Today we made the journey up to Scranton to ride the Carbondale excursion. I thought I would share some of my thoughts here with you nice folks. First the train pretty much ran on schedule, which is always a good thing. Next they had the steamer (2317) on the point, which is again a really good thing. The ride to Carbondale was a bit long but I expected that as I knew ahead of time that the old D&H was not up for higher speeds like on the old DL&W.

The trip is not a trip of great scenic views; most of the line is either overgrown or passing through old railroad/coal company wastelands. There are many places you can see that there were three, four, or more tracks and industries and now only one lowly track. This is sad in a way as it tells the story of industrial decline. I think the train staff could have done a better job explaining this to the public on the train. What we got was mostly the names of the towns we passed through and who each town was named after.

The people of Carbondale were outstanding; they did all kinds of stuff to make everyone welcome. As we rolled up they started playing patriotic music and had a big chicken barbeque and tons of stuff to do and see including a parade. They also had a very nice slide show presentation on the D&H and the gravity railroad they operated.

I know today was the big day for Carbondale but I would still recommend this excursion to others on the next two Saturdays.

Tom

Hello

This trip was different as well in that the engine was faced north, as compared to the last trip where the engine faced south. Again I was out of town so I missed it.

From what I hear the train was sold out or close to and the town of Carbondale put on a good show, as opposed to the stop at Olyphant last week where the most of the town leaders "forgot" the train was coming.

Dave Crosby

bing@epix.net