In 1864, the LVRR began acquiring feeder railroads and merging them with its system. (1 cu. . ft.), PRR / VP of Special Services / Penn Central Merger Files, 1963-1965. In 1856, the "E. A. Packer" 4-4-0 was purchased from William Mason of Taunton, Massachusetts. And the County Tax Assessment Office would have current information as to ownership of each geographic parcel if that is in question. ft.), PRR / Secretary / Library /Publicity Photographs, ca 1830-1960. By 1931, the PRR controlled 51% of the LVRR stock. ft.), PRR / VP of Eastern Region / Press Copy Plan Book, 1899-1907. ft.), PRR / VP of Purchase / General Correspondence and Confidential Files of C.D. The 16 mile mountain cut-of, a rail segment of the line that extended from Fairview, Pennsylvania, to the outskirts of Pittston, Pennsylvania, was completed in November 1888. (.2 cu. ft.), PRR / VP of Real Estate / Minute Books of the Road Committee, 1847-1948. ft.), Susquehanna Coal Company / Leases, 1883-1939. During routine screening by Transportation Security Administration agents, Muffley's bag set off an alarm indicating it contained suspicious items, according to a criminal complaint. The line later expanded past Allentown to Lehigh Valley Terminal in Buffalo and past Easton to New York City, bringing the Lehigh Valley Railroad to these metropolitan areas. No comprehensive finding aid exists for these records. For 25 years the Lehigh Canal had enjoyed a monopoly on downstream transportation and was charging independent producers high fees. [1], On May 17, 1879, Asa Packer, the company's founder and leader, died at the age of 73. Hurricane Agnes in 1972 damaged the rundown Northeast railway network, which put the solvency of other railroads including the LVRR in danger; the somewhat more solvent Erie Lackawanna Railway (EL) was also damaged by Hurricane Agnes. (1 cu. In the years leading to 1973, the freight railroad system in the northeast of the U.S. was collapsing. Conrail maintained the line as a main line into the New York City area. The Lehigh Valley Railroad was another of the many Northeastern carriers built to move anthracite coal from eastern Pennsylvania. ft.), PRR / VP of Real Estate / Post Office Files, 1923-1933. Fowler's Panoramac Bird's Eye Maps, 1884-1905, recently added railroad maps that may not be included in the old topical sections (search for the word "rail" or "railroad"). Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway - Wikipedia ft.), Bell's Gap Railroad / Annual Reports, 1873-1889. This is currently the last time the line has been downsized. ft.), PRR / VP of Real Estate / General Correspondence Files and Coal Mine Reports, 1930-1938. ft.), PRR / Comptroller / Cash Books for the Trust Created for Purchase of Securities, 1878-1939. ft.), Ridgeway and Clearfield Railroad / Annual Reports to the Auditor General of Pennsylvania, 1895-1896. Free shipping for many products! Bridging Newark Bay proved difficult. ft.), PRR / V.P. The Easton and Amboy was used as a connection to the New York metropolitan area, with a terminus in Jersey City, New Jersey. ft.), Manor Real Estate and Trust Company / Minute Books, 1870-1954. ft.), PRR / Comptroller / General Correspondence Files, 1924-1964. The L&S had been chartered in 1837 by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (the Lehigh Canal company) to connect the upper end of the canal at Mauch Chunk to Wilkes-Barre. [13] With these acquisitions, the LVRR obtained the right to mine coal as well as transport it. A long segment west from Van Etten Junction to Buffalo was included in the Conrail takeover, but was mostly torn-up not long afterward. Across the river in Easton, Pennsylvania, the line interchanges with its Pennsylvania side branch line, the Portland Secondary, which extends from Easton to Portland, Pennsylvania, connecting to the Stroudsburg Secondary, which was originally part of the Lackawanna Old Road (or simply Old Road); the Stroudsburg Secondary goes under the Lackawanna Cut-Off and connects with the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad. ft.), Williamsport and Elmira Railroad / Annual Reports, 1856-1858. ft.), PRR / VP of Eastern Region / Locality Files, 1918-1936. The economic depression following 1893 was harsh, and by 1897 the LVRR was in dire need of support. File usage on other wikis. At Easton, the LVRR constructed a double-decked bridge across the Delaware River for connections to the CNJ and the Belvidere Delaware Railroad in Phillipsburg. Coal, steel, passengers, and various other freight could be carried via the Lehigh Valley Railroad to either the Great Lakes or . Since 1896 the LVRR had run an important and prestigious express train named the "Black Diamond" which carried passengers to the Finger Lakes and Buffalo. ft.), PRR / Secretary / Board Files: BFA Series, ca 1905-1960. Railroad Maps - Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (2 cu. [28] LVRR subsidiary, Lehigh Valley Railway began constructing the main line's northern part from Buffalo to Lancaster, New York, in 