Lackawanna Cut-Off - Part 27: Countdown of Top 27 Sites on the Cut-Off

[@bp4170]

Thanks Chuck! Your knowledge of the Cut-Off is impressive to say the least. I've been told by some old timers that they used to deliver cans of milk to the creamery at the Paulinskill Viaduct. Altho I was very young when Trooper Lamonaco was shot and killed, I will never forget the sense of alarm and urgency I felt seeing the Trooper Cadets searching through the snow with their hands along Route 80 in the area leading up to Hainsburg River Road, seeing the divers in the Pauinskill at Station Road and hearing the stories my parents traded with the neighbors about their barns or houses being searched. Thank you for paying homage to Trooper Lamonaco.

[@LackawannaCutOff]

I'm actually thinking about doing a full video on Trooper Lamonaco. The news accounts at the time have the state police tracking Williams and Manning from Station Road, although I haven't been able to figure out their exact escape route to the TA, which is where the scent dogs led them to. Why would they have been diving into the Paulinskill? Were they looking for a gun?

[@bp4170]

@@LackawannaCutOff I remember my father saying they were looking for a gun. I don't know for sure but I might wager that they took the Cut-Off to the TA

[@LackawannaCutOff]

@@bp4170, I originally thought that as well, given where they ditched the car. But newspaper accounts at the time said that they were looking for a car to steal and that they "wandered the woods and fields" before the scent was lost at the TA. That doesn't sound like they took the Cut-Off, even though it would have been the most direct route. Maybe they didn't know where it went, or because of the snow it was too slippery to climb on the viaduct.

[@johnaltamura3474]

I really enjoy your videos. I live in the Midwest now but grew up in NYC. I really hope this project gets green lighted soon. I have family in Upstate NY. It’s a shame that they discontinued passenger service to Scranton, the Southern Tier and beyond. Would like to see that link replaced someday. Keep up the good videos.

[@skerbs7755]

Thank you for another excellent video! Being originally from Sussex County, NJ I enjoy learning more about the Cut Off. Thank you for the video. Looking forward to another soon!

[@johnkranick1287]

Chuck comes through again! Thanks for all your videos!

[@bobwhite3450]

Awesome! Great pictures of yesteryear as always 👍

[@alanthefisher]

Great to see another video!

[@donmoore7785]

This video is a lot of fun, as it adds context and summarizes much of the body of your work covering the cut-off. Very nice job!

[@anthonywalsh2164]

I find this so fascinating, yet I’m in Brisbane! I hope to visit and ride a train on the cutoff to Scranton, PA. Thanks Chuck for sharing the passion!

[@bruceraykiewicz6274]

As a person that grew up 500 feet from the Erie's River street station(totally gone) in Paterson's Riverside section, and went to St. John's high school, south of down town Paterson, and just a short way from the Lackawanna Paterson station(also gone), I admire your tenacity in working to get even a section of the (cut - off) back in operation. BTW, in a certain class room in St. John';s high, I could see commuter trains heading North (RR west), after leaving the Lackawanna Plaza depot in Paterson, on the Boonton Line. Thank you for all of your efforts.

[@Skeeterguy24]

Thanks for the great video and summary.

[@RussellNelson]

5:22 #27 Blairstown water tower 7:33 #26 L&HR tunnel 10:26 #25 Johnsonburg Station site 13:48 #24 Sussex County Road grade crossing 14:40 #23 Byram Cliffs 17:41 #22 Armstrong Cut 24:06 #21 L&NE Tunnel Field 27:28 #20 Sussex Branch tunnel 29:37 #19 Andover Station 30:39 #18 Greendell Station 34:40 #17 culvert under Lubber Run Fill 37:09 #16 Hudson Farm 39:25 #15 Wolf Lake 41:10 #14 Colby Cut 42:55 #13 Port Morris (UN) Tower 46:35 #12 Simpson Road, NYS&W railbed 52:22 #11 Roseville Road Overpass 53:40 #10 Port Morris Wye 56:45 #9 Sussex CR 605 bridges 58:06 #8 Warren County CR 521 bridges 1:01:42 #7 Slateford Junction 1:03:52 #6 Blairstown Station 1:06:34 #5 Roseville Tunnel 1:09:03 #4 Pequest Fill 1:12:55 #3 Old Road Undercrossing 1:15:26 #2 Paulinskill Viaduct 1:22:06 #1 Delaware River Viaduct

