(The following story by Steve Reilly appeared on the Morning-Times website on April 3, 2010.)
SAYRE, Pa. — The Lehigh Valley Railway defined social and economic life in the Valley for the first half of the 20th century, employing thousands of residents and bringing in millions in revenue.
“For a long, long time it was almost the lifeblood of a lot of towns — connecting people from town to town, providing goods and services and jobs,” Mike Frantz, a volunteer at the Sayre Historical Society, explained.
Now, for the first time after decades of decline, activity on the Lehigh Railway is growing again. New locomotives are being purchased, and employees are being hired to keep up with new demand created by the natural gas industry.
According to Jim Raffa, vice president of sales for the Lehigh Valley Railway, the railroad is once again assuming a position of prominence in the region’s economy, transporting many of the things needed to tap into the of the area’s newest economic hope — the sand, pipes, and other bulk materials needed to drill for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale.
“This is a phenomenon up in this area, it really is,” Raffa said. “There’s a lot of railroads that are seeing economic downturns, whereas for us, it’s been growth.”
According to Raffa, the increased business from the Marcellus Shale industry has already led the railway to hire new employees, with more hires expected.
“We have also recently purchased another locomotive to handle the increased business,” he added, “(and) we expect to purchase two more within the next year.”
The Lehigh Railway, a relatively new operation, began January 2009 when the company signed a long-term lease on the 56-mile Mehoopany-to-Athens line from national railroad giant Norfolk Southern.
According to Raffa, the line is currently devoted to carrying bulk materials for its customers in Bradford and Wyoming counties.
“Some of the larger customers are Craftmaster in Wysox, Global Tungsten & Powders in Towanda, Tran-z in Wyalusing, and Susquehanna Gas Field Services in Meshoopen,” he said. “The line’s primary connection to the world is with Norfolk Southern at Sayre. Through Lehigh Railway’s connection with Norfolk Southern, it can reach any rail served origin or destination in North America.
Raffa said railroads are uniquely suited to carrying supplies needed for natural gas drilling because they “move things in big, bulk quantities,” including many of the materials needed to drill for natural gas, and can help alleviate the road deterioration problems that are beginning to arise.
“The railroad is the perfect fix to that kind of problem,” Raffa said. “Bring your materials in by rail and you get all those heavy trucks off the roads. It not only reduces the wear and tear on your roads, but it’s going to reduce all the traffic that everyone’s contending with up there.”
“Currently sand is being trucked in from various locations up to a distance of a hundred miles away,” Raffa said. “By getting the materials close to the wells, it will reduce much of the longer haul truck traffic.”
Raffa said the railroad allows companies from all over the country to compete for the business of drilling companies.
“That’s the beauty of the railroads is it allows people to compete from all over the country for one business. I mean, there might be sand coming out of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Canada. It can come from anywhere,” he said.
Raffa said there is a hope that other large industries will be drawn to the area by the railroad resurgence.
“Generally speaking, railroads attract heavy-industry types of businesses. And heavy industry types of businesses locate around railroads. To have a functioning railroad that’s doing well is only going to produce better-paying, higher-paying types of jobs.”
“This is all good news for the area,” he said. “It’s definitely coming back”
“I think the economic impact will be wonderful for the Valley, especially at a time when everybody knows that the economy’s bad,” said Sayre Mayor Denny Thomas. “I think the railways are going to come back. I think it’s a cheaper and more efficient way to transport cargo and stuff, and if it’s coming back, I think it’s a wonderful thing.”