1883, a total distance of ten miles. ft.), West Lane Garage Company / Minute Book, 1934-1943. ft.), Lehigh Valley Railroad / List of Roadway Completion Reports (BV 586), 1919-1927. (.1 cu. 93-236, 87 Stat. Due to declining passenger patronage, the Lehigh Valley successfully petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission to terminate all passenger service. In total, today's railroads in Pennsylvania operate just over 5,000 route miles, which is well under half the state's all-time high of more than 11,500 miles. Conrail abandoned most of the route in New York State to Buffalo after 1976, considerably shortening the line. Conversely, the other railroads' obligations to pay those fees to the Penn Central were not waived. ft.), Manor Real Estate and Trust Company / Journals, 1903-1925. File usage on Commons. ft.), Baltimore and Potomac / Blueprint Book of Proposed Revision of Line and Grades in Washington, D.C., undated. [8] The purchasing of the North Branch Canal saw an opportunity for a near monopoly in the region north of the Wyoming Valley. Newly elected president Eben B. Thomas, formerly of the Erie, and his board of directors represented the combined interests of those railroads.[36]. ft.), PRR / VP of Operation / Chief of Motive Power / Miscellaneous Motive Power Blueprints and Related Materials, ca 1900-1968. (.3 cu. The two most popular reasons for wishing to consult railroad-related land records are property ownership investigations and historical research. ft.), Manor Real Estate and Trust Company / Journals, 1886-1929. (1.1 cu. (3.5 cu. In many cases the Rights of Way were not perpetual, but were granted for, say, 99 years. By 1869, the LVRR owned a continuous track through Pennsylvania from Easton to Waverly. East of the junction with the Reading Line in Allentown and in Bethlehem, the line serves as Norfolk Southern's main corridor in and out of the Port of New York and New Jersey, and the New York Metro Area at large, as Norfolk Southern doesn't currently use the eastern half of its Southern Tier Line, which follows the Delaware River from Port Jervis north to Binghamton, New York, and which is now (2022) operated by the Central New York Railroad. It also built a passenger terminal in Buffalo in 1915. (.05 cu. Another series relating to PRR real estate holdings, rights of way and agreements is the Valuable Papers File, [ca. (.1 cu. Right-of-way agreements might be attached to or referenced in the chain of title (i.e. On April 1, 1976, major portions of the assets of the bankrupt Lehigh Valley Railroad were acquired by Conrail. The railroad ended operations in 1976 and merged into Conrail along with several northeastern railroads that same year. The LVRR began construction of a series of railroads to connect the Easton and Amboy line (Easton and Amboy Railroad) to Jersey City. The Lehigh Valley Railroad (reporting mark LV) was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. (1 cu. (.10 cu. (.3 cu. Lehigh Valley Railroad Modeler - Anthracite Railroads Historical Society Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania Railroad Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh This 5-railroad network will remain essentially unchanged for the first half of the 20th Century. ft.), A publication by Thomas Townsend Taber (Thomas T. Taber III) entitled, PRR / Comptroller / Confidential Annual Reports of Affiliated Corporations, 1892-1959. The interstate highways helped the trucking industry offer door-to-door service, and the St. Lawrence Seaway allowed grain shipments to bypass the railways and go directly to overseas markets. The best place to find out the current status of a particular piece of land would be the Recorder of Deeds and/or Tax Mapping office in the relevant county's courthouse. This was the second step toward establishment of a direct route from Waverly to Buffalo, the first being the acquisition of the Geneva, Ithaca & Athens Railroad. ft.), PRR / Secretary / Annual Reports of Water Companies, 1914. During the early years, the line served as the body of the Lehigh Valley Railroad until the railroad either built, acquired, or merged other railroads into its system. These engineering drawings consist primarily of maps and structure drawings, although other subjects such as bridges, grade crossings and equipments are also documented. (.03 cu. (.25 cu. Please note: There also exists an unprocessed series of PRR/Penn Central maps entitled: Architectural Drawings and Maps, ca 1818-1970 (1883-1965). Prior to that time, the Temple Iron Company was a small concern that happened to have a broad charter allowing it to act as a holding company. This microfilm, such as it is, is our best and most comprehensive source of PRR maps at this time. Lehigh Line (Norfolk Southern) - Wikipedia (.5 cu. In addition, we now hold a physical volume entitled Real Estate Atlas of the Western Pennsylvania Railroad, Butler Division, [ca. