Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad

Map showing the routes of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. Unknown source.

History

In its early years. much of the growth of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, generally known simply as “The Lackawanna”, was focused in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  The first of the Lackawanna’s predecessor railroads in New York was the the Cayuga and Susquehanna Railroad which was built between Owego and Ithaca in 1834.

In 1869 the Lackawanna took control of the Syracuse, Binghamton and New York Railroad and leased the Oswego and Syracuse Railroad. The following year the Lackawanna leased the Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley and the Greene Railroad. This gave the Lackawanna access to Lake Ontario at Oswego as well as cities of Syracuse, Utica, and Binghamton.

In 1880 the New York, Lackawanna and Western Railroad was incorporated to build a line from Binghamton to Buffalo.  The line was completed and the company was leased to the DL&W in 1882.

The DL&W merged with Erie Railroad in 1960 to form the Erie Lackawanna Railroad.

The actual corporate history of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad is more complex than covered above and includes a number of “paper railroads” that were chartered and raised money but who did not lay any track or operate any trains. I didn’t include them in this summary, though there is a discussion of them in the pages for the specific railroads. For those that are interested in the details, please see the Corporate History of the DL&W page.

1905 postcard of the “Lackawanna Limited” passenger train. Unknown source.

Lines and Stations

Clippings

System Timetables

Maps

Annual Reports

Learn More

Listed below are some other good sources of information about the railroad.