GRAVITY CARS
100 YEARS LATER
Second Edition
by
Robert F. Stahr Jr.
Second Edition
Robert F. Stahr Jr.
Front Cover
picture:
Eclipse Car #9
(page 2) built in 1882. (D&H
collection)
The picture was
taken about 1899.
Rear Cover
Pictures:
Top Left: PCC Car
in Hawley (page 77)
Top Right: D&H
Car # 3 (page 41)
Bottom Left:
D&H Car “Diner” (page 36)
Bottom Right:
D&H Car # 13 (page 16)
This book is
dedicated to the people of the
Waymart Area
Historical Society (WAHS).
I also thank my friends Rod
Brown and Cal Jowers for the encouragement and help with the writing of this
book, and Paula Kiley-Placko for editing assistance.
Copyright 2001
Robert F Stahr, Jr.
All rights reserved
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Gravity Railroad Cars 1
Delaware & Hudson Canal
Company’s Cars 2
Eclipse #9 2
Comet #10 10
Car #13 16
Cottage 25
White House 30
Cottage & White House 35
Diner 36
Car #3 41
Combination Car 44
Open-Air Cars 46
Car # 39 47
Front porch 52
Green House 56
Brown House 59
Waymart Area Historical Society
([WAHS) 64
Open-Air Car #43 65
Open-Air Car #33 69
Car Frame 71
Boxcars & Coal Cars 72
Boxcar 73
Coal Car 74
Pennsylvania Coal Company
(PCC) 77
Hawley Library 77
Nay Aug Park 80
Back Yard Shed 81
Buildings and Structures 83
D&H Honesdale Office 84
Waymart Depot 86
Cemetery Depot 89
D&H Engine House Foundation # 15 90
Keens Lake Bridge 91
Steen Bridge Abutments 92
PCC Hawley Office 93
PCC Dunmore Office 95
Tunnel 97
PCC Engine House Foundation # 20 99
PCC Engine House Foundation # 10 100
Bricks 101
Parts 104
Replica Stourbridge Lion 123
Stourbridge Lion 126
Model of Stourbridge Lion 129
Agenoria 132
About the Author 134
Gravity Railroad Cars
In
this book, you will see what happened to some of the cars after the gravities
quit running.
·
The Delaware & Hudson Canal Company’s Gravity Rail Road, (D&H)
1829 – 1899, ran between Honesdale and Scranton, Pennsylvania. Some of the train cars were built in their
Carbondale shops.
·
The Pennsylvania Coal Company’s Gravity Rail Road, (PCC) 1850-1885, ran
between Hawley and Pittston, Pennsylvania.
·
The Shohola Glenn Gravity Switch Back Rail Road, 1885-1910, was
passenger service only. It ran from the
Erie Station at Shohola Pennsylvania to the Amusement Park, about one
mile.
When
the D & H Gravity stopped running in 1899, they burned 5,000 coal cars in
Carbondale. The boxcars and passenger
cars were sold to local people for use as chicken coops, cottages, sheds and
office space, etc..
John Booth, who owned the Booth Farm on Route 247
was hired to move the cars. He had a
large wagon and eight horses. Most of
the cars had the trucks and platforms scrapped when the cars were moved.
There were coal cars, flat cars and boxcars in the D
& H freight car line. In passenger
service, there were thirty-six Open-Air cars, combination cars, passenger cars,
flat cars with seats and railroad workman cars.
The Open-Air cars were built about 1877 when passenger service
started. All the Open-Air cars have had
siding put on each of them, when they were taken off the tracks to be closed
in. You can see this in the
pictures. The author has broken down the
passenger cars into two groups: first, those built before 1877, and then those
built after 1877. Two of the cars in
this book, car #3 and the combination car were built in about 1867. They had plain woodwork with no canvas
ceilings. These cars were shorter with
narrow windows. They do not have a date
when they were built, but they both have air vents along the top on the
sides. These vents have a patent date of
1867 on them.
The cars built after 1877 had wider windows, fancy
woodwork and hand painted canvas ceilings and the car name in the oval on the
outside. A painted plate on the inside
of each door states the month and year the car was built.
Delaware & Hudson Canal Company’s Cars
The Eclipse Car # 9, built in Dec. 1882, belongs to the Wayne County Historical Society in Honesdale Pennsylvania. This car is in their museum on Main St. It presently sits very close to the track it originally ran on. The Eclipse is identical to the Comet, car # 10. .
