Lehigh Valley Railroads Vosburg tunnel.
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- Опубликовано: 29 ноя 2023
- Hello everyone. While in Tunkhannock I learned that the Lehigh Valley railroad had constructed a tunnel in the tiny community of Vosburg PA. This tunnel was started in February 1883 and was completed in June of 1886. The tunnel was constructed to eliminate nearly 4 miles of road that followed a large curve in the Susquehanna river. This area is known as the neck. There is a state park in this area named Vosburg Neck and some of it actually sits on the original grade of the railbed!
The tunnel is 3,902 feet long and 28 feet wide. The stone used for the tunnels construction was quarried in Union Springs NY. Conrail constructed a steel beam cage in the middle to help support. This was done in the 1980's. 4,516,300 bricks were used to arch the ceiling. The tunnels final cost was the lives of 6 men and $750,000. Today this tunnel is still actively used by the Blue Mountain Reading and Northern railroad to service Proctor and Gamble on the west side of the tunnel. At first I thought the tiny bridge was also Lehigh Valley but am now thinking Conrail or later due to the amount of flooding that has taken place here. If you have time youtube search Vosburg tunnel flooding. You will be amazed!
Thank you very much for watching and have a great day! 11/25/23
![Conductor Switching Train Cars [HD]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2zF0rIz5xn4/mqdefault.jpg)
![Conductor Switching Train Cars [HD]](/img/tr.png)
Super cool video, very interesting. Amazing stone and brick work!👍
Thank you Dave! Would you believe when I first arrived there were two engines on their way through the tunnel. Took some nice still photos on the good camera. One of those right place right time moments!!
@@kevinsalsbury2118 your welcome and wow that’s so cool that the two engines were going through. That really is perfect timing! I wonder how often this tunnel is used and how many trains on average go through there? Perfect spot to film and take some photos. Last week I did get to film the CMRR Holiday train in Kingston. I was able to included the big yellow railroad crane into the video as the train passed. Check it out when you get a minute, I think you will enjoy it. The crane and the two box cars on the siding with it appear to be in very good condition for vintage equipment! Enjoy your day Kevin.
Kevin my Family loves the channel.
Thank you very much. I am truly humbled. 😊
Kevin, you visited at the right time. Summer has way too many rattlesnakes. Buzztails love the tunnel. The LV originally was double tracked thru here and yes there was a small station building near the small bridge with all the debris. As trains got taller, they single tracked. I spent my teen year summers at Camp Lackawanna just a half mile beyond the opposite portal. Good video. Thank you
Good morning Chuck. Thank you for reaching out, and thank you for the rattlesnake info yikes! I read your channel description and think it's so neat you got to see Coxton yard in action. So much used to be going on there. The west Pittston area must have been something to see, with both the DL&W and LV bridges right there. I'm also intrigued by the abandoned bed that ran around the camp Lackawanna area. I would love to hear anything cool you want to share. Thank you and have a great day.
@kevinsalsbury2118 you are very welcome. I grew in WP during the 50s and 60s. Graduated Wyoming Area and off to see the world. 34 yes Border Patrol now long retired and living in Virginia. As kids we would wade over to Scovell Island below the Coxton bridge and fish. You could smell creosote on hit summer days from all the tracks. There was an old LV passenger car off the Vosburg road closer to the river that served as a summer home. Not sure if still there. Best to you and yours. Merry Christmas
You must look where you walk and listen. @@kevinsalsbury2118
All that debris is there from last year or so when we had those 5 inch rain storms. I live near by. Also the track was converted to single track to accommodate the yankee driers for Proctor and Gamble sometime in the 70's I believe. I saw somewhere that stream was referred to as Vosburg Run. It has a history of flooding the tracks and can turn into a monster now and then.
Excellent information Jack. Thank you very much. I've seen some footage of the flooding through there. It's gets crazy sometimes. I'll be back in the area when they run 2102 up there for the Founders day festival. I'd like to see the west portal of the tunnel.
Check out the old train tunnel near Shumans, PA.
Just looked it up. Definitely going on the list. Thanks for the suggestion!
Great video. Gotta love the tunnels.
Thank you very much. The stone work is remarkable. This one has flooded a couple times but continues to hold up. Have a great day.
