Category Archives: Ellenton

Finding Ghosts

Since this is the “Spooky Season”, I thought I would share an interesting way of using technology to find ghosts in in the woods. Specifically, the ghosts of railroads past…

This technology is called “LIDAR”, for “Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging”, and has been in use in various forms since the invention of lasers in the early 1960’s. It is commonly used to make 3-D terrain maps for various purposes. The increasing resolution of LIDAR systems (down to elevation differences of mere inches), and the ability to subtract light reflections from vegetation, has made LIDAR an invaluable tool for archaeologic research. This also applies to industrial archaeology, I.E., abandoned railroads.

Mapping LIDAR data removes existing structures as well as vegetation, but foundations of no-longer-extant structures can often be seen. The data is also most useful in more remote areas, where later alterations of the ground are less likely to have occurred over time.

This mapping technology is available on the internet from the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) at: The National Map – Advanced Viewer. To use the online browser, navigate to the site, use the map to navigate to the area of interest, open the “Layer List” tool on the toolbar, check the box next to 3DEP Elevation – Hillshade, and zoom in a bit to your area of interest. It will take a few seconds or a bit longer to load the data into the browser, so if you have a slow internet connection, be patient. You should be rewarded with a shaded grey-scale image of the ground. Clicking the three black dots opens another set of tools, one of which allows you to adjust the transparency of the shaded layer so the associated map layer can be seen.

 

USGS website and navigation map

 

3DEP Elevation – Hillshade

 

Topo map overlaid

The above examples show the course of the long-abandoned PRR Chautauqua Branch roadbed and the still-extant bridge over French Creek near Sherman, NY. This bridge can still be seen in the winter months from westbound Interstate 86.

We can combine the USGS LIDAR information with data from other online resources such as Google Earth as well. In this instance, the Susquehanna & New York Railroad roadbed and bridge site over Pleasant Stream dating to circa 1917-1920 can still be seen, despite several severe floods in the early to mid-2000’s which significantly altered the streambed. Images from Google Earth are not useful due to tree canopy cover, but the bridge can be seen in aerial photographs from the late 1930’s available online at: Penn Pilot (arcgis.com). The photos show the bridge abutments as they looked in 2000.

Penn Pilot

 

USGS LIDAR

 

Google Earth

Photo by Author

 

Photo by Author

Another interesting example is at Marsh Hill, PA. Here, the standout feature is the elevated ramp serving the coal dock along one leg of the wye track, still visible due to laser light and the power of applied mathematics 80 years after the S&NY was abandoned. The faint traces of the S&NY yard, the rest of the wye, and the roadbed heading east along Pleasant Stream can also be seen. These traces correlate with the Penn Pilot photographs but are nearly completely obscured by trees and modern structures on the Google Earth view.

USGS LIDAR

 

Penn Pilot

 

Bill Caloroso- Author’s Collection

 

Google Earth

One can spend hours following old roadbeds and hunting traces of “what once was” for fun, but the usefulness of this technology for model railroaders researching a particular prototype railroad cannot be understated.

Let’s do a couple more:

Here is a LIDAR view of the Masten area. In addition to the modern roads, both the “old” S&NY right-of-way and the “new” ROW leading to and from the Masten Loop (out of view to the right) can be seen. In addition, the remains of the log pond dam are revealed in the center of the image.

USGS LIDAR

Author’s Collection

Google Earth

Again, the ground surface details are completely obscured by forest canopy on the Google Earth view.

Let’s move to the Masten Loop area. The USGS LIDAR data gives us this view of the roadbed, associated cuts and fills, and the bridge site over Pleasant Stream:

USGS LIDAR

An old postcard view:

Author’s Collection

The view from the air circa 1938:

Penn Pilot

Ground view, date unknown, possibly mid-1930’s:

Walter Parmeter Collection via John Eastlake

And finally, the modern view via satellite:

Google Earth

Moving upgrade and northeastward, the outlines of the wye track at Ellenton can still be made out:

USGS LIDAR

1930’s aerial view:

Penn Pilot

Valuation map of the area:

Ground level view, likely during abandonment in 1942:

Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics

Current Google Earth view:

Google Earth

Foundations of long-gone structures can also be seen using this tool. In this view of Wheelerville, the foundation of the old creamery is visible adjacent to the S&NY roadbed, now called Schrader Creek Road:

USGS LIDAR

View of the creamery foundations in 2017:

Photo by Author

Lastly, let’s have a look at the Laquin area. Hard to make out much detail due to later flooding and the construction of a CCC camp. This is where other resources can come in handy:

USGS LIDAR

We can get an idea of what to look for, based on a map from Tom Taber’s book “Ghost Lumber Towns of Central Pennsylvania” and the Penn Pilot aerials:

Excerpted from “Ghost Lumber Towns of Central Pennsylvania”

 

Penn Pilot

On the LIDAR image, we can still see faint traces of the lumber stack area at the lumber mill, the stave mill area, and the chemical plant and associated trackage.

Google Earth

The modern Google Earth view is much less useful, again due to the tree canopy.

Hard to believe we have this technology to research the past right at our fingertips. Truely, we live in an age of miracles. Give these tools a try, and maybe you’ll find your own “ghosts”!

Wordless Wednesday #115

Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics

Ellenton, PA

Ellenton was  a small crossroads near the summit of the railroad, between the Pleasant Stream and Schrader Creek valleys. The SNY was disadvantaged by having to climb steep grades both ways between Marsh Hill and Towanda, coming and going. On the aerial view from circa 1938, a wye track is visible north east of Ellenton, used to turn helper engines.

