Local railroads,Nescopeck,Berwick and Bloomsburg

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Columbia and Luzerne County,Pennsylvanis
Surname/tag: railroads,ACF,shortlines,trolleys

• Looking into more information on the local shortline railroads that operated throughout Columbia and lower Luzerne county, Berwick, Bloomsburg, Nescopeck,Hazelton area. Over the years doing genealogy and area history research and having an interest in steam railroads,I've come across a considerable amount of information on local railroads and trolleys. There appears to be some connection to the ACF in Berwick,Pa in some cases,either moving their materials in or rolling stock out,providing transportation for workers and such but in some cases,like the Nescopeck freight yards,there were probably quite a few local people that found employment with the railroads,hopefully some of that can be documented here.Most shortline railroads had a pretty short lifespan some only lasted 20 years or so,sometimes they were bought out by bigger railroads and sometimes they were abandoned. Others like the Nescopeck were in business for quite a few years,the railroads that lasted the longest were usually hauling as much or more freight than people.

Contents 1 Nescopeck 2 Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley 3 Berwick & Bloomsburg 4 Lackawanna and Bloomsburg 5 Susquehanna,Bloomsburg and Berwick 6 Bloomsburg & Sullivan 7 Danville,Hazleton & Wilkes Barre 8 Wilkes Barre & Hazleton, aka, the Cannonball 9 Stations,freight,passenger 10 List of Pa RR Stations by county

Nescopeck

• I cropped this from an 1873 Luzerne Co map,it shows the route of the Nescopeck RR from Nescopeck to Rock Glen very clearly.

Nescopeck RR route.

• There's not a lot of info to be found about the Nescopeck Railroad,Nescopeck at one time had a very busy freight station that was part of the Pennsylvania RR. The Nescopeck RR was a 12 mile stretch that ran from Nescopeck to Rock Glen it pretty much followed the Black Creek the whole distance.That might not seem like much but let me explain, according to the book,History of the Pennsylvania RR it connected the branches of the Pennsylvania line that ran between Sunbury and Wilkes Barre with the line that ran from Catawissa to Hazelton. Previous to adding the Nescopeck line if someone or something wanted to travel from Wilkes Barre to Philadelphia they would have either had to travel all the way to Harrisburg and then to Philly or else traveled as far as Catawissa and then changed trains,that might not have been too bad for people but freight had no choice except to take the long way,the Nescopeck cut off a lot of distance and it also made it possible to ship coal from the Hazelton area to Wilkes Barre and for a while that was about the only way to get it there as the Hazlton area and south was where they first found coal.

• This is from the book,History of the Pennsylvania RR, " Connecting the two arms of the "Y," referred to above, is the Nescopeck Railroad, beginning at Nescopeck, 15 miles from Catawissa, on the line to Wilkesbarre, and running a distance of 12 miles to Rock Glen Junction, 19 miles from Catawissa, on the line to Hazleton and Pottsville. It is over this road that trains between Wilkesbarre and Pottsville pass."

• Also from the book,History of the Pennsylvania Railroad,"The Nescopeck Railroad was chartered June 3, 1886, and completed from Nescopeck to Rock Glen Junction in 1887. April 25, 1887, it was added to the Sunbury line."

Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley

• [Wikipedia]

Berwick & Bloomsburg

• As near as I can tell the Berwick and Bloomsburg was built by American Car and Foundry to move material between their plants in Bloomsburg and Berwick and to move railroad cars to the DL&W or the PRR line to send them to their destination. The only place I've seen mention of the Berwick and Bloomsburg is in ACF history,previous to them building this line the DL&W was switching cars for them but ACF got too big for the DL&W to handle the extra work that was involved,this would have made it much easier for ACF to work with too. I do have information on a trolley that ran for a while between Berwick and Bloom but I think it was a different company,I don't know whose track they used. The stations link below also lists a station at 9th and Mulberry St,I believe that building is still there and being used as placethat provides physical therapy. I believe that was a station where workers could get on and off of trains or possibly trolleys,there was a trolley running in Berwick and I believe I've seen where there was a trolley that went to Nescopeck.

Lackawanna and Bloomsburg

• The L&W probably was technically not a shortline railroad,it became part of the DL&W.

• Wikipedia

Susquehanna,Bloomsburg and Berwick

• This line started out as the Wilkes Barre & Western in 1886, the PRR took over the SBB in 1918

• Wikipedia

Bloomsburg & Sullivan

• Wikipedia

Danville,Hazleton & Wilkes Barre

• Wikipedia

Wilkes Barre & Hazleton, aka, the Cannonball

• Wikipedia
• The Wilkes Barre & Hazelton RR is technically an interurban that traveled 30 miles from downtown Hazleton to Hazle Park in West Hazleton,through the valley in Butler Twp past Evergreen Park and through St.Johns,over the mountain through Nescopeck Pass and then on to Lake Nuangola and Wright Twp then on to it's destination in Wilkes Barre. The cars were a single passenger car,much like a trolley,they ran on a 3rd rail that was powered by a substation in St Johns when outside of the towns,they ran on the street cars rails in the towns. There is a book about the WB&H available as a free PDF download here

Route of the Wilkes Barre & Hazelton RR

interurban car

Stations,freight,passenger

• list of local stations and the railroad it was associated with, some have pictures if the building is still there

• The Nescopeck station was a station on the PRR mainline that ran between Sunbury and Wilkes Barre.

Nescopeck Station

• Zenith Station was probably about midway between Nescopeck and Rock Glen.

Zenith Station on the Nescopeck RR.

List of Pa RR Stations by county

• [Railroad Stations]