Duryea Yard

Duryea Yard^{[Nts 1]} (formerly Coxton Yard, sometimes Pittston Junction, or West Pittston Yard) is a railroad yard in the Wyoming Valley region of Northeastern Pennsylvania currently operated by the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad. Originally constructed in 1870 by Lehigh Valley Railroad as a turn-around and staging hub for coal transport from the Coal Region to Eastern big-city markets, the yard remains a hub for the energy extraction industry today (as of 2017^[update]).

History

Founding

While chartered in 1846, construction of

Beaver Meadows Railroad and extended to cross Delaware River just above Easton into Phillipsburg, New Jersey where it connected to the Morris Canal, the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) and two smaller railroads. This gave LVRR passenger traffic from Philadelphia and Trenton and points south, from New York City and rail connected New England communities, and freight traffic to and from all connected partners. Even before expanding northward to reach Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the LVRR had become the trunk line for shipping by rail in the entire Lehigh Valley

; shortly after purchasing Penn Haven and White Haven Railroad, LVRR completed its line to Wilkes-Barre in 1868.

At that time, all industrial activity was powered in some form by coal, and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area was a center of the coal mining industry. LVRR and its competitors expanded rapidly, and LVRR needed created Duryea Yard to handle the traffic.

20th century

Duryea Yard remained busy during the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th. Following

I-81 finally came to Scranton

and airline travel began to compete with railroads on the few products that needed to be shipped faster than by truck. By the start of the 21st century, Duryea Yard was mostly unused.

21st century

In late 2009 and early 2010,

fracking at Marcellus Shale drill sites throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania.^[1]

Geography

The yard lies in the borough of Duryea, a bedroom neighborhood of Pittston, itself a secondary community of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton so part of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton metropolitan area. Physically, the yard is located on the main branch of the Susquehanna River and in the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Lackawanna.

The main Wyoming Valley entrance is through a railyard wye to the mainline, running westbound on both sides of the Susquehanna and eastbound to Mountain Top. Historically, the wye was doubled and connected to a long staging (transfer) track^{[citation needed]}, but only parts of the doubling remain (see map at right). Continuing into the yard from the wye is to cross a bridge built for four tracks, although now only supporting three.^{[citation needed]} This lead historically contained several crossovers fanning out to various service tracks and buildings within the yard.

On the north side, the yard connects to the LVRR's northbound main to Sayre, Pennsylvania.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

^ Although 2017 RBM&N System Map names Duryea yard as such, in July 2013 a newly hung sign (See photo at right.) indicates RBM&N had renamed Duryea Yard as "Muller yard."

anthracite pig iron
and finished iron work, and later, steel.

^ Owned by the LC&N Co., as it did many of the mines in the southern Coal Region from Tresckow south to Tamaqua, and east along most of the Panther Creek Valley and Nesquehoning Creek valley.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Duryea Yard.

^ Mocarsky, Steve (March 26, 2010). "Old Duryea railroad yard taking on new life". Times Leader. Duryea. pp. 1A, 14A. Retrieved December 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

41°20′35″N 75°47′11″W / 41.34300°N 75.786433°W / 41.34300; -75.786433

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Duryea_Yard&oldid=1168059532"

[1] Although 2017 RBM&N System Map names Duryea yard as such, in July 2013 a newly hung sign (See photo at right.) indicates RBM&N had renamed Duryea Yard as "Muller yard."

[2] thracite pig iron
and finished iron work, and later, steel.

[3] Owned by the LC&N Co., as it did many of the mines in the southern Coal Region from Tresckow south to Tamaqua, and east along most of the Panther Creek Valley and Nesquehoning Creek valley.

[4] Mocarsky, Steve (March 26, 2010). "Old Duryea railroad yard taking on new life". Times Leader. Duryea. pp. 1A, 14A. Retrieved December 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

[Nts 1]

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