[@RScesium]

Wow. Just discovered this channel. Quite a scholarly presentation. Top-drawer stuff!

[@dougow3061]

another great video

[@1940limited]

Another great video. I alwasy enjoy Chuck's cut-off vids.

[@Erie-Lackawanna_Railfan]

Great video! Very informative and interesting.

[@garthmcgibbon4285]

Do you have your survival stuff Chuck? You know how to fire start etc?

[@84GordonShumway]

Great Job Guys!!!

[@Altepeter]

Novice here geographically speaking, but assuming one can see the Delaware Water Gap from the Cut-Off ,it would my get my vote for picturesquesness.

[@HoboJoeGarage]

The guys at the county I work with refer to them as “The Twins.” I do remember the old road that was there...I was a real young kid back then.

[@e5m956]

Crazy how overgrown the Johnsonburg train station area is today - it used to be fairly clear in the mid 90s. Me and a friend used to hide two cans of gas in the station because our dirt bikes couldn't make it from Columbia to Hopatcong and back on one tank and we would drop our gas cans off there in advance and hide them under an old dirty blanket so that we could fuel up lol. This was around 1996. I went many years without a dirt bike and fast forward to 2009 I had got a new bike and rode through the cut-off and the station was now completely gone! It was one of my favorite stops on the trail. What happened to the station? I think I remember in high school that it was a party spot....I can just imagine somebody probably set it on fire? Also crazy how overgrown the Greendell tower is now...I remember mid 90s multiple trails on each side of it now you can barely get through one.... Born in 1977 and living on rt46 in the area I guess I was alive when the tracks where ripped up and if I had caught a glimpse of the train on the rt 80 viaduct, even during tearing up the tracks, I would of been too young to remember. I hope to say I lived during the time it was ripped up to the time it was redone and to finally ride the cut-off on a train instead of a dirt bike lol. But is it ever going to happen?

[@LackawannaCutOff]

We're working on it.

[@1940limited]

I rode the Lackawanna and Erie Lackawanna through the 50s and 60s, with many trips over the cutoff. Even then only Blairstown was still operating. Some of the passing sidings were still in place but rusty.

[@larryjohnson6385]

Great show Thanks Chuck 🙏

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Very welcome

[@erie910]

These are great, Chuck. Even though I'm an Erie guy (Main Line through downtown Passaic, Greenwood Lake Branch before Montclair Connection, NJ&NY RR ), I hope that this project is finished. If AMTRAK decides to run from Scranton, won't trains have to go to Hoboken because of no more capacity into NY Penn Station? Unless some trains revert to Hoboken?

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Check out Part 35 where we discuss this very point.

[@garthmcgibbon4285]

Chuck it doesn’t appear to be available through you tube but a copy can be purchased on eBay. Let me know if you have success!

[@garthmcgibbon4285]

Chuck have you seen the railroad movie “Westbound Limited”. You’ll love it!

[@LackawannaCutOff]

I have not. What year?

[@michaela.chmieloski3196]

After the long, hard effort of filming the twenty-seven top locations on the Cut-off, I would chose for number 28 the nearest tavern--to both the right-of-way and, more importantly, me. Good job, Chuck and Larissa Walsh; though some may debate the choices and/or their order, it's all subjective and I won't argue in the least with your list.

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Michael, funny you should mention that because before the pandemic we actually contemplated doing a video on eateries and taverns near the Cut-Off. We may do that yet.

