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bound freight would be arriving shortly. A CNJ RS-3 was soon heard pushing a string of cars up the Buttonwood Branch on an interchange run. The ca- boose was visible shortly after, as it stopped at the signal. They were then joined by a Lehigh Valley Baldwin S-12 pulling eight empty hoppers, a flatcar with a yellow Caterpillar product, and a caboose. It stopped opposite the RSD-4’s on the LV’s eastbound track. In the distance toward Ashley the dis-


PHOTO BY SHERMAN SHOOK, AUTHOR’S COLLECTION: FRANKLIN JCT., PA; OCT. 20, 1952


The inspiration for the author’s model (page 62 and below) was this brick tower built by the Jersey Central when the railroad modernized Franklin Junction in the early 1950’s. The new tower became operational on July 8, 1952, three months before this photo was taken.


Shops. Short CNJ branchlines joined along each side of a one mile stretch where the double tracks of the Lehigh Valley paralleled those of the CNJ. The Buttonwood Branch originally crossed over a series of double-slip switches replaced in the 1950’s with a series of crossovers. During this mod- ernization, the wooden interlocking tower was replaced with a modern brick tower. The original semaphores were replaced by signal bridges at op- posite ends of the junction. Website www.gingerb.com notes that signal bridge 170/52, the westbound home board to Franklin Junction spanning five tracks, formerly stood at Brills Junction, in Newark, N.J. from 1913 to 1948 and was numbered 180-1/4. The eastbound home signals were on signal bridge 170/77, which spanned four tracks. This was formerly signal bridge 166-1/8 on the Newark and New York branch, in Jersey City, N.J., which was built in 1915 and removed in 1948. I was aware of the railroad’s car rebuild- ing program after World War II, but I was surprised to learn that they were also recycling signal bridges. The mod- ernized junction became operational on July 8th, 1952.


The 2.19 mile Buttonwood Branch joined the LV tracks and provided the CNJ with a steady interchange be- tween Ashley and the Pennsylvania’s large Buttonwood Yard. It also served the Glen Alden Coal Company’s But- tonwood Colliery, a brewery, and the large Louis Cohen scrap metal yard where 40 of the CNJ’s last steam en- gines met their fate. The 1.05 mile long Franklin Branch


RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN 63


joined at a wye on the CNJ side of the junction and extended to the crossing at grade with the CNJ’s Nanticoke Branch. The Lehigh Valley had track- age rights to the Nanticoke Branch crossing, and then over its own track to Franklin Colliery, owned by the Lehigh Valley Coal Company. Into the 1960’s it was still not unusu- al to see several trains passing through the junction within a short time. On one summer afternoon I remember a pair of CNJ RSD-4 pushers with a bright red caboose idling on the CNJ’s westbound track at the signal bridge. This was al- ways a good indication that an east-


tinct sound of Alco PA air horns could be heard as the Lehigh Valley’s westbound Black Diamond rounded the curve and headed toward the Junction. The cross- ing signal at Division St. now chimed in and the gate arms descended. The shiny Cornell Red PA’s and a string of passen- ger cars with their contrasting black roofs soon passed in succession. The sounds from the six engines in the area and the clanking of rails tem- porarily hid the arrival of the CNJ eastbound freight out of Scranton. The four green EMD units with their yel- low stripes seemed to be crawling in contrast to the speeding Black Dia- mond, but the nearly hundred assorted freight cars quickly passed by. The signal over the CNJ westbound


track quickly changed and the RSD-4’s headed east to assist the freight up Wilkes-Barre Mountain. The LV Bald- win was next to snake its short consist through the crossovers toward Franklin Colliery. Finally, the CNJ RS- 3 was cleared onto the mainline to complete its run to Ashley. It soon dwindled into the distance and the crossing bells became silent. The sight of automobiles now crossing over the four track mainline was a sure sign


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