DELAWARE AND HUDSON
This page will cover the area around Allentown, Pennsylvania. Although the traditional D & H went only as far south as Wilkes-Barre, in later years run through trains with the Lehigh Valley saw several D & H trains into and out of Allentown. After the creation of Conrail in 1976, the D & H was granted rights over several lengthly parts of the new Conrail system in order to provide a competitive railroad. The D & H was given rights from Wilkes-Barre to Allentown and then east to Newark, NJ. Also rights over the former Reading to Philadelphia and rights to Harrisburg via Sunbury, PA.
A brand new GP-39 and some former Reading and Lehigh Valley units move past the
eastbound hump yard retarders in Allentown yard. This yard was built by
the Jersey Central and in 1972 was transfered to the Lehigh Valley. Conrail took
over in April 1976 and in the early 1980's reconfigured the yard to suit their
operations. It remains today a very busy place under the ownership of
Norfolk Southern. Note that the new units has yet to receive the D & H
yellow shield decals.
In 1973, a C-628 arrives in Allentown.
This is a photo that may one of the rarest on my site. It was taken in
1972 during a shippers special tour promoting the new run through trains, NE-84
and NE-87. They ran from Portland, Maine to Potomac yard in Virginia with
the Boston & Maine, D & H, LV, Reading and Baltimore and Ohio all
cooperating to compete with the Penn Central. The special was operated
with the D & H passenger equipment that had been rendered surplus by the
termination of its trains under Amtrak in 1971. Because the run through
trains have to reverse direction at Allentown the two PA's were moved through
the yard by switchers. This was a purchased slide and the photographer is
unknown.
Viewed from the canal side of the yard leads, 613 arrives in Allentown yard.
Taken in May 1976, an upgraded RS-3 sits at the Bethlehem engine terminal.
These units did not last very long in regular service.
D & H units occupy the engine terminal. Apparently Conrail moved most
of their power to the west end of the Allentown yard early as there are no
Conrail road units present. 1977.
One of the RS-3m's, 507 and a Norfolk and Western C-425 on a set of power in
1977.
Let's go back just three years to the pre-Conrail era. D & H units became regular visitors to the Bethlehem terminal with the Lehigh Valley run through trains. The Lehigh Valley had taken over the former CNJ terminal in 1972 and the variety of power found here in the mid-1970's would rival that of a fully stocked HO scale hobby shop display. To visit the Reading page for Bethlehem, Click here. To visit the Lehigh Valley page, Click here.
U33C 706 in brand new paint sits under the old coaling tower in 1974. The
Reading unit is new also and would become a D & H unit in a few years.
706 wound up in Mexico before being scrapped.
759 and Reading SD-45 7600 in 1974.
756 on a drab, cold day typical of Pennsylvania winters.
For the Alco enthusiasts here, a few C-628 shots. These units were used on the NE-87 and NE-84 run through train until they began to cause damage to the track.
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Allentown was as far as the D & H went prior to Conrail. After April 1, 1976, the D & H took over operating the Lehigh Valley Apollo piggy back train between Newark, NJ and Buffalo, NY. Rights were also extended to Philadelphia to maintain a connection with the B & O.
To go to the "new" D & H lines, Click here.