Port Jervis to Narrowsburg on the Erie Railroad

Port Jervis

Erie RR bridge over the Neversink River.  This bridge is currently used by New Jersey Transit.

Erie RR bridge over the Delaware River.  This bridge is currently used by the New York, Susquehanna and Western RR.

Photos were taken circa 1910 of all Erie railroad depots.  These are the depots you would have traveled through after leaving Port Jervis going north along the Delaware River, ending up in Narrowsburg.  There were summer resorts throughout this area prior to WWI as New Yorkers escaped the yellow fever and cholera epidemics that infected the city.  These stations no longer exist.

Pond Eddy

Pond Eddy Side Hill Cut and Fill .

1870 suspension bridge at Pond Eddy.

Early Pond Eddy station.

Conrail train traveling through Pond Eddy in 1990.

Parker's Glen

Originally called Carr's Rock, the town was renamed Parker's Glen following a tragic Erie RR accident on April 17, 1868.  The community peaked at more than 1,000 residents around 1900 and was famous for its bluestone quarries.  Pike County bluestone was shipped around the world for use as building material, especially sidewalks.  The town was destroyed by Hurricane Diane in August 1955.  All that remains are graveyards, foundations, and some structures.

I drove a one-lane dirt road to the Parkers Glen railroad crossing in August 2020.  Everything in the area was built post-1955.  Nothing remains of the town.

Howard Ellsworth "Smoky Joe" Wood (October 25, 1889 – July 27, 1985) was a professional baseball player for 14 years. He played for the Boston Red Sox from 1908 to 1915, where he was primarily a pitcher, and for the Cleveland Indians from 1917 to 1922, where he was primarily an outfielder.  Wood's best season came in 1912, in which he won 34 games while losing only 5, had an ERA of 1.91 and struck out 258. Since 1900, pitchers have won 30 or more games only 21 times, with Wood's 34 wins being the sixth-highest total.  He also tied Walter Johnson's record for consecutive victories with 16.  Smoky Joe Wood is buried in the Wood Family Cemetery in Shohola Township near Parkers Glen, where his father was born.

 

Shohola

Shohola Glen Hotel, also known as Rohman's Inn, is a historic hotel located at Shohola Township, Pike County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1875, and is a 2 1/2-story, "L"-shaped, wood frame, banked building. It is seven bays wide, cross-gabled roof, and a full-width front porch. The building was updated in the 1940s, after a fire, at which time a bowling alley was added.   It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

Shohola Glen Hotel, 1950's

Shohola Glen Hotel fire, 1941

Shohola Glen Hotel, 1974

Shohola Glen

On July 15, 1864 a locomotive pulling 17 passenger and freight cars moved along the Erie Railroad in Southern New York State. Aboard were 833 Confederate prisoners of war and 128 Union guards. The guards were members of the 11th and 20th Regiments of the United States Veteran Reserve Corps under the command of Capt. Morris L. Church. Most of the guards rode in the last three cars, others stood atop and inside boxcars. The Confederates were the fourth group of prisoners to be sent from Point Lookout, Maryland to Elmira, New York.

Locomotive engine 171 moved along the tracks averaging 20 miles per hour. Engine 171 was classified as an "extra", indicating it ran behind a scheduled train. The scheduled train, West 23, displayed warning flags giving the right-of-way to Engine 171. However, Engine 171 was delayed leaving Jersey City to Elmira while the guards located several missing prisoners and waiting for a drawbridge. Engine 171 arrived at Port Jervis four hours behind schedule. 

The next leg of the trip ran along a single track. This run of the track contained sharp curves and ran along the Delaware River. Ahead at Lackawaxen was a junction with the Hawley Branch, a rail spur connection to Hawley and Honesdale Pennsylvania. At the junction station a telegraph operator, Douglas "Duff" Kent was on duty. Kent saw the West 23 pass by during the morning with flags warning of a special "extra" following. Kent was responsible for holding all eastbound traffic at Lackawaxen until the "extra" had gone through. At around 2:30 PM a coal train , Engine 237 with 50 cars stopped at Lackawaxen Junction. At the junction John Martin descended from his post and entered Lackawaxen Station and asked if the track was clear to Shohola. Kent answered that the track was indeed clear. Erie Engine 237 moved onto the mainline and headed east. At 2:45 PM Engine 171 passed Shohola heading west, only four miles of track remained between the two trains.

The trains met at "King and Fullers Cut". This section of track followed a blind curve where only 50 feet of visibility was possible. When the two trains met only Engineer Hoit had time to jump clear. When the two trains hit, the troop train's wood tender jolted forward and buckled upright, throwing its load of firewood into the engine cab killing Tuttle instantly. Ingram was pinned against the split boiler plate where he was scalded to death in the sight of all present. It was said that "With his last breath he warned away all who went near to try and aid him, declaring that there was danger of the boiler exploding and killing them."
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Shohola was also the debarcation point for those whose destination was Greeley, 7 miles distant.

Hotel Greeley

Geneva Lake House

Lackawaxen

Gregory's before it was known as such

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Lackawaxen was also the debarcation point for those whose destination was Westcolang Lake and Delaware River Park and the Westcolang Park House, 5 miles distant.

Mast Hope

Narrowsburg New York