PSU - Penn Pilot

PSU – Penn Pilot

EllentonMapSmallAbove is a scan of SNY valuation maps, kindly provided by reader Charlie Marvin, and stitched together by the author in Photoshop. I had wondered what the long spur was north of Ellenton, but we can see from the map that is actually the remnants of the Central Pennsylvania Logging Co. logging railroad and the original S&NY alignment to Masten. (Updated 8/3/15)

Here is a view of the SNY roadbed at Ellenton, PA, probably taken during abandonment operations in 1942. This view is looking downgrade and roughly southwest towards Masten.:

Bill Caloroso - Cal's Classics

Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics

 

Bill Caloroso - Cal's Classics

Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics

The above view is looking roughly northeast towards the true summit and wye track. The pine trees were reportedly planted to help diminish drifting and blowing snow from closing the cut.

Bill Caloroso - Cal's Classics

Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics

Here is a view of the same area, possibly during the winter of 1941-1942. The modern views below show the area in the early winter 2000. We can see how the trees have grown up over the intervening 58 years.The old roadbed crosses the road at the “dip” just beyond the largest trees along the right side of the road. The photographer in the second view above would have been standing in the roadbed off to the right, albeit some 58 years earlier in time. The road ( according to Bing maps McIlwain Rd.; PA Route 4002), paved in the 2000 photo, appears to be dirt or gravel in the 1942 view.  Interestingly, the SNY roadbed is labeled “S&NY Road” on Bing maps.

Author's photo

Photo by author

Photo by author

Photo by author

Below are three views of the station at Ellenton. The first is looking downgrade toward Masten, similar to the abandonment view above, albeit earlier in time, perhaps the mid-1930’s. The second and third look roughly northward in the opposite direction, probably near the end of the SNY in late 1941 or ’42. The station looks to be in pretty rough shape in the last two photos.

Bill Caloroso - Cal's Classics

Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics

 

Bill Caloroso - Cal's Classics

Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics

Bill Caloroso - Cal's Classics

Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics

The station was also apparently used as a section house, and the section hands stored a speeder car in the station in the part behind the wooden door seen to the left in the above photos. In the photos below, the section crew is man-handling the speeder onto the rails. Anyone know the identity of the gentlemen in the photo?

Bill Caloroso - Cal's Classics

Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics

Bill Caloroso - Cal's Classics

Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics

I do not know the function of the smaller building in the background, although it appears to be a similar paint scheme to the Ellenton station. Perhaps a phone box, or flag-stop passenger shelter? A passing siding coming upgrade from Masten can be seen ending at the switch in the background of the above two photos, and I think a phone box so crews in the siding can call the dispatcher is the more likely explanation. This structure is not evident on the valuation map from 1919, and must necessarily be newer than that date.

Update 8/7/2014: Scanned a view of the Ellenton Wye. Note the PRR GRA gondola. A lot of interesting detail in this view; including the call box in the center of the wye track, the weathered ties on the cinder right-of-way, and the weeds and wildflowers:

Bill Caloroso - Cal's Classics

Bill Caloroso – Cal’s Classics

Update 2/24/2014: I have been in email correspondence with Ms. Ferne Gochnauer, who lived on the farm adjacent to the site of the Ellenton station from 1965 to 1989. She kindly provided a number of photos from her own research of the Ellenton area:

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

 

An SNY freight passes by the Ellenton station enroute to Masten, downgrade to the left in this view. Compare this photo with the view from 2000 above. This view may significantly pre-date some of the views taken closer to the 1942 abandonment, given the absence of trees behind the station. The small shed across from the station also does not appear in the other images above, but rather is located across the road on the same side of the tracks as the station in the Caloroso photos.

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

In this undated view, we can see the small barn whose roof is visible in the background of the Caloroso images above. Also note the trees planted along the edge of the shallow cut between the station and the barn. According to Kaseman, these were planted in the 1920’s to act as a snow fence, so the photo must date from that time. See the later photos above, when the trees were much larger.

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

This photo dates prior to the 1918-1919 valuation map, likely shortly after the SNY was completed, probably ca. 1905. This eastward view shows the original alignment of the SNY mainline to Masten (to the right in this view) and the original location of the station near the road intersection and the CPL tramroad, seen further to the west on the valuation map and the Penn Pilot aerial view. We can see the opposite side of the large barn in the middle distance seen in the center of the 2000 view and the earlier view provided by Ms. Gochnauer.

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

The Ellenton station has now been moved to its final location after the re-alignment of the SNY mainline, and can be partially seen as a low, light-colored structure in the left middle distance. The “old” SNY alignment can be seen crossing the road from left to right behind the nearest structures.

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

A house or other structure has now been built on the original site of the Ellenton station, and the Central Pennsylvania Lumber Co. tracks now join the old SNY mainline just in front of the new structure. These tracks are seen on the 1918 valuation map labeled “CPL tramroad”.

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

This is a southwestward view of the Ellenton station at the original location ca. 1905 . The small house next to the tracks on the last two views above can be seen behind the locomotive. The road junction can be partially made out behind the elevated station platform and the gentlemen standing upon it.

I had no idea that the Ellenton station had originally  been at a different location, and subsequently moved, until Ms. Gochnauer provided that information.

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

Photo courtesy Ferne Gochnauer

Lastly is a view of the remnants of the station after it was partially torn down and moved to a nearby field after the SNY abandonment. according to Ms. Gochnauer, one of the Ellenton station signs still exists and is in the possession of a local resident.