The car was used as
a contractor’s office until restored in 1925.
Overall length: 29
feet 3 inches
Oval Nameplate on
Eclipse Car #9
#9 on side of
Eclipse
Inside seating for
20 in Eclipse Car #9
Ceiling height: 6
feet 9 inches
Car #9, Name plate
on door
Painted canvas
ceiling on Eclipse Car #9
Inside moldings of
ash in Eclipse Car #9
Wheel Diameter: 24
inches
Journals: 2 and
one-eighth inches
Gauge; 51 inches
Comet
The Comet Car #10 was built in Dec. 1882 and was the
gentleman’s smoking car. The trucks were
on the ground behind the car until scrapped in World War II. It had been used as an art studio for many
years. The name COMET was written in the
oval. The name is probably under the
paint. The car was put here in
1899. It sits very close to the track it
originally ran on. It is identical to
the Eclipse car # 9.
Car #10
Car #10
# 10 on inside of door
Car #10, what is
left of canvas ceiling?
Inside Car #10
Car #10, Name -plate on door
Car #13
Car #13, built in Feb. 1887 is in excellent
condition. It still has two seats. The vinyl siding covers the peeling paint and
the other windows. It has been on this
lake since 1899. It is identical to one
of the cars built in the home shown after this car.
Car #13
Door to Car 13
Ceiling Car # 13
Car # 13, Name plate on door
Woodwork under the windows
in car # 13
Check out the woodwork in
car # 13
Inside Car # 13
Inside Car # 13
One of the two seats in car
# 13
A nice cottage on a lake? These two cars are set side-by-side. The car in the front is missing the ceiling and one wall. The two ends were sheet rocked. I do not know the car number or the year it was built. Let’s go inside the other car. It was built in February 1887. It is missing half the ceiling and half of one wall. This car is identical to car # 13.
Cottage made with
two railroad Cars.
The picture is of
the back and left side of the cottage.
The electric meter
is on the end of the rear car.
Inside car – now used as a
bedroom.
The glass
in the windows and door
were
replaced with plywood.
The door,
which no longer opens, is behind
the electric
meter in the previous picture.
Name plate on Door 
This cottage has a full
basement.
Let’s look at one of the car
frames from below.
Looking up at bottom of the
car from the basement.
The Cottage Floor Plan
White House
You would not know it, but the following picture shows two cars set side by side. They are a home. The car in the rear was sheet rocked and the canvas ceiling was painted white. I do not know the car # or year it was built. Let’s go inside the other car. It was built in November 1889.
Two railroad cars
made into a home
Name plate on Door
Canvas Ceiling in
closet
Check out the
woodwork!
At one time the canvas
ceiling was painted white.
The paint was removed.
This explains the faded
ceiling.
The glass that was in the
door was replaced with plywood.
The White House
Floor Plan
This picture was taken in 1948. There are four cars here. The car on the left and the one behind it are the Cottage. The car on the right and the one behind it were moved to another location and are now the White House.
1948
Diner
This car is one of the last cars to be built. Notice the corners of the roof slope
down. It has two rooms inside. The room with six windows had the fancy
woodwork. The other room had two large
removable windows, one on each side. The
large windows are the size of two regular windows. This room was a summer time room with no
fancy woodwork. In the 1950’s, it was
moved to its present location and used as a Diner. Notice the “Lunch” sign in the window. It is now part of a home.
This Car still has the platforms and metal straps
that run across the bottom of the car.
This room in this Car is
presently used as an Office.
Do you like the woodwork?
This picture shows the top
half of the door
and the ceiling that was
painted white.
good
The bottom half of the same
door.
Inside the summer
room.
This picture was taken from the platform looking through the end door into the summer room. The doorway and windows that you see are the wall between the two rooms. Through this door is the room with the fancy woodwork.
Car #3 was built in 1867 and is one of the early cars. It is in fair condition and belongs to the author. It is sitting on a hay wagon running gear. This car is identical to the combination car in the next set of pictures.
Car #3 sitting on a
hay wagon running gear
Inside Car # 3 - under the
interior paint is cherry wood
.
Vent with 1867 patent date
This
Combination Car is one of the earliest cars.
It was built in about 1867. It
was a Bunkhouse for workers on this farm.
It was put on the farm in 1899.
This car is identical to car # 3.
