TS Today - Creating a Vision for the Future of Vacation Ownership Issue #142, Jul/Aug 2015 | Page 19

TimeSharing Today Page 19 Pennsylvania Viaduct Wonders Jul/Aug, 2015 WONDERS CONTEST ENTRY By Lynda Pallone, Horseheads, NY Our home resort, Endless Mountain Resort in Union Dale, PA, is nestled in the smaller mountains of Pennsylvania south of the New York State border. During the early years of our ownership, we took a steam train ride from Scranton, PA, and stopped on top of the Nicholson Bridge. A steam train ride is still available in Steamtown, USA, in Scranton. Train enthusiasts of any age would love it. You can watch as the trains use a roundhouse, climb on train engines, and learn all about the early train years. An electric trolley ride also is available. Scranton is known as the “Electric &LW\´EHFDXVHWKHQDWLRQ¶V¿UVWVXFFHVVIXO FRQWLQXRXVO\ RSHUDWLQJ HOHFWUL¿HG WUROOH\ system was established there in 1886. Don’t forget Scranton’s coal mine tours, either. 7KH1LFKROVRQ%ULGJHZLWKDWUDLQ&UHGLWV$OOSKRWRVFRXUWHV\RIDXWKRU long and towers 240 feet (when measured from the creek bed). Built for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad ComSDQ\ LW ZDV ¿QLVKHG LQ ²WKH ODUJHVW concrete structure in the world at that time. It was built to replace the winding, hilly section between Scranton and Binghamton, NY, saving 3.6 miles—21 minutes of passenger-train time and one hour of freight-train time. Finding the Viaducts One of the driving trips during our ZHHN¶VVWD\ZDVDLPHGDW¿QGLQJWKHWUDLQ viaducts (concrete arch bridges) over the Tunkhannock Creek. :H VXFFHHGHG LQ ¿QGLQJ QRW RQO\ the viaducts but also a freight train en route north. We spotted it on the smaller Tunkhannock Viaduct and hurried to catch it as it also went through Nicholson, PA. The Nicholson Bridge is 2,375 feet $WUDLQRQWKHVPDOO7XQNDKDQQRFN 9LDGXFW Seventeen Arches In Lanesboro, PA, on State Road 1009, we found the Starrucca Viaduct, built for the Erie Railroad and completed in 1848. The original route cut across northern New Jersey and along the upper Delaware River, climbing a rugged ridge 1,373 feet high and then descending into the Susquehanna Valley at Binghamton. This new route would bypass the ridge, but the deep valley of Starrucca Creek was a problem. This viaduct, the choice of ci