# Nicholson Cutoff

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{{Short description|Rail line segment}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2016}}
{{Stack|
{{maplink-road|from=Nicholson Cut-Off.map}}
thumb|left|200px|In 1990, The National Railroad Historical Society designated this structure as a historic railroad landmark.
[[File:Tunkhannock Viaduct from PA 11 - 1989.jpg|thumb|right|The [Tunkhannock Viaduct](/source/Tunkhannock_Viaduct) on the Nicholson Cutoff in 1989.  Located near Milepost 162 in [Nicholson, Pennsylvania](/source/Nicholson%2C_Pennsylvania), the bridge is {{convert|240|ft|2}} high and {{convert|2375|ft}} long.  It is believed to be the largest reinforced concrete structure in the world.  The roadway, [US Route 11](/source/U.S._Route_11_in_Pennsylvania), follows the right-of-way of the old line that the cutoff replaced.]]
[[File:Clarks Summit Pushers - 1989.jpg|thumb|right|The eastern starting point of the Nicholson Cutoff ([milepost](/source/milepost) 152) in Clarks Summit in 1989 shows three [Guilford Rail System](/source/Pan_Am_Railways) pusher units awaiting their next assignment after pushing a long freight up the grade from [Scranton, Pennsylvania](/source/Scranton%2C_Pennsylvania).  Note the weed-covered switch in the foreground, a vestige of the old line that ran past the Clarks Summit passenger station, about a mile away on the hill to the left.  The station was not rebuilt even though the new line was a considerable distance down the hill from the old line.]]
}}
The '''Nicholson Cutoff''' (also known as '''Clark's Summit–Hallstead Cutoff''') is a rail line segment of the [Sunbury Line](/source/Sunbury_Line) rail line and formerly a rail line segment of the [Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad](/source/Delaware%2C_Lackawanna_and_Western_Railroad) main line and the [Delaware and Hudson Railway](/source/Delaware_and_Hudson_Railway) South Line. The Nicholson Cutoff and the rest of the Sunbury Line is owned by [Norfolk Southern Railway](/source/Norfolk_Southern_Railway).

==History==
The Nicholson Cutoff was built by the [Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad](/source/Delaware%2C_Lackawanna_and_Western_Railroad) to replace the original Lackawanna line between [Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania](/source/Clarks_Summit%2C_Pennsylvania), and [Hallstead, Pennsylvania](/source/Great_Bend%2C_Pennsylvania). In surveying potential routes for the new line, the Lackawanna investigated the possibility of building a line directly from Clarks Summit to Nichols, New York, bypassing [Binghamton, New York](/source/Binghamton%2C_New_York).  This alignment would have shaved {{convert|20|mi}} off the existing route between these two points but was deemed impractical not only because it would have bypassed a major junction point on the railroad, but also because of the amount of cutting and filling that would have been needed to build this route. As about half of the old line was curved track, a major rationale for building the new line would be to "straighten-out" the route.  The new route, the cutoff, would ultimately eliminate two-thirds of this curvature, 2400 degrees, the equivalent of more than six and a half circles.  Nearly all the remaining curves would be [2°](/source/degree_of_curvature) ({{convert|2864.75|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}} radius) or less, permitting {{convert|70|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}} or greater for passenger trains.  This was a decided improvement over the curves on the old route, some of which exceeded 6° ({{convert|955.37|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}} radius, restricting trains to {{convert|35|mph|km/h|abbr=on|disp=or}}).<!-- <ref>[Rail speed limits in the United States](/source/Rail_speed_limits_in_the_United_States)</ref> -->

Construction on the Nicholson Cutoff started in May 1912 and the first revenue train to run over the line was on November 6, 1915.  While the new {{convert|39.6|mi|km|adj=on}} line resulted in only a modest savings in travel distance ({{convert|3.6|mi|abbr=out|disp=or}}) the cutoff saved a significant amount of travel ''time'' between [Scranton, Pennsylvania](/source/Scranton%2C_Pennsylvania), and [Binghamton, New York](/source/Binghamton%2C_New_York), especially for freight trains.  Before the building of the cutoff, heavy westbound coal trains, bringing [anthracite coal](/source/anthracite_coal) from Scranton, required [pushers](/source/Bank_engine) to be added in three different locations—LaPlume, Nicholson, and Hallstead—once they got past the top of the grade at Clarks Summit.  The new line eliminated the need for these additional engines and crews, not to mention that these trains no longer needed to stop for the pushers to be added.<ref>{{Harvnb|Taber|Taber|1980}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2016}}

