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 Post subject: Mount Beacon Incline Railway
PostPosted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:27 pm 
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Location: Poconos/Lehigh Valley
Saw the base of this abandoned railway in NY. An electric driven hoist and passenger car parts are supposed to exist further up the line.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:27 pm 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
hmm, mike what weight rail was that :wink:

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PostPosted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:34 pm 
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Location: London ON
Those almost look like 65lb'ers--pretty light looking rails at any rate--

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PostPosted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:38 pm 
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They were pretty light, maybe in the 40-60 pound range.


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PostPosted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:59 pm 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
hmmm, interesting.

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PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 12:15 am 
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Location: SW Indiana
If the Mt Washington Rlwy is any indication. Then the motors and cars were much smaller than would have been scene in even regular branch service.

Just curious? Any idea what the gauge was? And was this freight, passenger, ski or mixed?

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PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 12:19 am 
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Location: SW Indiana
Another point, the loading had to be real light. That grade is major, I would say it was pushing adhesion to the max. ( Smooth Steel on Smooth Steel ) .

Most likely small wheel diameters and lots of them.

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PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 12:47 am 
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It must have been some sort of narrow gauge, in the neighborhood of 3 feet. Maybe the photo will provide a sense of scale:
Image

The line was used for passenger (tourist) service. More information is online here:
http://www.inclinerailway.org/homepage.htm


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 11:04 pm 
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Here is a link to photos from Steve Kijak showing the remains of the railcars midway up the incline:
http://s232.photobucket.com/albums/ee194/sjkijak/Beacon%20Incline%20Railroad/


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:19 am 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
thats a pretty strange wheel arrangement!

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:12 am 
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Location: Mayflower, the capital of Wilkes- Barre
Wow this is a pretty interesting place, any history on it? Where is this located I would like to hike it this summer.

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PostPosted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:38 am 
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Well it is now obvious why we don't know the gauge.

They didn't have one. From the Wheel/Axle picture it would appear that they held tight to one rail and let the gauge wander.

Hence a double flanged wheel on one side and a wide no flange wheel on the other.

Strange. But as tourist lines go, that isn't a bad idea.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:34 pm 
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Location: Wallkill, NY
New troop here.

Great website, lots of great info here.

I'm an amateur , fledgling, historian of the Hudson Valley.

Mount Beacon got it's name from its revolutionary War history. It was where the final "Beacon" fire to announce to General Washington that the British were coming up the Hudson. Near the peak the river views are very nice, with a view of Hasbrouck House, Washington' headquarters while the Continental Army was sequestered at the New Windsor Cantonment.

Hasbrouck House and the Cantonment are great places to visit, often called the birthplace of the Republic.

Later, Beacon was a weekend getaway. Folks took the inclined railway to the top to enjoy the scenes, the casino, and the hotel. The foundations are still there today. Beacon was a place to ski for some years, but the snow was too infrequent to maintain that business.

http://www.usgwarchives.org/ny/dutchess ... chess.html

Some views from Beacon and it's "Glory days".

Scenic Hudson now maintains the walking trail there, called the most arduous hike in Dutchess County as it gains almost 1K feet in a half mile.

http://www.scenichudson.org/search/node/Mount+Beacon

Again, great board!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 10:40 pm 
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Location: Dunmore, PA
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hmmm, interesting.


Chris, are you think free track for no. 9?


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:19 am 
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Location: Within 60 Miles of the Northern Anthracite Field
not for the 9 :wink:

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