|
Trackside Around the Pennsylvania Cement District by Mike Bednar & Ken Bealer
Trackside Around the Pennsylvania Cement District by Mike Bednar and Ken Bealer Morning Sun Books
Hard Cover w/ dust jacket
128 pages
Copyright 2010
CONTENTS
Foreword 4-5
Chapter 1- About the Lehigh Cement District6-7
Chapter 2 - Moving the Cement 8-11
Chapter 3 - The Reading Co. 12-19
Chapter 4 - The Ironton Railroad 20-33
Chapter 5 - The Lehigh Valley Railroad 34-52
Chapter 6 - The Central Railroad of New Jersey53-61
Chapter 1- The Northampton and Bath62-70
Chapter 8 - The Lehigh and New England71-104
Chapter 9 - The Delaware Lackawanna and Western - Erie Lackawanna 105-115
Chapter 10 - Conrail and Norfolk Southern 116-128
FOREWORD
Ken Bealer and I grew up in a different era. The era we live in now is far different from that which we grew up in during the 1950's and 1960's.
In Hokendauqua, where I grew up, women of German, Italian, Irish, and eastern European denomination would be outside their homes each morning, dressed in their babushkas and knee length aprons, sweeping their sidewalks clear of the cement dust which had fallen during the previous night.
People washed their automobiles with Vinegar water. Why vinegar water? Well Vinegar is acidic and it was needed to cut the cement dust which accumulated on the paint finish on the automobiles on damp nights.
Friday nights were spent cashing people's checks on the "big" towns of the Catasauqua and Northampton, then going shopping in the stores there. The sidewalks would be treacherous to walk on in times of rain. The cement dust would wear the sidewalks smooth and when wet they would be like walking on grease.
During the night it would look like it was snowing when one looked at the street lights. It wasn't snowing, but cement dust falling.
The Lehigh Valley area was the capital of Cement making. The Cement Dust meant one thing to us. It meant prosperity. The Cement industry provided good paying jobs to thousands of people in the area and when the cement mills prospered, so did the residents of the Lehigh Valley.
In every town on every corner there was a hotel or tavern to serve the cement workers. The workers slaved in the cement dust all day long and when they got off from work the first order of business was to quench their thirst at one of these establishments.
Kenny Bealer's dad, Charlie, worked at the Catasauqua Tower on the Lehigh Valley and his grandfather worked out of Catasauqua for the Reading Co. as the engineer on the C & F (Catasauqua and Fogelsville Branch).
During the evenings the chime horns of the Ironton Railroad Baldwin switchers could be heard blowing for the many road crossings between Egypt and the interchanges with the RDG, LV, and CNJ at Catasauqua and Hokendauqua. The railroads in the area prospered, too, with the lucrative cement revenues.
Not only were the loaded cement cars from the plants included in these revenues, but loaded bituminous coal, gypsum rock and limestone to the mills made for prosperous times on the railroads of the region.
Beginning in 1959 with the Interstate Commerce Commission's allowance of trucks carrying bulk cement and the building of the Interstate Highway System which allowed these same trucks a fast and easy way to transport the commodity, railroad revenue from the cement industry started a long and to some railroads, a terminal trend.
That in addition to the closing of many mills in the Lehigh District made the railroad involvement to the cement industry very small in comparison to what it once was. The cement mills, themselves, began closing during the 1990's.
The Lehigh Valley area has evolved from one which existed on heavy industry; namely cement, steel and manufacturing to one which is now a bedroom community for New York and Philadelphia.
The old culture of the cement industry is fast disappearing.
So let's step back in time to what I think was a better era and see how the railroads prospered along with the cement industry.
Mike Bednar
All pictures are of the actual item. There may be reflection from the lights in some photos. We try to take photos of any damage. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.
Shipping charges
US Shipments: Ebay will add $1.25 each additional items, there are a few exceptions.
Ebay Global shipping charges are shown. These items are shipped to Kentucky and forwarded to you. Ebay collects the shipping and customs / import fees. Refunds may be issued if you add multiple items to your cart and pay with one payment. For direct postage rates to these countries, send me an email. Shipping varies by weight.
Payment options
Payment must be received within 7 days. Paypal is accepted.
Terms and conditions
All sales are final. Returns accepted if item is not as described. Contact us first. No warranty is stated or implied. Please e-mail us with any questions before bidding.
Thanks for looking at our items.
| 
