for double-tracking down the road. Will overhead electrification be possible through that tunnel and for the entire cutoff if that were to ever happen?
@@LackawannaCutOff Well, at least SEPTA got the Wawa station reopened almost 36 years after they abandoned service to Wawa and West Chester. That abandonment, the Bethlehem line abandonment and the Newtown line abandonment from Fox Chase is what gave them the moniker the Society to Eliminate Public Transportation Altogether
Seriously, after all the work Chuck has put in, there should be a plaque somewhere on the cutoff, maybe even at Roseville Tunnel, dedicated to the extreme hard work and perseverance Chuck Walsh has shown for making the historic Lackawanna Cutoff a 21st Century reality! Great work Chuck and all those involved!!
Agreed!
Edd, as much as I appreciate your wish, there are so many others who deserve credit who probably will never get it. I've mentioned a list in a previous video, but that list has grown.
I realize it' s not a one-man operation with Chuck, but he has been the face of the LC all these years. Something is needed to salute all those who made this possible, a trackside plaque maybe somewhere, and should include a dedication to the tireless efforts of Chuck and all those involved to make it happen.
Great to see it moving along, it'll be interesting from now on to see how involved Amtrak is too
We shall see.
With Joe Biden in the White House, things look better than ever now for this to finally become a reality.
Congratulations from me in Cornwall, UK. It's great to see rail routes being restored, something that's happening more and more often here too.
Glad to hear that! I've waited 52 years to see the Cut Off restored. I hope I make it! Even if just to Andover.
I've been pushing hard for this on the N. J. Transit end for a long, long time. You have a friend in high places at NJT. I travel under the radar and maintain a low profile. I credit that for most of my many accomplishments. Most of you don't know me, but I have never given up on this project. Now, I think we're finally on our way. Yes, pun intended, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel and it's so sweet.
Thank you for all your help, whoever you are.
Any thoughts on Amtrak to Scranton?
Best news in a long time. This kind of commitment means the State is serious about restoring service. I remember long ago the pleas from Western NJ and Eastern PA for preservation of the service and for keeping the cutoff in place. After all these years, it may just happen. Chuck doesn't deserve just a plaque. He deserves a couple of statues and his name on one or two significant stations along the way.
I appreciate that thought. But we're going to need a whole bunch of statues for all the people who have helped get us get this far.
This is like a long game of chess , Small moves that lead to another and finally to a win ! keep up the great work Cluck ! Bandit
Great analogy!
The Lackawanna Cut-Off was the 0.5 version of high-speed grade separated and straight right of way, which was constructed many decades before Japan’s Ministry of Railways built the first Shinkansen or bullet train line.
Chuck I went to the tunnel this past Saturday afternoon one last time and I ran into another train enthusiast we’re both in our late 20s early 30s and we had such a blast discussing the videos and you. Thank you and to everyone who makes these videos possible along with the website and Facebook page. Thank you so so much!
Thank YOU!
It's happening!! 👏👏 can't wait till it comes all the way to Scranton. This is just another piece of the puzzle put into place. Keep up the good work and for the update. 😁😎
Bill white. Assuming you live on that end of things. Are they doing anything on that end of the line?
Matthew Rice, not that I'm aware of. Most information I get on the cutoff is from this channel.
Bill white fair enough. Thanks for the reply.
There's hardly any traffic east of Cresco these days. The power plant in Portland closed. Things in the gap are quiet these days.
It IS April 17 here in Missouri and it was exciting to see Chuck's report. I am a huge fan of the Cut-off, always have been and always will be. I grew up in Jersey and this is like "news from home."
I rode it in the 50s and 60s under DL&W and EL. Love to see something coming back.
Thanks for the update Chuck. I live about 5 miles from the Roseville tunnel. Glad their making progress on rerailling the cutoff. I've been to the tunnel many times. Heck I even went thru it on the Phone Snow when I was 10
Great news! The culmination of a lot of hard work, congratulations Chuck!
Great news! Thanks for keeping us updated. Too bad I missed you when you made this video the other day
Thanks for the update Chuck...I don't know what we'd do without you...
Thank you!
This was pretty fascinating... thankyou so much for sharing and for climbing on top of the tunnel portal... Daylight Dave! 😜
The Andover station and Hudson Farm culverts: had the greenies been around one-hundred-twenty years ago the Cut-off would never have seen the first spade of dirt turned.
I think that method of rockfall mitigation is popular in Japan when constructing new highways through mountainous regions. Must be effective if they keep using it.
It might have been easier just to go to Blairstown that go through all the mitigation of building a new station in Andover.
Totally different project. At least now we're moving forward one Andover.
Finally... having traveled all over Europe on high speed rail, I'm hoping that the Scranton to NYC trip, if it is EVER realized, will be faster than the "choo-choo" service that we currently have. Great job Chuck!
