Construction of the Lackawanna Cut-Off
The construction of the Lackawanna Cut-Off was a mammoth engineering project that produced a 28.45-mile (45.79 km) railroad line west from Port Morris Junction — near the south end of Lake Hopatcong in New Jersey, about 45 miles (72.4 km) west-northwest of New York City — to Slateford Junction near the Delaware Water Gap in Pennsylvania.[2] Built by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) between 1908 and 1911, the Lackawanna Cut-Off is 11 mi (18 km) shorter than the Lackawanna Old Road, the rail line it replaced, with far fewer and more gradual curves, no steep hills, and no grade crossings. The construction of the roadbed itself required the movement of millions of tons of fill material using techniques similar to those on the Panama Canal.[3]
The total project cost $11,065,512 in 1911. The cost to build such a project today, assuming it could be built at all, is unknown.
The line achieved gentle grades and curvature for a route through the hills of northwestern New Jersey. For example, the steepest grade on the Cut-Off (0.55%, a change in elevation of about 27 ft/mile or 5.5 m/km) was about half that of the Old Road, meaning that far less horsepower would be needed to pull trains of the same size over the Cut-Off. The Cut-Off was built without railroad crossings to avoid collisions with automobiles, horse-drawn vehicles and pedestrians. And all curves on the Cut-Off, except one (just west of the Delaware River), allowed speeds of 70 mph (113 km/hr) or more.[4]
DL&W chief engineer Lincoln Bush oversaw the planning of the project,[5]while his successor, George G. Ray oversaw the building of the project.[6]
Cuts and fills
Some 5,000,000 lbs (2,262,443 kg) of dynamite was used to blast the cuts on the line. A total of 14,621,100 cubic yards (11,000,000 m3) of fill material was required for the project, more than could be obtained from the project's cuts. This forced the DL&W to purchase 760 acres (310 ha) of farmland for borrow pits.[7] Depending on the size of the fill, material was dumped from trains that backed out onto track on wooden trestles or suspended on cables between steel towers. During construction, several foreign governments sent representatives on inspection tours to study these new techniques.[1]
The Pequest Fill extended west of Andover to Huntsville, New Jersey. It was at its maximum height 110 feet (34 m) tall and was 3.12 miles (5.0 km) long, requiring 6,625,648 cubic yards (5,100,000 m3) of fill.[7] Armstrong Cut was 104 feet (32 m) deep and 1 mile (1,600 m) long, mostly through solid rock. The line's deepest cut was Waltz & Reece Cut at 114 feet (35 m) deep. Contractor David W. Flickwir worked around the clock in the summer of 1911 when construction fell behind.[1]
Structures
All structures on the new line were of reinforced concrete. The Cut-Off's reinforced concrete structures (73 in all), which consumed 266,885 cubic yards (200,000 m3) of concrete and 735 tons of steel, include underpasses, culverts, and two massive viaducts.[1]
Three stations were built in Greendell, Johnsonburg and Blairstown (Greendell was already served by the Lehigh & Hudson River Railroad in Tranquility).[1] interlocking towers were built at Port Morris Junction and Greendell, New Jersey, and Slateford Junction in Pennsylvania.
Contractors
Construction began on August 1, 1908, with the project being divided into seven sections, one for each contracting company. Sections 3-6 were 5 mi (8.0 km) each; sections 1, 2 and 7 were of varying lengths.
