In the previous discussions about the Pen Argyl shops of the LNE (and thier apparent doom), I should have posted these links:

Overall info and vintage pictures:
http://www.gingerb.com/pen_argyl_station.htm

Recent Aerial Shot:
http://www.gingerb.com/Pen%20Argyl%20En ... Aerial.jpg

The aerial shows it almost as it is today. The turntable was back-filled, but is being dug out.

Looking at the shops, roundhouse, ttable and facilities, it is easy to see why so many of us are bemaoning it's apparent fate. Not many other steam shops are this intact (and even though the big shop looks modern it isn't). The only missing key element today is the transfer table, which would have been to the left of the shop in the aerial.

Rob




rdavis@rypn.org

http://www.gingerb.com/Pen%20Argyl%20En ... ew%202.jpg

Image Link

rdavis@rypn.org

Perhaps the answer to the following question is obvious, but in case it is not, why is there no apparent interest in saving this site? That carshop would provide excellent protection for the many jewels that are currently outside.

God Bless,
Gerald W. Kopiasz

>
> http://www.gingerb.com/Pen%20Argyl%20En ... ew%202.jpg


hrrhs@aol.com

For one thing there is no longer a railroad line nearby. After the L&NE quit a short part of the line was taken over by the Erie Lackawanna. I don't believe it was transferred to Conrail and was torn up in the early 1980's. I would guess you would need to relay about 4 miles of track to reconnect it to live rail (the Bangor & Portland, now NS).

There seem to be several reasons that preservation of Pen Argyl hasn't been a rallying cry. I am not casting stones, as I haven't figured out how to do it, either.

1. As Tim said, it is disconnected from the national rail system. 4 miles ain't a lot, but it is a lot. Obviously, rail displays don't need interchange, but it is nice.

2. Anthracite road in-fighting. There hasn't been a load of cooperation among anthracite railroad groups. The Reading Tech has had the best run, and they have set the bar. The rest of the anthracite efforts have been peicemeal.

3. The 800-pound gorilla -- Steamtown is just an hour away.

Truth to tell, both Pen Argyl and Saucon (Reading Bethlehem) were more intact in the past two years than the Steamtown site was when the museum came to Scranton. That's not a knock on Scranton, just an observation on "completeness."

The sad future looks like of the artifacts at Pen Argyl and Saucon, only the turntable bridges will surivive.

It comes down to time, money and people. No one with a vision for Pen Argyl could get those three key ingredients together (myself included).

Now we watch the familiar scene of loss...

Rob

trains@robertjohndavis.com

I know this is heresy to Bob Yarger, and he can go ahead and give the contrary view, but, in my opnion--not every ralroad site is a candidate either for preservation of adaptive reuse. There will always be sites for which, no matter what their innate qualities, no feasable business plan can be devised. In that case, photograph, measure, document, survey, and then... Requiescat In Pace.

eledbetter@rypn.org

> I --not every ralroad site is
> a candidate either for preservation of
> adaptive reuse.

That was probably true 30 years ago, but now so much has been lost that ANYTHING that remains is worthy of some effort of preservation.

Think of the stuff thats been lost just since this website came to life. LaGrange, Lima, Carbondale, the roundhouses in Maryland and California and...



Superheater@rrmail.com

Erik is right. Not every site can be feasibly saved. Doing so requires a largely local effort, and locals are sometimes the least interested in such projects. Given a choice, however, I think it is preferable to save a "real" historic site than to try to create a phony one in a cornfield somewhere. Some sites have more potential than others. The derelict UP roundhouse at Hugo, Colorado, for instance, doesn't look like much now, but with effort and money could once again look like it did in steam days. This can happen because the needed elements still exist, or could be reconstructed relatively easily, and the site itself remains open, without modern encroachments. Fortunately, there is now a local group at Hugo working on the building and it is being stabilized. Someday when the building is done, they can lay track, install a turntable and water tank, reconstruct some of the simple frame outbuildings, begin collecting a few locomotives and cars that once ran there, and have a fine historic site. Thus the lonely prairie outpost will attract tourists and local businesses will benefit.

> I know this is heresy to Bob Yarger, and he
> can go ahead and give the contrary view,
> but, in my opnion--not every ralroad site is
> a candidate either for preservation of
> adaptive reuse. There will always be sites
> for which, no matter what their innate
> qualities, no feasable business plan can be
> devised. In that case, photograph, measure,
> document, survey, and then... Requiescat In
> Pace.


ryarger@rypn.org

Back in 2001, I was out aimlessly riding my motorcycle to places unknown, when I swore that I saw a roundhouse. I went to take a look and it was the Pen Arygl facilites. I plead ignorance that I didn't know anything about the L&NE or who had owned this facility, but I took some digital pictures anyways. After reading this post, I decided to put them on my web site.


L&NE facility at Pen Argyl in Nov, 2001

jrevans@accusort.com