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. ft.), PRR / VP of Operation / Chief of Motive Power / Condition of Frt. [1] In the 1870s the LVRR acquired other large tracts of land starting at 13,000 acres (53km2) in 1870,[9] with an additional of 5,800 acres (23km2) in 1872,[12] and turned its eye toward expansion across New Jersey all the way to the New York City area. (.21 cu. The building shutdown in 1961 and was demolished. [25] While the third rail on the Erie Railroad main line between Waverly and Buffalo gave the LVRR an unbroken connection to Buffalo, the road's management desired its own line into Buffalo. While the records are primarily legal documents rather than maps, information provided includes the effective date, purpose, names of interacting parties, terms, financial arrangements, and description of principle right or property conveyed. The line is still owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway and the line still runs from Port Reading Junction in Manville, New Jersey, to Penn Haven Junction in Lehigh Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania.[52]. 1850-1967] (157 cu. [26] The railroad had survived the economic depression of 1873 and was seeing its business recover. The Valuable Papers are arranged numerically by file number, and are indexed by 27 rolls of 16 mm microfilm (roll #s RRV 1073-1099) in a variety of ways: alphabetically by personal or corporate name of parties, alphabeticaly by name of geographical location, and numerically by file number. ft.), Germantown, Norristown, and Phoenixville Railroad / Minute Book, 1881-1886. ft.), PRR / VP of Real Estate & Taxation / Reports on Coal and Coal Mines, 1861-1864. (3 cu. ft.), PRR / VP of Special Services / Merger Testimony and Exhibits, 1962-1967. The State of New Jersey passed legislation that allowed the LVRR to consolidate its New Jersey railroads into one company; the Perth Amboy and Bound Brook and the Bound Brook and Easton were merged to form a new railroad company called the Easton and Amboy Railroad (or Easton & Amboy Railroad Company). The line is part of Norfolk Southern's Harrisburg Division and it is part of Norfolk Southern's Crescent Corridor, a railroad corridor. The Maple Leaf and the John Wilkes were the last operating long-distance trains, terminated that day. In 1972, the Lehigh Valley Railroad assumed the remaining Pennsylvania trackage of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, a competing anthracite railroad which had entered bankruptcy as well. (.16 cu. (35 cu. ft.), PRR / Secretary / Rules and Regulations, 1858-1925. [2][13] By 1893, the LVRR owned or controlled 53,000 acres (210km2) of coal lands. ft.), West Chester Railroad / Annual Reports to the Auditor General of Pennsylvania, 1895-1896. Lehigh Valley Railroad Station was a beautiful building that dated back to 1890. Some of the lines and branches covered in the series'twenty-four boxes include: For maps of the routes and land holdings of the Lehigh and New England Railroad, the series At Phillipsburg, New Jersey, the line interchanges with its New Jersey side branch line, the Washington Secondary and the Belvidere and Delaware River Railway which also passes over the Belvidere and Delaware River after that. The LVRR, wanting to capitalize on the tourist appeal of the cataract and to extend its anthracite coal business to the Midwestern United States, entered an agreement with the New York Central to use . of F. Thomson and A.J. [46] It managed to acquire more than 85% of all outstanding shares, and from that time the LVRR was little more than a division of the PRR. Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway | Train Rides in Jim Thorpe, PA Visit RBMNRR-passenger.com to see train trips originating from our other locations. ft.), Enola Realty Company / Property Sales Accounts, 1905-1914. In the following year, the LVRRa standard gauge railroadcompleted arrangements with the Erie Railroad, at that time having a six-foot gauge, for a third rail within the Erie mainline tracks to enable the LV equipment to run through to Elmira and later to Buffalo. The LVRR shareholders received shares of the now independent Lehigh Valley Coal Company, but the railroad no longer had management control of the production, contracts, and sales of its largest customer. On June 21, 1970, the Penn Central declared bankruptcy and sought bankruptcy protection. ft.), Wilcox Railroad Annual Reports to the Auditor General of Pennsylvania, 1895-1896. Lehigh Valley Railroad - American-Rails.com ft.), Suquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad - Ledger, 1902-1904. ft.), PRR / President / Subject Index to Presidential Corr. Lehigh Valley Railroad - Etsy ft.), Shamokin Valley and Pottsville Railroad / Acts of Assembly Relating to the Shamokin Valley and Pottsville Railroad, 1858. (152 cu. ft.), Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mt. VDOMDHTMLtml> Map of the Pennsylvania, Reading, and Lehigh Valley Railroads, and their connections. Parts. Maps of North America. This allowed the line's eastbound grade to be reduced and a shorter route for handling through traffic