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map of the Pennsylvania , Reading and Lehigh Valley Railroads]] The Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad Company was a railroad built for the primary purpose of hauling Anthracite Coal . It was incorporated April 21 1846 in the U.S. State of 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. At the time, anthracite was transported by boat down the Lehigh River . The railroad was meant to be a faster means of transportation. HISTORY 1867: The LV subsidiary, the Pennsylvania & New York Railroad, reached Waverly, New York to interchange coal with the Erie Railroad , a Broad Gauge line. LV coal was then transferred to Erie trains at Waverly, and the coal continued to Buffalo, New York , via Lake Erie . 1870: The LV financed a third rail to be laid inside the Erie's broad gauge trackage so that LV coal trains could run all the way to Buffalo without being transferred to Erie cars at Waverly. 1870: the Southern Central reaches Waverly to interchange with the LV and Erie. This railroad would later become the LV's Auburn division, and was mainly used to transport coal to Lake Ontario ships at Fair Haven, New York . 1895: The LV completed its own mainline between Waverly and Buffalo, transfer to the Erie at Waverly was no longer needed. 1901: The huge erecting shops are completed at Sayre, Pennsylvania . Sayre becomes the heart of the LV. 1945: The first mainline diesels arrive, in the form of EMD FT locomotives. 1948: ALCO PA passenger diesels replace steam on all passenger runs. 1951: September 14 - Last day of steam on the LV as Mikado 432 drops her fire in Delano, Pennsylvania . By the 1890s , the Lehigh Valley Railroad stretched from New York Harbor to Tifft Terminal in Buffalo, passing through the Lehigh 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 21 , 1970 , the Penn Central declared bankruptcy and sought bankruptcy protection. As a result, the PC was relieved of its obligation to pay fees to various Northeastern railroads---the Lehigh Valley included---for the use of their railcars and other operations. Conversely, the other railroads' obligations to pay those fees to the Penn Central were not waived. This imbalance in payments would prove fatal to the financially frail Lehigh Valley, and it declared bankruptcy three days after the Penn Central, on June 24 1970 . 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. These locomotives were also used in freight service during and after the era of LVRR passenger service. A pair of ALCO FPA-2 car body diesel-electric locomotives was also purchased to augment the PAs when necessary. 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. The majority of passenger equipment is believed to have been scrapped some time after February 1961. PRESIDENTS OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY RAILROAD
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