Combination Car
Inside the
combination car
Open-Air Cars
Picture of 36 Open-Air Cars taken in the late
1890’s. (G. M. Best Collection)
The D&H had 36 of these Open-Air Cars, which
were used in the summer. Passengers
entered the cars from the side and sat on benches, which ran across the
car. There was some kind of white
curtain, which could cover the opening to keep out rain. Some of the cars are about 27 Ft. long with
eight openings and eight bench seats.
Note the first car in the picture of 36 cars. The other cars are about 30 Ft. long. They have nine openings with nine bench
seats. Note the second car in the
picture of 36 cars. The window at each
end is removable to let more air in the car in hot weather. The Open-Air cars were built about 1877 when
passenger service started. All the
Open-Air cars have had siding put on each of them, when they were taken off the
tracks to be closed in. You can see this
in the pictures.
Car # 39
Open-Air car # 39 is in fair condition. It is used as a hunting cabin. It is a longer car having nine openings instead of the normal eight.
Car # 39
South Side and East End.
Two of the posts were
removed and a picture window installed.
CAR # 39
North Side and West end.
Inside car # 39
A homemade door for the side
opening is hanging
Open in front of a part of
the end window.
The writing on the inside
ends of open-air car #39 says:
WARNING: PASSENGERS
ARE NOTIFIED
TO KEEP THEIR SEATS WHILE THE CARS ARE MOVING,
NOT TO ALLOW THEIR HANDS OR ARMS TO PROJECT BEYOND THE
SIDES OF THE CARS,
NOT TO STAND OR SIT ON THE CAR ENDS OR PLATFORMS.
SMOKING
NOT ALLOWED EXCEPT ON THE TWO REAR SEATS
Writing on inside end of car
# 39 (left half)
Writing on inside end of car
# 39 (right half)
This Open-Air car has been on this lake since 1899. Until recently, when it was moved about 100 feet, it had been the front porch to this lake front cottage. The lake is a little to the left and just beyond the woods.
East End
Notice the shed
roof added over car roof
Open-Air Car
North Side
Open-Air Car
South Side and East
End
Inside Car
Green House
I call it “Green House. “ This house, which is painted green on the outside, was built from two Open-Air cars. One car which is the kitchen, has a drop ceiling and the walls are sheet rock behind the kitchen cabinets. The other car, which you can see in the pictures, is a bedroom and bathroom. The walls are sheet rock.
Bedroom
Bathroom
The Green House Floor Plan
Brown House
The Brown House was made from three Open-Air cars. One nine-opening and two eight
-opening cars. The walls are all sheet
rock. The cars are set up in an “H”
shape.
Inside one of the bedrooms
Frame of right hand car.
(Front right corner)
The
car is sitting on concrete filled Sonoco tube.
Notice the metal plate on top of and to the right of the concrete
tube? It is the pivot point where the
car once sat on the truck.
Frame of right hand car. (About
center of the car)
The bolts were cut off and the metal straps that ran
across the bottom of the cars from left to right were removed and scrapped in
about 1899 when the cars came off the tracks.
The Brown House Floor Plan
WAHS
Waymart
Area Historical Society (WAHS) owns this Open-Air car, which is beyond
repair. It had been a cottage on a
lake. There was another Open-Air car
near this one. It had burned.
One end of a
railroad car once used as a cottage
Open-Air Car #43
Open-Air car #43 belongs to the Waymart Area Historical Society. They are rebuilding it and plan to use it in parades. It is a longer car having nine openings instead of the normal eight. It had been used as a chicken coop for many years.
Car # 43 when it was a chicken coop.
Car #43 when it was
a chicken coop
# 43 on end of car
Moving Car # 43 on a hay
wagon running gear
Open-Air Car #33
It
had been used as a chicken coop for over 80 years. Open-Air car #33 belongs to the Carbondale
Historical Society. It is beyond repair.
Car #33 when it was
a chicken coop
Author, Robert F Stahr JR, Moving car # 33 for the
Carbondale Historical Society on a Hay wagon running gear in Oct. 1988.
All that is left of this Open-Air car is the frame. The chicken coop burned.
Frame of Open-Air
Car
Boxcars and Coal Cars
D&H collection
Picture taken after
1885
The D&H Coal Cars and the PCC Coal Cars were
basically identical. Notice that the
first car has a wood bar across the center to support the sides. The rest of
these cars have a cable across them. I was not able to confirm this, but I
think that the first car is a former PCC car. The Pennsylvania Coal Company’s
Gravity Rail Road, (PCC) ran from 1850 – 1885.
