Scenes Along the Rails: the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad's Syracuse Division

"The latest installment of this series highlights the DL&W's Syracuse Division through central New York between 1875 and 1925. As the state's only other significant Great Lakes harbor besides Buffalo, the Port of Oswego became an important outlet for Pennsylvania anthracite shipments headed to the west. As the Oswego & Syracuse Railroad connected its namesake cities in 1848, the Syracuse & Binghamton Railroad opened an 81-mile line to the New York & Erie at Binghamton in 1854. In 1869, the Lackawanna gained control of these predecessors as part of its plan to create a key north-south artery for "black diamonds." It also served the region's diverse industries, which constituted dairy and crop farming, limestone, soda ash, salt and the manufacturing of automobiles, trucks, wagons, and corsets. The rural branch between Cortland and Cincinnatus added passenger and freight revenue. The six-mile Syracuse & Baldwinsville is also profiled. 160 pages, 236 illustrations, maps, bibliography, index."