Most likely at 100mph with the ALP-45DPs on the cut off
I grew up in Byram township new jersey and Stanhope, NJ
Great news thanks for all you do to keep us up to date Chuck
I am excited to see the project go through.
Wow, that was really interesting to watch ⚓
Thank you!
I’m new to this series and it’s fascinating and it’s been a long journey. I haven’t watched all the videos yet so maybe I missed something, but where this right of way has been dormant for so many years I’m really surprised the Rails to Trails people didn’t make a move on this line or at least parts of it. I’m glad it’s coming back.
They did. But they were not welcome. We knew that they might cause problems down the road, so it was left as an unused transportation corridor.
Well that’s good! They’ve been pretty aggressive here in Massachusetts going after out of service, but not abandoned lines. Even one that was still active with occasional freight.
@@jerrys9226 I'm a big fan of cycling but I really don't like most of the rails to trails folks. it's one thing if it's redundant, or so shattered by development restoration is unrealistic, but good, straight ROW needs to be preserved.
Thanks Chuck. I can attest to the heavy traffic on the Lehigh line as I am a “victim” of the Aldine plan. Many times we have to wait for a “Conrail freight” to clear the left be before we can proceed west of Mewark. The track still being there from High Bridge to west of Asbury means that it only has to be upgraded, not reinstalled which as I recall makes things much easier. West of Bloomsbury AMTRAK could go back on the CNJ just east of P’burg requiring trackage rights from NS for the short distance from the junction west of Bloomsbury, over I 78 and then just east of P’burg. From P’burg to Allentown the old CNJ right of way could be used but AMTRAK would have to negotiate trackage rights for a short distance through Easton with the BR&W. Expensive environmental studies would have to be done between West Easton and Bethlehem because the tracks on this section were removed before Conrail’s creation.
Hi Chuck. I was in Bloomsbury, NJ yesterday. NS has flipped a 39’ section of rail on its side in the vicinity of where the old passenger station was. This signals the end of freight operations east of Bloomsbury to Vliet Farm Road.
I hate to say it, but I'm not surprised.
Andy Muller has 2102 up and running on the Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern as of last week. Lots of good news on the NE rail scene. It'll be interesting when the grade crossing is installed.
My house sits next to this track. One day trains will go by it once more. By then, though, I'll be old.
We'll see.
Conrail was wrong to abandon this valuable (and massively expensive) railroad.
I always thought so but selling a chunk of the min line for Rt. 80 back in the 70s didn't help prospects for the future. EL made that decision. Actually, the Cut-Off has been getting downgraded since the 50s. Chuck mentions that in one of his captions.
Those two viaducts make it easily one of the most scenic rides around and the tunnel.
Let's not dwell on the past and the mistakes that were made. Let's concentrate on the bright future this project now has.
what choice did con rail have. it was a very high cost route
It's just as well that Conrail is out of the picture.
Great & informative video there. When the construction work begins and New Jersey Transit doesn’t want a ventilation shaft on the Roseville tunnel, shortening the length by 124 feet would make the tunnel be 950 feet in length, cut 62 feet at each end when shortening the tunnel length would be good.
Only about 15-20 feet need to be removed to bring it to 1,000 feet.
Some progress!
Cant wait!
I hope this portion gets finished and not left unfinished 3/4 of the way through. $32.5 isnt a lot of money for the amount of work & union labor coming 50 miles away each day. 🤞
Schiavone is a big time contractor in the transportation field, and they have an excellent reputation. They have economies of scale that smaller companies can't compete with. They'll finish this on time and maybe even under budget.
@@LackawannaCutOff thank you for all you do with the updates chuck, I grew up in stanhope and remember watching them pulling up the tracks as a kid and can't wait to ride the rail someday 😀
@@LackawannaCutOff down in the railyard in Newark this morning and there's an old "erie lackawanna" locomotive down here shuffling cars around the yard! Pretty cool to see 👀
Chuck, any thoughts on the announcement of the Margaritaville and Amtrak station in Tobyhanna? Sounds encouraging.
I had heard maybe a year or so ago that the Mount Pocono site was "up in the air". In other words, the actual site had not been determined. So, this may have been in the works for a while. I know Amtrak really likes cooperation from private companies. So, I think it's a big positive.
so idk if we lucky another 5 years to go
I honestly don’t see this costing 32 million dollars. I say at least double it Still going to be a cool transformation!
The federal government pisses money away by the trillions all he time. Too bad stuff like this is so hard to get funded.
Chuck, AMTRAK was aiming to have service to Scranton within three years of the passage of the Infrastructure bill. I imagine AMTRAK can start working east from Slateford and meet NJT at Andover? Schiavone has worked on many other transit projects in the NY/NJ area; let's hope they can finish ahead of schedule. Are there any updates on AMTRAK's expansion to Allentown, PA? One would guess the primary route for this would be the NJT (CNJ) Raritan Valley line.
