566 carloads represented good news as Conrail had handled only 367 carloads in its last full year of operation. Over the years, the shippers other
than the Morning Call have changed as the tenants in the former Lehigh Struc- tural Steel site have changed. In 2006, the railroad had 603 carloadings indi- cating that the line is holding its own, although not significantly growing. The railroad has taken advantage of oppor- tunities for other business of a tempo- rary or one time basis. In the year 2000, Corman transported trainloads of pipe needed for a pipeline project. The pipes
were stored on available land just north of the former Lehigh Structural Steel complex. Other transloading business has involved the Scot Lubri- cant Company. After unsuccessfully seeking ship-
pers for the Barbers Quarry branch, the R.J. Corman Company abandoned the line, removed the track and sold it to the City of Allentown, which adopted plans to convert the line to recreational use. The line would create an opportu- nity for hiking and biking parallel to the scenic Little Lehigh Creek near densely populated Center City. The
city’s plans for the Barbers Quarry Branch took an abrupt turn in 2010, however, when the Allentown Econom- ic Development Corporation (AEDC) applied to the Pennsylvania Depart- ment of Transportation’s Rail Freight Bureau for a capital grant to return 1.47 miles of the right of way to rail- road use. The $1,987,057 project was intended to provide railroad service to two potential shippers. (Scott Unger of the AEDC stated that an operator — R.J. Corman or another company— had not been selected for the line.) The plan also did not rule out the combined use of the right of way for both freight rail and recreation use. As of July 2011, this plan has not progressed as one of the two potential shippers has gone out of business. Further, the required $596,117 in matching funds required
LEFT: Two SEPTA employees watch a handful of passengers about to board at the concrete platform that served as SEPTA’s Allentown station on September 3, 1978. This service was abolished in 1979. BELOW: On May 18, 1998, Corman had a single car of scrap to de- liver. The train is heading north on the Lehigh- ton Industrial Track between Hamilton and Linden Streets.
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