The Sunbury and Lewistown Railroad Today

During my senior year at Susquehanna University, I took a photography course. To fulfill part of my requirements for the course, I was able to take a day and follow the action along the tracks of the former Sunbury and Lewistown Railroad (S&L). To my surprise, the duties of the train were almost identical to those of the trains operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) that plied the same path in the mid-1950's. The only major differences were the equipment (diesel-electric as opposed to steam locomotives) and the fact that the tracks now end abruptly at Kreamer, PA.

The date was December 1, 1998 and the sun was shining brightly. The rare December warm weather provided an excellent day to "chase" a train. The motive power on the point of the train was a pair of GP38-2's, 8057 and 8059. Also on the train was a bay window caboose, a necessity during part of the trip to Kreamer.

The train headed south from Northumberland, PA, site of a once major PRR yard, until it veered across the Susquehanna River at Selinsgrove Junction. After crossing the river, the train diverged from the original Sunbury and Lewistown main line to deliver a long string of hoppers filled with coal for the electric generating plant at Shamokin Dam. After dropping off the loaded hoppers, the train picked up a similar string of empty hoppers and headed back south to the S&L main line. There it left the empty hoppers for pick up later and continued west on the main line with a cut of covered hoppers and the caboose.

The train crossed Penn's Creek and wove its way through Selinsgrove. It passed the old Selinsgrove station and cut through the campus of Susquehanna University. Near Clifford, PA, the train paused to switch the K & L grain elevator.

The locomotives then pushed the train west to the end of tracks with the caboose in the lead. The tracks stop abruptly in front of the Kreamer Feed Mill at the east side of the former US 522 grade crossing, which was eliminated when tracks were abandoned west of Kreamer.

Upon reaching the Kreamer Feed Mill, the caboose was set aside and switching of the mill proceeded. Since my visit in 1998, the unloading facilities have been rebuilt to allow 4 hoppers to unload simultaneously. The caboose, when used, now has to be stashed a few hundred feet east at the Woodmode cabinet plant during switching. When finished switching, the train paused at the Kreamer convenience store to pick up some refreshments.

After the crew filled up with food and beverages, the train was soon on its way back to Selinsgrove. At this point I was following the train closely and stopped several times to take photos. I snapped a few shots before leaving Kreamer. I caught up with the train at Pawling Station, then Clifford, and finally downtown Selinsgrove. I'm sure the train crew enjoyed finding me at so many locations. The crewman in the caboose didn't seem to care, though, as he sat back and read the morning paper.

As the train arrived at the west end of the Susquehanna River bridge, the locomotives disconnected from the train and proceeded onto the bridge. Then the locomotives backed into the woods and pulled out the string of empty hoppers from the power plant. In a series of switching moves, the train was finally reassembled and ready to go. In fine manner, the caboose was still punctuating the end of the train.

The train proceeded slowly across the bridge. Once it received clearance to enter the Conrail Harrisburg-Williamsport (former Northern Central/PRR) mainline, it made its way back to the Northumberland yard. I then headed back to campus, grabbed a cookie, and just made it to my afternoon class.

In 1999, operations were passed to Norfolk Southern with the split of Conrail between CSX and Norfolk Southern. Stop and take a look at the S&L the next time you're in the area!