Thank you for your video, love exploring areas where my legs wont take me anymore
Hello Kevin. It is my absolute pleasure to make these videos. I'm glad you enjoyed and I'm hoping you come along for some more exploration. Thanks for reaching out and have a great night.
@@kevinsalsbury2118 hi, you mentioned that you're taking a train is that the same one that comes out of Steamtown? I road that back in the 90s
@kevinkwiatkowski7197 The train I took that day was the Reading and Northern train out of Tunkhannock. It runs on the old Lehigh Valley railroad mainline.
You are lucky to have Reading and Northern nearby. They are a great company pro passenger. Con Job would have torn this track up. The issue will be , when Andy Muller wants to sell out. Like Pan Am just did to CSX . Then being nice will be over. @@kevinsalsbury2118
Kevin you make the coolest videos
I love them all!!!!!
Everything about this is soooo interesting!!!!!!
Wait till you see what's down stream!
The reason I don't think the little bridge was built by Conrail is that it is made from riveted steel. By the 1970s, riveted steel construction was replaced by welding and bolting. Based on historic photos, the bridge was rebuilt using the original girders and abutments when the double-tracked LV was rebuilt as a single-track line.
Fantastic!! I wasn't really sure. I appreciate the extra research.
I'm also trying to figure out if the original grade around the oxbow is Lehigh Valley built or Pennsylvania Canal tow path.
@@kevinsalsbury2118 - My first degree was civil engineering, so I knew that Conrail would not build a plate girder bridge with rivets. Not being a LV fan, I had to check if the Vosburg tunnel
was originally double track, although the shape indicates it was originally double track. The normal procedure would be to remove one track and install a curve or two to get the track into the center of the bore. It is possible that a storm like Agnes in 1972 destroyed the abutments, forcing the railroad crews to build new ones while salvaging the girders. If a storm did once destroy this bridge LV or CR spent as little money as possible to fix it.
@@kevinsalsbury2118 The upper Susquehanna was canalized? I'm a PRR fan and not as familiar with NE Penn.
I've been looking at some different pictures and it does appear to be the same deck throughout the photos. I would imagine Agnes did a number on this area.
It appears so. I've just found out about this myself. The signs at the state park refer to both the canal and the railroad being here. The Lehigh Valley railroad appears to have bought some of it but the government stepped in and said they were monopolizing so that came to an end.
Offer the owner 20 bucks he might let you walk around. Station was on the west end.
Not a bad idea. 🤔
I rode through the tunnel on a fan trip years ago. Could not go further. Con job owned it west of there they are a nasty impossible railroad to work with. So our train stopped there. And turned back. @@kevinsalsbury2118
Always be careful esp with what ya doing in this video. its active rail line. This is technically trespassing. Asa Packer is related to Robert Packer, of the Guthrie Packer Hospital in Sayre PA (LV town). My family on moms side worked for LV. When was the flooding? i dont rem the trees by the lil bridge when i was in the area late last yr. Theres a date stone on the tunnel, you show it.
Thank you. Would you believe I actually caught two engines coming through the tunnel. Talk about good timing. That is neat that your family worked for the LV. I'm not exactly sure about the most recent flooding but I'm pretty sure is was quite some time ago. Don't hold me to that though. I try my best not to trespass but you know..... Thank you for your concern and have a safe and wonderful day.
Conrail or NS would have you arrested. Crews are taught to report railfans. So take your pictures and get out. Or ride Amtrak or special trains. @@kevinsalsbury2118
All stuff the railroad had to pay to maintain and remove. Unlike government highways, and airports maintained by the government. The is the mainline to Buffalo and west. For the Maple Leaf, and Black Diamond Express. Loss of mail and express income was the final end. Of those trains and trains nationwide.
That's why track maintenance was so bad in the late 60s early 70s. Just no money to fix anything. I've seen the video of the Penn Central pretty much begging the government for help, but like you said the highways and airports were the wave of the future. All government money going to them.
Well they made it a wave with kick backs , pay offs and back room deals. Which still goes on. The billionaires that own the press control public views of trains. The advertisers are airlines, and vehicle companies , gasoline companies not Amtrak. @@kevinsalsbury2118