The Cutoff was built in a manner similar to that of the [Lackawanna Cut-Off](/source/Lackawanna_Cut-Off) in [New Jersey](/source/New_Jersey) that had opened in December 1911.  This is not surprising as the chief civil engineer on both projects was George J. Ray.  But unlike the New Jersey Cut-Off, which used [reinforced concrete](/source/reinforced_concrete) in all its structures, the Pennsylvania Cutoff used other materials (such as bricks) as well. Indeed, the brick-lined [Nicholson Tunnel](/source/Nicholson_Tunnel) ({{convert|3629|ft|m|abbr=out|disp=or}} long, located at [Milepost](/source/Milepost) 160) is the only tunnel on the cutoff, and the only brick-lined tunnel ever constructed by the Lackawanna.  Nevertheless, the most significant structures on the line, the viaducts at [Nicholson, Pennsylvania](/source/Nicholson%2C_Pennsylvania) and [Martins Creek, Pennsylvania](/source/Harford_Township%2C_Pennsylvania), were built of reinforced concrete. The [Tunkhannock Viaduct](/source/Tunkhannock_Viaduct) at Nicholson, the line's namesake, is considered to be the world's largest concrete structure.  Built with approximately {{convert|700,000,000|lbs|kg}} of concrete, its ten spans go {{convert|60|ft|m|2}} below ground-level to bedrock, making the center span of the bridge effectively {{convert|300|ft|m}} tall. Over the years, Nicholson Viaduct would become a symbol of the engineering accomplishments of the Lackawanna.<ref>{{Harvnb|Taber|Taber|1980}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2016}}

The Nicholson Cutoff was used for freight and passenger trains of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and later used for trains of the [Erie Lackawanna Railway](/source/Erie_Lackawanna_Railway), [Conrail](/source/Conrail), [Delaware and Hudson Railway](/source/Delaware_and_Hudson_Railway), [Guilford Rail System](/source/Guilford_Rail_System) (now [CSX Corporation](/source/CSX_Corporation)), [New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway](/source/New_York%2C_Susquehanna_and_Western_Railway), [Canadian Pacific Railway](/source/Canadian_Pacific_Railway) and [Norfolk Southern Railway](/source/Norfolk_Southern_Railway). Noteworthy passenger trains included the Lackawanna's (and later, the Erie Lackawanna's as well) ''[Phoebe Snow](/source/Phoebe_Snow_(train)),'' ''Owl'' and ''New York Mail.'' However, the named trains did not stop at the towns en route, except, in some instances, Hallstead and New Milford.<ref name="TTpg2">{{cite web| title=Lackawanna Railroad's full schedule| date=April 25, 1954 | url=http://viewoftheblue.com/photography/timetables/DLW042554.pdf}}</ref><ref>Erie Lackawanna timetable, December 6, 1964</ref>

The Nicholson Cutoff was opened as a rail line, however it became a rail line segment when it became part of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western main line. Currently as a rail line segment, the Nicholson Cutoff served as part of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western main line, the Delaware and Hudson South Line and now the [Sunbury Line](/source/Sunbury_Line). In 2015, the Nicholson Cutoff and the rest of the Sunbury Line became a Norfolk Southern property.<ref name=NS>{{cite press release| url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/norfolk-southern-completes-acquisition-of-delaware--hudson-south-line--positive-news-for-rail-shippers-and-communities-300145733.html| title=Norfolk Southern completes acquisition of Delaware & Hudson South Line| website=PRNewswire| date=September 18, 2015}}</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== References ==
* {{Taber-DLW-20th-1}}

Category:Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
Category:Erie Lackawanna Railway
Category:Delaware and Hudson Railway
Category:Canadian Pacific Railway
Category:Norfolk Southern Railway
Category:Railroad cutoffs
Category:Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad lines

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nicholson Cutoff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholson_Cutoff) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholson_Cutoff?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.