| Lackawanna Cut-Off Construction Contractors (1908-11) Section number: contractor, mileposts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Features | Length (ft) | Max. height or depth (ft) | Avg. height or depth (ft) | Concrete used (yds3) | Notes |
| Section 1: Timothy Burke, mileposts 45.7 to 48.2 | |||||
| Port Morris Junction Tower | -- | -- | -- | -- | Reinforced concrete |
| McMickle Cut | 5,500 | 54 | 29 | 600,000 | |
| Section 2: Waltz & Reece Construction Co., mileposts 48.2 to 50.2 | |||||
| Waltz & Reece Cut | 3,600 | 114 | 37 | 822,400 | |
| Bradbury Fill | 4,000 | 78 | 24 | 457,000 | |
| Lubber Run Fill | 2,100 | 98 | 64 | 720,000 | |
| Section 3: David W. Flickwir, mileposts 50.2 to 55.8 | |||||
| Wharton Fill | about 2,600 | -- | -- | -- | |
| Roseville Tunnel | 1,024 | -- | -- | 35,000 | Unstable rock made tunneling necessary instead of cut |
| Colby Cut | 2,800 | 110 | 45 | 462,342 | |
| Pequest Fill (eastern half) | 16,500 | 110 | 75 | 6,625,648 | Numbers are totals; Pequest Fill was divided equally between two contractors |
| Section 4: Walter H. Gahagan, mileposts 55.8 to 60.8 | |||||
| Pequest Fill (western half) | -- | -- | -- | -- | see above |
| Greendell Station / tower | -- | -- | -- | -- | Reinforced concrete |
| Section 5: Hyde-McFarlan Co.[8][9] miles 60.8 to 65.8 | |||||
| Johnsonburg Station / creamery | -- | -- | -- | -- | Reinforced concrete |
| Ramsey Fill | 2,800 | 80 | 21 | 805,481 | |
| Armstrong Cut | 4,700 | 104 | 52 | 852,000 | North side of cut collapsed and trimmed back in 1941 |
| Blairstown Station / freight house | -- | -- | -- | -- | Reinforced concrete |
| Jones Cut | -- | -- | -- | 578,000 | |
| Vail Fill | 1,700 | 102 | 33 | 293,500 | |
| Section 6: Reiter, Curtis & Hill, mileposts 65.8 to 70.8 | |||||
| Paulins Kill Viaduct | 1,100 | 115 | -- | 43,212 | |
| Section 7: Smith, McCormick Co., mileposts 70.8 to 74.3 | |||||
| Delaware River Viaduct | 1,452 | 65 | -- | -- | Reinforced concrete. Originally planned as a curved structure[10] |
| Slateford Junction Tower | -- | -- | -- | -- | Reinforced concrete |
Workers
Labor gangs either lived in abandoned barns that had been converted to barracks, or in tent camps. Supervisors and skilled laborers, on the other hand, stayed in local hotels, boarding houses or on farms. As many as 30 workers are thought to have died or been killed during construction.[11] Five were killed near Port Morris in a blasting mishap in 1910 alone; others were killed by machinery or cable car accidents and landslides. At least one died of typhoid fever.
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 5 The Lackawanna Railroad in Northwestern New Jersey, Larry Lowenthal, William Greenburg, Tri-State Railway Historical Society, 1980
- ↑ Taber & Taber 1980, pp. 34–39
- ↑ Lowenthal, Larry; William T. Greenberg Jr. (1987). The Lackawanna Railroad in Northwestern New Jersey. Tri-State Railway Historical Society, Inc. pp. 10–98, 101. ISBN 978-0-9607444-2-8.
- ↑ Taber, Thomas Townsend; Taber, Thomas Townsend III (1980). The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in the Twentieth Century 1, p. 36. Muncy, PA: Privately printed. ISBN 0-9603398-2-5.
- ↑ Lowenthal, Larry; William T. Greenberg Jr. (1987). The Lackawanna Railroad in Northwestern New Jersey. Tri-State Railway Historical Society, Inc. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-9607444-2-8
- ↑ Taber & Taber 1980, p. 42
- 1 2 Taber & Taber 1980, p. 36
- ↑ Later known as Hyde, McFarlan & Burke. In 1908, John Burke dissolved his partnership with his brother, who would build the Cut-Off's Section 1, and joined the New York firm.
- ↑ "Burke Brothers to Dissolve". Steam Shovel and Dredge. 12: 505. January 1908.
- ↑ September 1, 1906, Map of Delaware Valley Cut-Off, Commissioned by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad
- ↑ The Lackawanna Railroad in Northwest New Jersey, Larry Lowenthal and William T. Greenberg, Jr., Tri-State Railway Historical Society, 1980.
References
- Taber, Thomas Townsend; Taber, Thomas Townsend III (1980). The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in the Twentieth Century. 1. Muncy, PA: Privately printed. ISBN 0-9603398-2-5.