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The Cut-off ran directly from a point on the and Manunka Chunk , there being but one very short tunnel on the new line which was practically no impediment to operation. This cut-off required exceptionally heavy cuts and fills totaling over 15,000,000 cubic yards (11.8 million cubic metres). Where it was found impossible to obtain enough material from the cuts at either end of these fills, great as they are, to build these monster embankments, the Lackawanna Railroad was obliged to purchase outright some 760 acres (308 Hectares ) of farm land for "borrow pits." The earth and gravel was scooped out to a depth of twenty feet and hauled up on the embankments, leaving in some places good-sized lakes where there was formerly level ground. The deepest cut is 130 feet (40m) deep; the largest is 100 feet (31m) deep and one mile (1,600m) long, mostly through the solid rock. The largest of these fills is the one across the Pequest Valley , extending westward from a point one mile east of Andover, New Jersey . It is 110 feet (34m) in height and over three miles (4.8km) long and is by far the largest fill in the world. There are seventy-three concrete bridges and culverts on the Cut-Off and two great concrete viaducts at the west end of the Cut-Off -- one, a magnificent structure across the Delaware upstream of the Delaware Water Gap which Interstate 80 passes under on the New Jersey side and the "Old Mainline" on the Pennsylvania side where it joins the cutoff on the banks of the Delaware and within view of the Gap. It is 1,450 feet (446m) in length with five arches of 150 feet (46m) span. The fact that the abutments of this bridge were excavated 61 feet (18.8m) below the surface of the ground to living rock carries with it a reassuring sense of its safety and stability. The concrete viaduct over Paulinskill , the largest of its kind in the world at time of completion, is 115 feet (35.4m) high and has a total length of 1,100 feet (307m). Concrete also served as the material out of which the stations and signal towers as well as the overhead highway crossings. There were no crossings of any character at grade on the cutoff. In the construction of the cut-Off, suspended aerial cableway was employed in making the fills. By the aid of cables and towers movable bridges capable of supporting dump cars were constructed and when the work was in progress, presented the astonishing spectacle of a locomotive and train of cars suspended from a cable at an elevation of 100 feet or more.At one time ten steam shovels were at work on one fill alone-resembling work on the Panama Canal. Five million pounds (2.29 Tonne s) of dynamite were consumed in rending apart the hills. During the process of construction, several foreign governments sent over their representatives on tours of inspection, for, from its inception, it stood as the most notable example of modern railway construction. The cutoff was the last mainline railroad built in New Jersey and was considered one of the most scenic railroads in New Jersey as it traveled through the New Jersey Highlands . The Lackawanna merged with the Erie Railroad in 1960, forming the Erie Lackawanna Railroad , before joining Conrail in 1976. Conrail saw no use for the Cutoff, preferring to use former Penn Central trackage and abandoned it in 1979 after Amtrak ran an inspection train over the line. The tracks were ripped up in the summer of 1984, 76 years almost to the day when ground was broken on the great cutoff. Two road crossings were created on the cutoff north of Port Morris in the 1980's and at Greendell station in the 1990's. A developer bought the cutoff afterwards from Conrail for about $1 million. The states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania purchased their respective portions of the cutoff in the 1990's for a total of $21 million. Today New Jersey Transit is conducting studies to restore passenger service between Scranton , the Poconos , East Stroudsburg , West New Jersey, and Hoboken / New York City . However this project has been delayed repeatedly due to money issues and lack of interest on the New Jersey side. It remains to be seen if Amtrak or a successor will plan to revive the '' Phoebe Snow '' or operate medium-haul trains from Binghamton, New York over a restored Cutoff. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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