When it stopped operations, the coal Cars were sold to the D & H.
The following two pictures will show a Boxcar and a Coal Car.
The old boxcar belongs to the author.
The roof is on the
floor. It is beyond repair.
Boxcar beyond
repair
It is about 6 Ft
wide and 22-Ft long box plus a 2-Ft brake man platform.
The replica coal car is at
the Wayne County Visitors Center in Honesdale, PA.
It sets almost at the foot
of plain # 13
Replica
coal car
.
This Replica coal car was built in the 1990s by a local high
school. The car was built to actual size
with the exception of the 16 inch mine car wheels. The origanl D&H and PCC coal cars had 26
inch wheels. These cars carried five ton
of coal.
<__________________ 12 Ft - 8 in.___________________ >
Side View
<______________ 4Ft - 2 In________________ >
End View
PCC
The Pennsylvania Coal Company’s Gravity Rail Road, (PCC) ran from 1850 – 1885. When it stopped operations, the coal Cars were sold to the D & H and four passenger cars were sold to Shoal Glenn Gravity Switchback. The Shola Glenn Gravity Switchback ran until 1910. Three of These four cars exist today.
Hawley Library
This PCC Car belongs to the
Hawley Library, Hawley Pa.
It presently sits very close to the track it originally ran on.
PCC Car
Inside PCC Car
Truck
Gauge; 51 inches
This PCC Car belongs to the
museum at Nay Aug Park in Scranton, PA.
It presently sits very close to the track it originally ran on.
PCC Car
Back Yard Shed
This PCC Car had been
used as a construction company office trailer.
It presently sits very close to the track it originally ran on. It is now a back yard shed.
PCC Car
PCC
Car
Delaware
& Hudson Canal Company Office
Delaware &
Hudson Canal Company’s office on Main Street in
Honesdale
Now
the Wayne County Historical Society
Delaware &
Hudson Canal Company’s office
1884
D&H collection
Sign in
front of the Wayne County Historical Society on Main Street in Honesdale. Formerly the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company’s office.
Waymart
Depot
Gravity
Rail Road Depot on South Street in Waymart
The Waymart Area
Historical Society is restoring the depot
and it will be a
museum.
Sign
in front of the Gravity Rail Road Depot in Waymart
Waymart Area
Historical Society collection
Cemetery
Depot
The
author has not been able to confirm this, but belives that this is a D&H
Gravity Depot. It is in the D&H
Cemetery on Cemetery Street in Carbondale.
D&H
#15
D&H #15 Engine House Foundation near Prompton.
The D&H loaded track crossed over this bridge at Keens Lake.
Bridge
Abutments
The
D&H light track crossed over a wagon
road
on this bridge on # 16 Level at Steen.
The village of Steen got the name from plain Sixteen.
The PCC first office was built at
the canal basin in Hawley in about 1850.
The canal basin is now a park.
Picture of the right side.
Front
of the PCC ofice in Hawley.
Hawley
was named after Irad Hawley, The first president of the PCC.
The Front of the PCC second office
in Dunmore, PA. It is now a nursing
home. If you go to the nursing home on
Mill Street today, you will think, “What an ugly building.” That is becacue you are looking at the back
of the building. Plain # 6 ran in front
of this building and Mill Street ran behind it.
See
the PCC sign on the front of the building in Dunmore? It is now the back of the nursing home.
Tunnel
The
East end of the PCC Tunnel Today.
The
first train ran through in 1850.
The
last train ran through in 1885.
The
author walked through the tunnel.
The
west portal of the 755 FT. PCC Tunnel
PCC
# 20
PCC
# 20 Brick Engine House Foundation.
PCC
# 10
PCC
# 10 Engine House Foundation.
Bricks
In
1829 there were no brick factories in the U.S.A.
These
bricks were made in Stourbridge, England
1829
D & H Stationary Steam Engine Fire Brick
from
Engine House on top of plain # 5 in Carbondale
1829
D & H Stationary Steam Engine Fire Brick from
Engine
House on top of plain # 1 in Carbondale
Close
up of brick from engine house # 1
Parts
(All parts belong to the author unless
otherwise noted.)