established. ft.), PRR / Secretary / Information Books, ca 1926-1954. ft.), Pittsburgh and Lake Erie / Railroad Annual Reports, 1967, 1969, 1972-1974, 1976-1977. {#31.18}, MG-416 Aero Service Corporation Photographs, MG-425 Ebasco Environmental Company Aerial Photographs, Baldwin Locomotive Works, Other Record Holders, PHMC Collections Management Policy Standards, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Access Policy, Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, Bangor & Portland Division, including Martins Creek Branch, Limestone Spur, Wind Gap Branch, Atlantic BranchandBangor Branch, Valuation orders and related records, 1914-1934. (.1 cu. Lehigh Valley Railroad Maps The maps on the following pages, based on the LVRR right-of-way as of September 24, 1936, were created by the ARHS: New Jersey Mainline - from Jutland to Jersey City M&H Area and Mainline - Mahanoy and Hazleton Division, as well as the mainline from Lizard Creek Jct. In 1870, the Lehigh Valley Railroad acquired trackage rights to Auburn, New York, on the Southern Central Railroad.[1]. The production of the entire Middle Coal Field came to the LVRR over feeders to the Beaver Meadow: the Quakake Railroad, the Catawissa, Williamsport and Erie Railroad, the Hazleton Railroad, the Lehigh Luzerne Railroad and other smaller lines. Through neglect, the Reading allowed the charter to lapse, and it was acquired by the Lehigh Valley, which immediately constructed the Schuylkill and Lehigh Valley Railroad. In 1883 the railroad acquired land in northeast Pennsylvania and formed a subsidiary called The Glen Summit Hotel and Land Company. San Jos to Merced - California High Speed Rail [39], Following the defeat of its plan, the D&H sold its stock to the Pennsylvania Railroad. ft.), Peoria and Eastern Railway / Annual Reports, 1928-1936, 1938-1961, 1963-1966, 1970-1973, 1976. In 1875, the holdings were consolidated into the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, which was wholly owned by the LVRR. Three months later the line branched out to the northwest past Allentown to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, on September 12, 1855. File history. The LVRR operated several named trains in the post-World War II era. (10 cu. [17] In 1871, the entire line from Phillipsburg to Wilkes-Barre was leased to the CNJ. Post Conrail ownership and secondary lines. DeRuyter Val Map - info needed by Cactus Jack - Tue Aug 25, 2015 2:08 pm. Although in 1870 the LVRR had invested in the 2-mile (3.2km) Buffalo Creek Railroad, which connected the Erie to the lakefront, and had constructed the Lehigh Docks on Buffalo Creek, it depended on the Erie Railroad for the connection from Waverly to Buffalo, New York.[9]. ft.), PRR / VP of Special Services / Merger Studies, 1950-1970. New Jersey railroad map - Wikimedia Commons Cassatt and James McCrea, ca 1899-1913. [1] ft.), Berkshire Land Company / Cash Book, 1945-1953. In the following years, the Pennsylvania quietly obtained more stock, both directly and through railroads it controlled, primarily the Wabash. (1 cu. Lehigh Valley Railroad Company records, 1870-1962. The Easton and Amboy's operations were labeled the "New Jersey Division" of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. ft.), Western Pennsylvania Railroad / Minute Books, 1860-1903. [3], Little occurred between 1847 and 1851, save some limited grading near Allentown, Pennsylvania. The land that Asa Packer had obtained in 1872 was situated on the southern side of the Morris Canal's South Basin, but the CNJ already had its own facilities adjacent to that property and disputed the LVRR's title, which partly overlapped land the CNJ had filled for its own terminal.[33]. [1], The LVRR's rolling stock was hired from the Central Railroad of New Jersey and a contract was made with the CNJ to run two passenger trains from Easton to Mauch Chunk connecting with the Philadelphia trains on the Belvidere Delaware Railroad. The Lehigh Line is a railroad line in central New Jersey, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania.It is owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway.The line runs west from the vicinity of the Port of New York and New Jersey via Conrail's Lehigh Line to the Susquehanna River valley at the south end of the Wyoming Valley Coal Region. ft.), PRR / VP of Real Estate / Contract Book of George B. Roberts, 1869-1884. James Madison Porter was the first President of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The Reading, now out of receivership, purchased the company and brought the other coal railroads into the partnership, with the Reading owning 30%, the LVRR 23%, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western 20%, CNJ 17%, Erie 6%, and New York, Susquehanna and Western 4 percent. ft.), Valley Real Estate Company / Cash Book, 1907-1922. A long series of antitrust investigations and lawsuits resulted, culminating in a 1911 Supreme Court decision that forced the LVRR to divest itself of the coal companies it had held since 1868.