Along the Delaware Valley Line

It's train time in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania circa 1915 on the Delaware Valley Railroad. The DVRR was organized in 1897, track was laid in 1901, and operated over twelve miles of track between East Stroudsburg and Bushkill in eastern Pennsylvania. The line interchanged with both the PRR and the DL&W and it's main business was to transport tourists to local resorts located along the route, although LCL freight, milk, and mail was carried as well. The DVRR operated a number of second hand locomotives in its history supplied by an arrangement with the DL&W and one was bought and then returned to the NYS&W. Research indicates that only a few boxcars were built for the line and that it owned several passenger cars. Riders destined for the resorts, however, could board cars originating from points on the PRR and that road's cars would be forwarded to the DVRR through the interchange tracks and then hauled along the route. PRR passengers would then never have to change trains or leave their cars until they reached a station. The DVRR saw its most activity in the '20s with service beginning to drop off in the early '30s. Eventually, the well-worn single steam locomotive, likely built by either Rogers or Baldwin in the late 1800s, was replaced with a Plymouth diesel for whatever freight hauling came along. The line finally stopped operating and the tracks were torn up in 1937. In this circa 1915 view, we see a mixed train made up of DVRR combine and boxcar coupled to passenger cars from the PRR. Because there wasn't a turntable or wye at the end of the line at Bushkill, No. 4 operated in a push-pull capacity. A rare look at a long-gone-and-forgotton railroad remembered only through a postcard.

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