Tell Me About the Lehigh Valley - Trains Magazine

A good portion of the former LV here in Pennsylvania and in NJ is either still in use - not all by NS, either - or accessible as a rail-trail.  Real quickly and generally, here's an overview:

- Main line across NJ still in use as NS' Lehigh Division, incl. the Pattenburg tunnel;

- Easton, PA bridge over the Delaware River still there (CRRNJ bridge used instead), as is most of the former passenger station (cast concrete), the spindly bridge over the Lehigh River for the Easton & Northern branch, and the car shops towards Glendon (not the turntable - it's gone now);

- Most of the Easton & Northern branch is being turned into a rail-trail;

- Main line in Penna. is still in use by NS from Easton to Allentown, and is accessible or visible from either parallel roads or overhead bridges.  The Richards yard between Easton and Allentown is gone, and the Calypso Yard between between Bethlehem and Allentown is essentially unused for many years.  The main is in great shape, though - see the many pictures of it along the former Bethlehem Steel complex;

- Allentown to Lehighton main is gone, but is gradually being turned into a rail-trail, esp. in Carbon County from Lehigh Gap / Palmerton.  A 2-mile section in Lehigh Co. from Slatington north to the Gap opened a year or two ago.  The large former shop or warehouse building in the Packerton Yard was torn down a year or two ago by Carbon County;

- Lehighton to White Haven - mostly still used by NS, though I'm not sure of all the details in the lower half of the Lehigh Gorge from Jim Thorpe/ Glen Onoko to Penn Haven Junction (Weatherly) - some may be on the CRRNJ R-O-W, and Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern may own or have rights on 1 of the tracks.  But for sure from Penn Haven Jct. to White Haven the LV is still being used.  Best part is that the Lehigh River Gorge State Park rail-trail allows you to either bike/ walk right on the LV R-O-W, right next to it, or just across the Lehigh River from it, and even boat (raft) along it, for about 26 miles in a basically undeveloped, unspoiled area with lots of scenic vistas, the "Oxbow Curve", a tunnel, several bridges, etc., etc.  Look it up on an Internet aerial photo application (e.g., Google Maps) and you'll see;

- White Haven through Wilkes-Barre / Scranton - don't know enough to say - if not on the LV, then on the CRRNJ.  Very complicated area - Coxton Yard long gone;

- Scranton to Mehoopany - still in use, but by RBM&N, mainly to serve the huge Procter & Gamble paper plant at Mehoopany.  Includes the Vosburg tunnel, and a lot of pretty secenery along the North Branch of the Susquehanna River;

Mehoopany to Towanda - not sure if still in service.  Track is there, though.  Several large factories at Towanda - former Masonite, U.S. Gypsum I believe,& others;

Towanda, NY state line to Buffalo, etc. - not sure; mostly gone, I believe.

Another source: a regional monthly RR magazine, RailPace.

Other traffic, besides that mentioned above: Cement, from the Lehigh Valley region's "Cement Belt" - LV maybe wasn't the biggest with this, as were CRRNJ and L&NE, but it got some; steel, from BSCo in Bethlehem, Lackawanna (Buffalo), and Scranton; lots of manufactured stuff from the Lehigh Valley towns mentioned above; lumber and related products from the lines in northern Penna., esp. the scenic branches out of the Scranton / Wilkes-Barre area - there's a cult following of the Bowman's Creek branch, among others.

Hope this is helpful, but it's really just a dip into it.  Get the books !

- Paul North.