Honesdale, Pennsylvania is one of the places known as the “Birthplace of the American Railroad.” In 1829, the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company sent the Stourbridge Lion on its trial run. Although still on a downhill “gravity” mining track, it was the first successful use of a steam locomotive.
And it went on to transform the mining industry as well as travel as we know it. Today, The Stourbridge Line is a passenger train, and it takes you along part of the same route that anthracite coal was carried from the original boat basin to New York City. The Stourbridge Line Rail Excursion is owned and operated by the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce.
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Things to know:
Region: Pocono
Fun facts: Anthracite coal has the highest carbon count and contains the least impurities of all coals. It ignites with difficulty and burns with a short, blue and smokeless flame.
Elevation: 1,148 feet
Highlights: If you would have gazed westward (up the hill) from in the days when the line was created, you would have seen nothing but coal.
Photos courtesy of Wayne County Chamber of Commerce.
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