The New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway, formed through mergers in 1882, was leased and then finally owned outright by the Erie Railroad in 1898 and lasted until 1940. The line extended from its terminal in Bridgewater, New Jersey, to Stroudsburg and Kingston, Pennsylvania. Steam locomotives were replaced by diesel power by 1945. In the early 1960s, the last of the eighteen original RS-1 diesel locomotives were replaced with all new Alco Century 420 freight units sporting a distinctive yellow and black paint scheme. Unfortunately, all passenger service ended in 1966. A single-track line ran by my childhood home in Hawthorne, New Jersey, where an RS-1 pulling a coach, a local freight with a caboose, or a single RDC-1 rail diesel car could be seen rumbling by. Later years brought along the new C420 diesel units, freight cars in tow, to become the new and familiar sight. I still recall those days along the Susquehanna well. For more information on the NYS&W, click Here.
This pre-zip code view show NYS&W RS-1 locomotives, built by the American Locomotive Co. (Alco), wearing the old maroon and silver paint scheme that was replaced with the all-silver scheme in 1946. The card may have been a newer printing that used an older photograph from the original paint scheme years.
This early World War Two ad from my collection was taken out of an edition of a publication for the railroad industry, "Railway Age" magazine. The ad describes how the Susquehanna can "handle quickly and at minimum cost the myriad supplies incidental to the war effort."
In this circa 1950s photochrome card, an Alco RS-1, in the maroon and silver garb, pulls a string of new stainless steel passenger cars during better days. Sadly, in the later years, the stainless steel cars had been sold off to raise needed capital; the RS-1s, in their shining, all-silver paint from long-ago were reduced to shabby, dirty, smokey affairs running with their hood doors open in order to ward off overheating problems. Again, this card may very well have been a newer printing using an older photograph.
The NYS&W also owned four all-passenger model RDC-1 rail diesel cars built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia in 1950. Each car was eighty-five feet long with corrugated stainless steel bodies. The diesel engine was mounted beneath the frame and motorman cabs were located at both ends. The RDC-1s replaced the roster of six American Car & Foundry Co. "MotoRailer" passenger units, with the earliest built in 1940. In this circa 1950s photochrome, a pair of the sleek units, dressed in maroon striping with yellow lettering, whisk past a suburban station on the line.
This pre-zip code view show NYS&W RS-1 locomotives, built by the American Locomotive Co. (Alco), wearing the old maroon and silver paint scheme that was replaced with the all-silver scheme in 1946. The card may have been a newer printing that used an older photograph from the original paint scheme years.
This early World War Two ad from my collection was taken out of an edition of a publication for the railroad industry, "Railway Age" magazine. The ad describes how the Susquehanna can "handle quickly and at minimum cost the myriad supplies incidental to the war effort."
In this circa 1950s photochrome card, an Alco RS-1, in the maroon and silver garb, pulls a string of new stainless steel passenger cars during better days. Sadly, in the later years, the stainless steel cars had been sold off to raise needed capital; the RS-1s, in their shining, all-silver paint from long-ago were reduced to shabby, dirty, smokey affairs running with their hood doors open in order to ward off overheating problems. Again, this card may very well have been a newer printing using an older photograph.
The NYS&W also owned four all-passenger model RDC-1 rail diesel cars built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia in 1950. Each car was eighty-five feet long with corrugated stainless steel bodies. The diesel engine was mounted beneath the frame and motorman cabs were located at both ends. The RDC-1s replaced the roster of six American Car & Foundry Co. "MotoRailer" passenger units, with the earliest built in 1940. In this circa 1950s photochrome, a pair of the sleek units, dressed in maroon striping with yellow lettering, whisk past a suburban station on the line.
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