The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-01-23
OLD GRAVITY
CEASES TO EXIST
STEAM ROAD BET wEEN CAR
BoNDALE AND HoNEsDALE.
The Light Track Between Carbon
dale and Farview and the Heavy
Track Between waymart and Hon
esdale, with the Farview Plane as
a Connecting Link, Forms the
Route - Work of Widening the
Tracks Was Done Yesterday-A
Thousand Men Were Engaged.

Today, steam will supplant gravity
as the motive power on the Delaware
and Hudson road between Carbondala
and Honesdale, and, instead of "the
Gravity" that portion of the company's
lines will be known as the Honesdale
| branch of the Pennsylvania division.
The Gravity road ceased to exist Sat
urday, when the old picnic cars left
Carbondale for trip across the noun
tains, distributing a small army of
workmen all along the route to widen
the tracks and make the other improve
ments entailed by the change from a
| narrow -guage to standard track.
Work preliminary to the change has
been going on for several weeks. Cuts
have been widened, bridges strength
| ened, spikes and longer ties distributed
| and tool stations established at various
points all along the route. The work
set out for Saturday and yesterday
was the taking up of the rails and
moving them out an inch and a quar-
ter on each side, the narrow guage that
has been in use on the Gravity being
4 foot inches, or two and one-half
inches less than the standard width.
BEGAN YESTERDAY.
Nearly one thousand track hands.
picked up between Albany and Wilkes
Barre were engaged in the work. 1t
was commenced at seven o'clock yes
terday morning and completed on this
side of the mountain-before . o'clock
IN the afternoon. A given number of
men were assigned to each mile of
track and the work was carried out
systematically. Everything went like
clockwork and when the widening had
been finished there were several hours
of daylight anu fine weather remain
ing.
At Shepherd Crook, new ties and
heavy rails were put in and the track
was set to the extreme edge of the
roadbed, in order to make the curve
as easy as possible. In addition to the
heavy rails of the track, substantial
guard rails were extended around the
curve, making it next to impossible
for a train to get over the embankment.
Two hundred men were engaged at the
crook"
During the afternoon locomotive No.
46 make the trip to Farview to test
the new track. The run was without
incident.
Heavy timbers have been placed un-
der all the bridges and at No. . they
occupy the center of the old switches
below, indicating that there will be no
furthers use Tor the tracks they OBJ
Struct.
Several excursion cars of narrow
guage, in which the workmen were
transported, are at the top of the
mountain with nothing to come home
on, save the wIue guage track. By
opening the latChes on the planes they
might possibly be run to Carbondale
that way. However, the question of
their disposition is causing some spec
ulation.
Amateur photographers swarmed
along the line yesterday taking snap
shots of the operations. Some wag
posted the sign: Light track lovers
must now look both ways for cars"
OPERATING SYSTEM.
Under the operating system trains
will be run to and from Carbondale on
the light track, or, more familiarly
speaking, the track on which the re-
turn trip from Farview used to be
made. Between Waymart and Homes
dale the loaded track will be used both
ways, there being a long level with no
intervening planes From Farview to
Waymart, and from Waymart to Far
view, the present plane, with it's tracks
widened, will for the present be used
The ordinary sized locomotive will
draw the trains on the portion Of the
road between Waymart and Honesdale
Between Farview and Carbondale a
smaller locomotive must be used, be-
cause of the inability of the larger en-
gines to get around the famous "Shep-
herds Crook curve this side of Far
view. Specially built engines with
swinging trucks are to supplant the
smaller locomotives as soon as they can
be secured.
Eventually this single remaining plane
will be done away with. Surveyors are
already at work on a road around Far
view mountain. Its starting point is
near the Staples hotel, in Waymart
and proceeding southerly to the resi-
dence of Daniel Gray in Canaan, it
swings to the southwest to the Mum
son farm, thence to Swackhammer's
and then through the gap to the light
track, some distance below Farview
The route it is said, will be less than
five miles long and will have an easy
grade.
On Saturday, Engineers John Amer
man and William Hague took locomo-
tives Nos. 45 and so from Carbondale
to this city and thence over the Erie
and Wyoming and Erie to Honesdale.
to be ready to begin the running Of
trains on the other end of the line this
morning. Six passenger trains a day
each way will be run for the present.
The schedule is as follows;
TIMETABLE.
Trains will leave Union station Car
bondale Getty station one minute later),
for Honesdale, as follows: 7.13, 9.35 and
Ills a. M; LOG, 800 and COS p. m.
Arrive at Honesdale, S.41, 11.O3 a, M;
12.43, 2.34, 4.37 and 7.35 p. m.
Trains will leave Honesdale for Car
bondale as follows: 7.30, 9.51 and l1.12
a. M; 1.22, 1925 and $50 p. m.
Arrive at Union station Getty station
one minute earlier), Carbondale, S.51,
11.12 a. M; 1884, 2.44, 4.47 and 6.52 p. m.
The Main street station of the GRAY
ity is abandoned. Trains viii be made
up at the Union station and will make
a stop each way at the Seventh avenue
or city station.