LEHIGH VALLEY RAILROAD ROUNDHOUSE, MANCHESTER, NY - PART 1

The Lehigh Valley Railroad - Manchester was an important division point and car classification yard for the Lehigh Valley Railroad and was, at one time, the largest such facility in the world.  As a division point, crews and locomotives were exchanged.  Freight cars were switched from track to track, organizing them for delivery to their destinations.  Support services included the 30-stall roundhouse, the coaling tower, facilities for ash removal, track maintenance, car repair, control tower, the yard office, an ice house and the bunkhouse - restaurant.

With the failure of the Pennsylvania Railroad (which had taken over operations of the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1962) in the mid-60's, the divisions yards services purpose was largely unneeded.  By the next decade, all that remained in use of the yard was the mainline traveling through town. Today only a few crumbling structures, some old track, and a couple of rusted boxcars remain,

I live the next town over and never knew about this.  I was on the computer looking up another boxcar (that will be on another post) when I came across this.  Called Village Hall over in Manchester who gave me directions there.  So I grabbed the camera and over I went.  This is the first building and the biggest.Tomorrow, I will have the second building and boxcars.

Top two pictures are postcards of what it looked like in it's day.  Walking through I would have liked to have seen that building in it's day.  There is talk of these buildings be torn down.  Don't know how true it is.  

Told Elmer about this.  Elmer wanted to know why I never told him about it.  I said because I didn't know.  So I will be taking Elmer, Bishop Eli, Porter and his wife there.