Erie Lackawanna Railway Company Records

The Erie Lackawanna Railway [EL], known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The two railroads merged because of a loss of income that occurred because of declining passenger traffic, lower freight shipments because of the decline of coal in western Pennsylvania, and the damage caused to track systems by Hurricane Diane in 1956.



The Interstate Commerce Commission approved the merger on September 13, 1960, and on October 17 the Erie Railroad and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad merged to form the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad. For the previous four years, the two lines had already begun consolidating their assets, particularly their facilities on the Hudson River waterfront and their trackage through southern New York State. After the merger, the EL did manage to regain profitability in the late 1960s.



The Erie Lackawanna Railway, as opposed to "railroad," was formed March 1, 1968 as a subsidiary of the Norfolk and Western Railway [NW], which had purchased the EL. Due to a combination of the continuing decline in railroad traffic, both passenger and freight, and the major losses suffered by the railway during Hurricane Agnes in 1972, the EL was forced to declare bankruptcy. Although the company initially resisted joining the consolidation of eastern rail lines by the federal government, it was eventually forced to change its position due to the fincial burdens caused by the oil shortages of the early 1970s. In 1976, the EL was able to successfully petition the federal governement and join the ConRail system.