Page 2. A
history and timeline. What are
these railroads about? The
history of these lines has always been somewhat
confusing, but hopefully I can help Since
1976, when the Lehigh Valley Railroad ceased to
exist, a small 25-mile segment of former
1. The
original "Tioga Transportation Museum" in
Flemingville. (with the
operating 0-4-0 switcher, 1970's and 80's)
A railroad history of the Owego area.. 1834 - The
Ithaca
&
Owego railroad opens between..Ithaca and
Owego! 1840 - The
first steam locomotive arrives in Owego, replacing
the horses on the Ithaca & Owego.
1849 - The
Second railroad to enter Owego arrives, the New York
& Erie Railroad, which built 1870 - A
third railroad arrived in Owego, building the
trackage currently operated by the 1878 - the Erie (current southern tier main) converts to standard gauge. 1881 - The
Delaware Lackawanna & Western mainline arrives,
building its mainline across the 1895 - The Southern Central is formally merged into the Lehigh Valley system.
Owego
railroads are now in the positions they would hold
for the first half
Erie
mainline running east-west through Owego.
The
Erie main and the DL&W main are both
double-track mainlines.
It
doesnt show clearly on the map, but all three
railroads interchange in Owego. 1956 - The
DL&W abandons the Ithaca branch. the bridge over
the Susquehanna is removed, 1960 - The
Erie and the DL&W merge to form Erie Lackawanna.
1960's and
1970's - the "Sayre turn" becomes famous as the
D&H and the LV operate a joint 1976 -
April 1. Conrail arrives. In Owego, former LV and EL
trackage is now all Conrail. 1976 -
Upon the formation of Conrail, the D&H is given
trackage rights over the This leaves only two railroad routes in Owego, both operated by Conrail in 1976. 1. The
former LV trackage from Owego north.
History of
the Owego Shortlines. 1971 -
Father and son team Gerry and Jim Mead buy the
Flemingville depot with the intention of
1971 -
Brooklyn Navy Yard #12, a 1918 Vulcan 0-4-0, arrives
at the Tioga Transportation 1971 - 1975 - the Meads and a team of dedicated volunteers fully restore the Flemingville depot. 1975 - The Tioga Transportation Museum opens for business in the Flemingville Depot. 1976 -
April 1 - Conrail. The LV running past the
Flemingville depot, and the EL in Owego,
1976 -
1980 - Conrail operates the line from Owego to
Moravia. 1979 - The
0-4-0 steamer at Flemingville is restored to
operating condition, and the museum 1980 -
Conrail sells the line (Owego - Harford Mills) to
Tioga County. 1980 -
D&H is named as the designated operator of the
branch by the TCIDA. 1983 - in
1983, the collection of the Flemingville museum is
listed as the 0-4-0 steamer, 1984 -
September 1. The first diesel arrives for the
excursion railroad at the Tioga Transportation
1984 -
September 15 - The Tioga Transportation museum in
Flemingville starts up the 1986 -
August 10, Three Alco RS1 locomotives arrive in
Owego, lettered TTM, but probably 1987 -
April 14, The Tioga Central Railroad begins Freight
service in Owego, now operating 1987 -
With the startup of freight service, the Tioga
Central moves its base of operations
1988 -
March, another Alco arrives in Owego for the TC,
former D&H bicentennial 1988 - RS1 No. 59, which operated with the Tioga Central only briefly, leaves Owego. 1988 - As
RS1 No. 59 leaves, another RS1 arrives. former NYSW
204 arrives in Owego, 1991- The steam 0-4-0 operates for the last time in Flemingville. 1992 -
Tioga Central in Owego is voted off the line by the
Tioga County IDA, who owns the line. 1992 - May
1, the Owego & Harford begins service, winning
the bid to operate the freight portion
The O&H begins service in May 1992 with leased Lackawanna Valley MLW RS18 1801. 1992 - The
Tioga Scenic is also formed, to operate the
excursion/tourist/passenger line out 1993 - The
first O&H locomotive arrives, GP9 number 151,
painted in a EL-like scheme. 1993 - The TC collection sits idle in Whitney Point. 1994 - May
- The second incarnation of the Tioga Central begins
excursion service in
Ironically, the name "Tioga
Central" fits very well for both the Owego and
Wellsboro locations! Because Owego is in
And,
since we are on the subject, the name "Tioga" is an
Indian name referring to the Tioga River, which is
now called 1994 - The
second "O&H family" shortline starts up, the
Luzerne & Susquehanna in Pittston PA.
