Railpace Newsmagazine Staff/photos as noted
September 24, 2020, was truly a momentous day for Genesee Valley Transportation and its subsidiary, the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad. A ribbon cutting ceremony officially opened the new $2.6 million Von Storch Locomotive Shop in the Green Ridge section of Scranton, Pa. Work will continue to add additional trackage, lighting and security fencing.
This new facility is a public-private partnership with the Pennsylvania Northeast Railroad Authority, 100 percent funded by Genesee Valley Transportation, with assistance through a Pennsylvania Infrastructure Bank Loan. The 200-foot long building includes two diesel servicing tracks, a 20-ton overhead crane, and an 83-foot long inspection pit, offering three times the capacity of the former DL shop in South Scranton. Since the D-L took over rail operations in 1996, traffic has surged 500%, outgrowing the 1988 South Scranton shop building. That facility will now be utilized for housing and repair of maintenance-of-way equipment. The new shop is sited near the footprint of the former Delaware & Hudson Green Ridge roundhouse, built in the 1880s. The new Von Storch shop will also perform major overhauls to 17 locomotives used on Genesee Valley Transportation’s railroads in New York State.
Former Lehigh Valley Railroad C420 405 and former Erie Lackawanna Business Car 2 were the first pieces of equipment to enter the new Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad Von Storch Locomotive Shops in Scranton, Pa., on September 24, 2020. This aerial view also shows the new 20-ton McDal overhead crane, which will greatly enhance locomotive component installation and removal. Marc Glucksman–River Rail Photo
The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad has been steadily restoring the former Delaware & Hudson Green Ridge yard, and a $900,000 USDOT Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI) grant awarded during September 2020 will enable additional tracks and switches to be installed.
The CRISI grant will also enable construction of a new connection track at the Hyde Park wye (west of Bridge 60) to allow a direct move from Taylor Yard to the Diamond Branch, which will enable Green Ridge Yard to serve as the central freight classification hub for the D-L. Presently, trains from the NS connection at Taylor must make a saw-by move at Bridge 60 from the south leg of the Hyde Park wye to the north leg, in order to access the Diamond Branch, which connects to the north-south Carbondale Line. Both the railroad and the Rail Authority will contribute $300,000 toward the enhancement grant, PNRRA President Larry Malski said…
An aerial view shows the new Von Storch Locomotive Shops in the Green Ridge section of Scranton, PA, on the morning of Thursday, September 24, 2020. The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad will provide heavy maintenance of Genesee Valley Transportation Company locomotives here. Marc Glucksman–River Rail Photo
Read the rest of this story in the November 2020 issue of Railpace Newsmagazine. Subscribe today!