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map of the Pennsylvania , Reading and Lehigh Valley Railroads]] The Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad Company was incorporated April 21 1846 in Pennsylvania . On January 7 1853 , the name was changed to '''Lehigh Valley Railroad'''. It was sometimes known as the '''Route of the Black Diamond''', named after the Anthracite it transported. The railroad was built for the primary purpose of hauling anthracite. At the time, anthracite was transported by boat down the Lehigh River . The railroad was meant to be a faster means of transportation. By the 1890s , the Lehigh Valley Railroad stretched from New York Harbor to Tifft Terminal in Buffalo, New York , passing through the Lehigh River valley in Pennsylvania, and the Finger Lakes region of New York state. In 1916 , land owned by the Lehigh Valley Railroad in New York Harbor was the site of the Black Tom Explosion . Coal traffic, however, declined steadily after the 1940s and, by 1962 , the Pennsylvania Railroad had acquired majority stock control of the railroad. On June 24 , 1970 , the Lehigh Valley Railroad declared bankruptcy, just three days following the bankruptcy of the Pennsylvania Railroad's successor, Penn Central . Penn Central's bankruptcy relieved the PC from paying fees to various Northeastern railroads, the Lehigh Valley included, for the use of their railcars and other operations. The non-payment of these fees was fatal to the Lehigh Valley's finances. The Lehigh Valley remained in operation during the 1970 bankruptcy, as was the common practice of the time. In 1972, the Lehigh Valley assumed the remaining Pennsylvania trackage of the Central Railroad Of New Jersey , a competing anthracite railroad which had entered bankruptcy as well. In 1976 , the assets of the bankrupt Lehigh Valley Railroad were acquired by Conrail . map]] PASSENGER OPERATIONS The LVRR operated several named trains in the post-World War II era. Among them:
The primary passenger motive power for the LVRR in the diesel era was the ALCO PA-1 car body diesel-electric locomotive, of which the LVRR had fourteen. Due to declining passenger patronage, the Lehigh Valley successfully petitioned the Interstate Commerce Commission to terminate all passenger service. This took effect on February 4, 1961. Budd Rail Diesel Car service would continue on a branch line for an additional four days. REFERENCES
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