1995 or
1996 - (still need to pinpoint the exact date) The
Tioga Scenic gets its own locomotive,
1997 -
Brooklyn Navy Yard #12, the 0-4-0 in Flemingville,
is donated to the 1997 - OHRY 151 is sold and leaves Owego, heading back home to Canada. 1998 - Two
MLW RS18u's arrive in Owego, 1811 and 1850.
1998 - O&H paints 1811 from CP red into the current O&H black scheme. 1999 -
Conrail ends its 23 year reign when it its sold and
split up between CSX and NS. 2000 -
April 1 - the 3rd "O&H family" shortline is
created, the Meridian
Southern Railway 2005 - The
Tioga Scenic in Owego runs its last excursion season
in 2005, then calls it quits, 2007 -
Over in Wellsboro, The Tioga Central
(passenger/excursion railroad) and the
2008 - The
Tioga Central in Wellsboro begins its first season
under its new ownership, 2008 -
Sadly, The OHRY's first locomotive, (the unit that
wore the "EL scheme"), the 151,
2008 -
October, the announcement that the Owego &
Harford is going to create a new line based
1. Owego
& Harford, 1992
2008 -
December, Susquehanna sells two of its locomotives,
GE U23B 2302 and 2304. 2009 -
January 5, the first "sneak peek" of a Lehigh
Railway locomotive hits
the
internet!
These
two U23B's are members of the last order of U-boats
built for North America! 2009 -
January 17 - The two Lehigh Railway units, 2302 and
2304, have been painted, and the first
2009 -
January 21 - the LRWY units arrive
in
Sayre! 2010 - LS
30 is renumbered to LS 600. 2010 - LS
1217 is repainted into the corporate black
scheme. 2010 -
December - LRWY 2302 is transferred to the Owego
& Harford, and is relettered as 2011 -
April - the Owego & Harford receives a new
unit! U23B 2211 arrives in Owego. 2012 - OHRY
1811 and Cayuga Rail Leasing 1850, both MLW
RS18u's, are sold to the LAL
2012 - The five Tioga Central Alcos are put up for
sale. 2014 -
August - it is announced that all five TIOC Alcos
were purchased by the
The LAL is
only able to use S2 No. 14, and RS3u No. 506. The
three RS1's are 2014 - August
& September - Tioga
Central Alco RS1's 47, 62 and 240 are scrapped in 2014 - The
30-year "Alco Era" of the Tioga Central, 1984 to
2014, has come to an end.
Today the LV and Erie stations still stand in Owego, but the DL&W station is gone. the LV
station is the station in the O&H yard, the one
used by the Tioga Central The Erie station still stands just east of route 96 (North ave), south side of the Erie main. and the DL&W
station is gone.The DL&W station was along
the DL&W mainline,
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So! to summarize: This
shortline story began with the Tioga Transportation
Museum in Flemingville The Tioga
Central in Owego and the Tioga Central in Wellsboro
were essentially the same The
Wellsboro & Corning used to be the Freight
operator of the Wellsboro to Corning line,
The Owego & Harford and the Tioga Scenic in Owego were the same system, common owner, but completely unrelated to the Tioga Central of Owego and Wellsboro. Tioga
Scenic in Owego stopped passenger excursion service
in Owego in 2005. The Owego & Harford started up in Owego in 1992, and also operated the Tioga Scenic excursion railroad until 2005. They then started a second operation, the Luzerne & Susquehanna in the Wilkes Barre, PA area in 1994 (engine house in Pittston) Then a
third "O&H family" shortline came about, the Meridian
Southern Railway And
finally, the fourth, and newest shortline in the
O&H family, the Lehigh Railway, Owego
& Harford (1992 -
present, Owego, NY) All the
railroads on this webpage are related to the O&H
(common ownership) The Tioga
Central and the O&H have never been related in
an ownership sense. I hope
this all clear! ;)
Much more
detail on each locomotive is available in their
individual sections Continue to Page 3,
The Tioga Central
Back to "Railroads of Owego" main page.
|
Scot Lawrence
Rochester, NY
Page started 2008.
Last updated March 20, 2017