Strap
Rail
Strap
Rail was used before there was T Rail
Stationary
Steam Engine Grate from D & H
Engine
House on top of plain # 2
Brake
Shoe
Brake Shoe was pulled up between
two wheels
Strap rail switch
Close up picture of the
strap rail switch
Top, brake shoe
Three pulleys
The cable, or in early years
chains, used to pull
the cars up the plains rode
on these pulleys.
Center pulley used for
cable.
Right pulley used for chain.
Top shelf, three Pulleys,
one with bracket
Bottom shelf, two bricks,
and two T rail chairs
The shorter rail chairs were
used at the head and foot of
each plain where the T rail
bent up or down
Top left: brake shoe
Top right: T rail chair for
a switch
Center: coupler hook from
end of car
Bottom: two pieces of strap
rail
Rail Chair
T Rail
Spike
The spike goes through the
rail chair and through the notch in the rail
Bumper from Coal Car
(Property of Wayne County
Historical Society)
Chain
(Property of Wayne County
Historical Society)
Journal Box from Coal Car
Cast-iron Bushing
This bushing was in the
journal box. The axle rode on it.
The coal cars had cast-iron
bushings.
The passenger cars had brass
bushings.
20 in diameter Coal Car
Wheel
(Property of Wayne County
Historical Society)
This wheel is broken.
It is missing one spoke and part of the rim.
It was a rolled wheel.
The missing spoke was right next to the lower right
spoke.
The rim ends did not connect.
Here
is a rough drawing of this wheel. The yellow indicates the missing
spoke and rim.
In
1829 when the D&H ordered the Stourbridge Lion, they ordered three other
locomotives. This is the piston and
cylinder from one of them. This picture
was taken at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC.
The replica belongs to the Wayne County Historical Society in Honesdale Pennsylvania. It is in their museum on Main Street.
Lion on the front of
the Stourbridge Lion
The
replica of the Stourbridge Lion was built by shop men at the D&H Colonie
shops in 1933 and placed on this flatcar to go to the Century of Progress
Exposition at Chicago.
(D&H Collection)
Replica of the Stourbridge
Lion
Stourbridge Lion
The remains of the original Stourbridge Lion are in the B&O Museum, Baltimore, Maryland. The British company of Foster & Rastrick built the Stourbridge Lion in 1829. It was the first steam engine locomotive to run on rails in the United States on August 8, 1829 at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, by Horatio Allen, Chief Engineer for the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company. It got its name because it was built in the town of Stourbridge, England, and it has a picture of a Lion on the front of its boiler.
Length 12 Ft – 10.5 in. (not
including the tender)
Weight 7 Tons
Cylinders Two 8.5 x 36 In
Wheels 4 Ft – 1 in
Axle
Load 8,624 lbs.
Adhesive
Weight 15,680 lbs. (not including the
tender)
Gauge 4 Ft – 3 in
Cost $3,000.00
All that remains of the
original Stourbridge Lion
All that remains of the
original Stourbridge Lion
Foster & Rastrick,
a British company in Stourbridge, England built two identical steam engines in
1829: the Stourbridge Lion for the D & H C Co., and its sister engine,
Agenoria, for the Earl of Dudley’s Shutt End Colliery Railway in Kingswinford,
Staffordshire, England. Agenoria is
pictured here in England’s National Railway Museum. Liverpool and Manchester cars are in the
background.
This building, in
Stourbridge, England, is where the Stourbridge Lion, the Agenoria and two other
D&H Coal Company steam engines were built.
About the Author
As a resident of North East Pennsylvania, Bob Stahr
became very interested in the various gravity railroads in the area. Because of this interest he has walked the
entire length of the Delaware & Hudson Gravity Railroad (D&H), and a
good portion of the others, e.g. Pennsylvania Coal Company Gravity Railroad
(PCC) and the Shohola Glen Gravity Switchback Railroad, just to name a few.
This book is the result of Stahr’s search for the
gravity, what became of it and the cars that ran on it. During this time, he acquired three cars of
his own: Car#3, (page 41), a Boxcar, (page 73), and Open-Air Car #43, (page
65), the last of which has been donated to the Waymart Area Historical
Society. Collecting Gravity Railroad
paraphernalia didn't stop at the cars; in fact, it began with strap rail (which
the cars rode on), T-rail, fire bricks, and car parts from coal cars that were
burned.
Bob Stahr now resides in western North Carolina with his wife Emily, and son Robbie.