[@michaela.chmieloski3196]

@@LackawannaCutOff That video would certainly provide a unique perspective on the Cut-off. I'm curious if there are any pubs or eateries with Lackawanna/Cut-off themes, or at least a token acknowledgement to the railroad's existence. Such might prove to be a favorite hangout for former employees (firsthand information/stories) and railfans. It took a few minutes of watching this presentation for the lightbulb inside my head to go on (I can be a tad slow at times.) Did you change your channel's name and profile picture with the video's posting? Was looking in the lower-right corner and thinking, "What the heck is this LCO?" Then the power kicked in and it was like wow, when did this happen? Just curious.

[@LackawannaCutOff]

@@michaela.chmieloski3196, I'm still learning KZbin's features and one feature allows you to add a "slide" that gets added to all your videos, which I did earlier this month. As far as the "theme" restaurants along the Cut-Off, I haven't been in every one, so I can't say for sure, but I haven't seen any LCO memorabilia in any of the ones I have visited.

[@1940limited]

@@michaela.chmieloski3196 The Cinder Inn still operates right next to the tracks on Stokes Ave. in Stroudsburg. That's not exactly the cutoff, but it's on the Lackawanna.

[@michaela.chmieloski3196]

@@1940limited Took a look at the inn and its website information on Google Maps. I see the Lackawanna homage in the signage hung on the building and, more importantly, what looks like some tasty seafood in the photographs provided by Google. I'll keep establishment in mind next time I find myself in the Stroudsburg area; thanks for the heads-up.

[@garthmcgibbon4285]

Ok Chuck. It is a 1937 movie. There is also a movie that is silent from 1923 I just discovered on you tube. I’ll try to get the link to the 1937 movie. I have a large collection of the earlier sound railroad movies.

[@ernestpassaro9663]

You are doing a great job keep it up

[@AWSmith1955]

This one snuck up on me , With two more episodes for me to view yet, i viewed this at 2x speed.

[@Ken_in_Wisconsin]

Why aren't NJT's feet being held to the fire with regard to the Andover project? Something smells bad here.

[@waltantonik1418]

very knowledgable man chuck now let him find and photo the remains of the hobo jungle along the cut,, does anyone else other than i know where it is,, found it dirt biking after the rails lifted, and after researching the topic in 40s and 50 rail mags rail-road magazines

[@LackawannaCutOff]

I only know about the hobo village at Waterloo, NJ.

[@dudehuh5491]

i know 26 well usta be part of my buddies farm all that crap dumped there is from the stacker drink factory in the old cheese factory on whitehall rd

[@davidkurzdorfer6402]

Would have been so much cheaper if greedy Conrail would have left the tracks in place would have been. So much cheaper to upgrade it for amtrak

[@LackawannaCutOff]

Not really. Conrail would have been just as difficult to work with as NS and CSX are right now. Putting the 133 miles of NYC-Scranton trackage into public hands was the best thing that could have happened.

[@ernestpassaro9663]

Conrail never grew anything all they ever did was abandon track !

[@cmphighpower]

NJ will never finish the cut off

[@LackawannaCutOff]

NJ may never, but that doesn't mean that somebody else won't.

[@1940limited]

It's disappointing how long it's taking just to get to Andover. That project should be a beehive of activity. Instead concrete ties and lengths of rail lay dormant. Why 3 sections of track were put down, as mentioned in this video, but not connected, also seems odd.

[@LackawannaCutOff]

@@1940limited, long story, but basically the "breaks" are due to future a grade crossing to be built and then an area of wetlands that needs the old drainage ditches cleared out.

[@1940limited]

@@back2the80s I think it should go to at least Blairstown.

[@1940limited]

@@back2the80s Scranton? Binghamton? I've often wondered if EL could have held out a little longer maybe the Lake Cities could have been turned over to Amtrak which would have preserved everything we're trying to rebuild now.