Erie Railroad:Wyoming Division

On Easter Sunday April 8, 2007 we took a stroll down a section on the Erie Railroad's Wyoming Division in Scranton. This section was part of the original Pennsylvania Coal Company Gravity Railroad built about 1850. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the section in the photo, is the loaded track, between planes 5 & 6. One wonders how many Irish immigrants it took to chop through all the rock in this cut. By 1886, the PCC Gravity had been purchased by the Erie, and transformed into a conventional steam railroad. This became the Wyoming Division, and remained in use until 1982. Today giant weeds cover most of the trackage north from River Street in Scranton. The right-of-way is used mostly by ATV riders. The Dunmore Branch of the Lackawanna & Wyoming Railroad (Laurel Line) ran just west of here. Most of that line was obliterated by the construction of Interstate 81, although a few portions of the roadbed are still visible. One of these days we'll try and find whatever remains of the light track of the PCC Gravity road, which must be a little higher up on the mountainside.