The construction of the depots, updated again
Information about prefab railroad stations used on DL&W and Erie railroads.
This information will be updated from time to time as I find more pictures and facts about the construction elements of these great old stations.
It has been suggested the D,L&W railroad stations built from 1881 to 1884 were built in a factory and then moved along the lines to the community they were built in.This has been confirmed a number of times.
It has been suggested the Vestal NY is one of the earliest stations built in New York State. It is adorned with a round wooden piece in the center of the ornate overhang brackets. With most of the stations between Scranton PA and Dansville NY.sharing the “pagoda” design with the curved roof line.Like the one originally in Cohocton pictured 2nd below. Also in the below photo you can make out the line on the roof showing a portion of the structure has been added to an originally smaller train station.
My Atlanta NY depot is 98 feet long, with 40 or more of that being the freight-house, when you study the interior of my station which is 99% original you can see it has been built in three parts, part one the original station with waiting room office and a very small freight-house ( like 10 feet long) next a small addition was added to the freight house (about 15 feet )and a few years later a much larger freight house was added ( about 35 feet long ). this sectioning is clearly seen in one of the earlier post cards shown on this site, if you look at the roof features you can see a division among the slate roof tiles. I have posted it again below.
After some research, and some studying I have made a few new discoveries, or should I say old discoveries.
There is a Monroe County in Pennsylvania and the D,L&W runs through it heading south east out of Scranton you will pass though a number of small towns,
There are a number of existing railroad stations along the lines that share elements with all of the pagoda style stations
The station in East Stroudsburg ( Dansbury) originally located at 50 Crystal Street, is listed as built in 1864 however a news article about a fire at the station in 2009 listed the date of construction as 1856. In 2010 it was moved to 31 south Kistler st. and run by the East Stroudsburg Community Aliance.
This station has a different style support bracket which incorporates the round design just like the Vestal Station
The Henryville Station has the same bracketry style as the Pagoda stations but does not have the curved roof extensions
In a photo of the Pocono Summit ( Pocono Pines) the roof is adorned with a spindle at each end designed exactly like the ones shown on several of the NY pagoda style stations
The station that made me realize the connection the most was the station at Cresco PA built in 1883, sound familiar?1883 was the year most of these were built.
The Cresco PA station has the same basic roof line without the curved overhangs. The gable end has the very same two windows above two windows below. It is wainscoted like a number of the pagoda stations. The scroll work in the peak is similar to some of the other pagoda stations. The “spinnaker” looks identical as well.
The Oxford Furnace Depot has similar elements as well as a similar wainscoting siding
This picture of the Kingsley station has the very same support brackets as my Atlanta NY station but not a curved roof line.
The ridge is adorned with a very familiar looking scrolled spinnaker
How about that board and baton siding with the combo wainscoting, more to come...
More design elements found in this post card of the Waterville, N.Y. Depot, Note the DL & W box car.