Not much has been heard from Allentown. We'll see about the timing. I suspect we really won't know until early next year the earliest.
@@LackawannaCutOff Thanks Chuck. Some of the cost estimates to go to Allentown are off the charts. How can it be so much more money to go from High Bridge to Allentown than it costs to go from Port Morris to Scranton? Keep in mind that most of the CNJ right of way east of the I-78 overpass on NS and through Phillipsburg is still in tact as is most of the right of way in PA.
@@johns9571, that the track is still there is of somewhat limited value because it would need upgrading. But the big ticket item that Norfolk Southern could demand would be for upwards of 20-25 miles of additional trackage from the CNJ connection in NJ to Allentown, which would eclipse the cost of the Cut-Off. NS's Lehigh Line is near capacity and NS will argue, with some merit, that there is no extra capacity available for passenger service. Nevertheless, Allentown's BIGGER problem appears to be the lack of local political support as well as the lack of an entity to shepherd all the prep work--coordination and interactions with Amtrak--that would need to be done. In short, Allentown service appears to be stalled without any apparent way to "unstall" it.
@@johns9571, I haven’t see any cost estimates for Allentown other than what was done about 8-10 years ago. No idea what NS would fight for now, but I stick to my claim that it could involve upwards of 20-25 miles of new track, not to mention rehabbing everything west of High Bridge.
About Andover Train Station in New Jersey for New Jersey Transit Train in Sussex County,NJ Will the New Jersey Transit Train be the final stop of Blairstown in Warren County,NJ or not? @Lackawanna Cut-Off
According to current plans, NJ Transit would stop at Andover and that would be the terminus of that service line. Anything west of that would be Amtrak.
@@LackawannaCutOff Yes. Basically Sussex County,NJ Residents wanted a new Train Station in Andover,NJ Between Scranton,PA and New York City,NY.
Hopefully and God willing when the entire former DL&W mainline to Scranton, PA is rehabilitated and in service by NJT, will the future ownership and daily use of the line interrupt the Steamtown excursions? Particularly to the Delaware Water Gap? Would love to know that.
I'm sure something can be worked out.
I am aware that the planning for the cutoff will never anticipate freight, BUT will they deepen the tunnel for double stack clearance just in case that should change?
That would mean 20 or 21 feet above the rail. I kinda doubt it. We'll see.
@@LackawannaCutOff now i am wondering if low clearance already exists on the active section up to the cutoff
@@AWSmith1955, it does, both in NJ and PA.
@@LackawannaCutOff If I recall correctly, Mr. Walsh, your video on Cut-off freight trains discussed how the loss of the Boonton Branch (not Line, but BRANCH) is a major deterrent to restoration of through-freight service to the Hudson River. The Cut-off is the western half of what was the DL&W's low-grade line, with the now-gone Boonton Branch serving as the eastern portion. I think, too, it's not just the Roseville Tunnel's clearance that is a problem, but moreso that under all the catenary east of Port Morris (the latter actually being more problematic than the comparatively short former.)
Also, I can't believe it is FOUR YEARS since you first spoke about the Hudson Farm culvert in its own video. And rebuilding the darn thing hasn't even started yet.
@@michaela.chmieloski3196, some purists called it a branch, but it has most often been called a line. The severing of it for Interstate 80 near Paterson was in retrospect a really, really bad move on the part of the Erie Lackawanna.
You mention that provisions are being put in place through the tunnel to allow for double-tracking down the road. Will overhead electrification be possible through that tunnel and for the entire cutoff if that were to ever happen?
I don't foresee that happening, but in that unlikely event I don't see overhead clearances being an issue.
How many decades has this project been in concept , 30 years ?
Hi Chuck. Has Schiavone started work on the Roseville Tunnel?
Not that I know of
@@LackawannaCutOff Well, at least SEPTA got the Wawa station reopened almost 36 years after they abandoned service to Wawa and West Chester. That abandonment, the Bethlehem line abandonment and the Newtown line abandonment from Fox Chase is what gave them the moniker the Society to Eliminate Public Transportation Altogether
So they going to built a new Train line that's interested between 5 year's or less, Mmmmmmm?
Will there NJ transit service into Morris, Warren, Sussex counties into Scranton, PA area. Just curious?
Sussex, yes. Beyond that, we don't know.
When is Allentown pa happening
No idea. The "vibes" out of the Lehigh Valley about this have been anything but positive.
I am 58, I will be 85 before Amtrak reaches Scranton after all the Liberal mandated studies are done.
All projects that get federal funding need to play by the same rules. It is what it is.
👍
What an absolute waste of money can’t even take care of what New Jersey has now
Please be more specific.
@@LackawannaCutOff how about highways,Bridges, economy, current infrastructure and so on.
Sure we can.