I’m thinking about heading to Scranton and Strasburg in the fall. Since the Tunkhannock viaduct is relatively close to Scranton, I thought I’d take a side trip up there to see and photograph it. Is there much of a chance of seeing any traffic up there?
Thanks in advance.
Railfan & Railroad ran a story just a few months ago on current operations in the Scranton area. It gave a general run-down of traffic and symbols. I’ll try to relay some of that info when I get home this evening, unless someone else posts it beforehand.
Tunkhannock Viaduct (officially called Nicholson Viaduct back in the day) is a fun piece of architecture to photograph from just about any angle, but be aware of one thing when trying to photograph a train on it. There are concrete sidewalls rising several feet above track level. As a result, when shooting up from anywhere fairly close to the bridge, you’ll only see the top half of the power and cars at best.
For a nice afternoon shot that helps alleviate this problem, drive a couple of blocks to the northwest side of Nicholson, where there’s a cemetery on the hillside which provides a couple of elevated vantage points. You still won’t be able to see the wheels or trucks, but it’ll show enough of the train to make a pleasing image. In morning light, drive under the bridge to its east side on Route 92, then south on Road 1031, and you’ll find nice views of the bridge with farm fields or Tunkhannock Creek in the foreground. Continue south on Route 1031 and follow the fork onto Spencer Hill Road, and you’ll eventually find a narrow spot where you stand just slightly off the road and get a wonderful, elevated, distant view down on the bridge looking northwest. You’ll want a slightly long lens. Works well for a morning southbound. Almost more impressive in the evening, when the low sun comes gleaming through against the underside of those concrete arches.
As long as you’re in the area, run north out of Nicholson on US11 (Lackawanna Trail) up past the Martin’s Creek Viaduct (Tunkahannock’s little brother). Stay on US11 to New Milford, then jump on I-81 to Great Bend and take PA 171 east to Susquehanna and Lanesboro for a look at Starucca Viaduct as well as the wonderful Susquehanna Depot. It’s about an extra 30 miles further. To return to Scranton, just follow PA 171 back to I-81 and head south (unless you want to explore).
There’s not a lot of traffic over the old Erie any more, so catching a train there will be iffy. I just think it’s neat that a 19th Century stone structure is still carrying traffic.
What I find amazing about the 19th Century stone bridges is that the vehicles they were constructed to support weigh only a very, very small fraction of the weight of the equipment that they are handling in the 21st Century.
Being a resident of the next town over (Hop Bottom, about 3-4 miles away), and having the same line going right next to my house, I can say there is 5-10 a day passing through.
When do you plan of coming down? If you come in on the 12th of September, you can join in on the fun of Bridge Days, which is the town’s way celebrating the bridge. I will be running a booth with the local model railroad club there, so if you come down on then, I’d be glad to point you to some good spots.
EDIT: Here’s a map of the area for you.
Hope this helps,
Nik
Walk under it, stop and look up. Notice that each arch is actually 2 separate and parallel arches, about 8 ft. apart.
Someplace I have a photo I took - in the late 1960’s, when we were all young, bold, and dumb, etc. - of one K. Wolfgang - who was a broad jumper in high school - in mid-air while doing exactly that there, from the crest of one arch to the other, some 240 ft. or so above the ground a looonnng ways below . . . [:O] Don’t try that yourself, please.
Nik’s observation of trains counts is pretty close to what R&R’s June 2010 article describes. I won’t repeat all the symbols and on-duty times here, but they basically list six daily trains over that route, plus six other trains which run only two or three days of the week. Only about half of these are shown as likely to run through the Scranton area during daylight, but your actual experience may vary.
Thanks very much to all. I really appreciate it. … and funny thing, I did happen to stumble upon a copy of the R&R issue about Scranton, this week. A railfan friend at work dropped it off with me and asked if I’d be interested. Heck yeah!