The Coxton Bridge

The West Pittston & Exeter Railroad was constructed between July 1, 1925, and March 1, 1927 as a coal supply line... more

by Lisa Hurylovich

Title

The Coxton Bridge

Artist

Lisa Hurylovich

Medium

Photograph

Description

The West Pittston & Exeter Railroad was constructed between July 1, 1925, and March 1, 1927 as a coal supply line
for the Stanton, PA power plant, a distance of 2.245 miles north from the junction made with the DL&W line
just south of its West Pittston bridge over the Susquehanna River. In later years it was operated by the PP&L (electric utility)
until the power plant closed and was demolished. One source mentions that the power plant was destroyed in the 1972 Agnes Flood.
One or more of the piers of the Coxton bridge was also damaged by the flood, and was taken out of use (& rails removed) around 1982.
The most damaged pier lost even more stone blocks in the 2011 flood. After PP&L, the Lehigh Valley operated the WP&E line for a while,
until it fell into the hands of Conrail in 1976. Conrail sold it to the Pocono Northeast Railway on 9/24/82.
In 1988, the line still served the newsprint warehouse on Ann Street, as well as the Celotex (ceiling tile) plant in Harding.
The PNE, in turn, went bankrupt in September, 1993, and the Luzerne Susquehanna assumed operation of the line, while it lasted.
The Celotex plant was still operating in 1999, closed down shortly afterwards, and was demolished prior to 2008.
The WP&E rails under the Coxton Bridge (known as "Forest Castle Junction") were removed in 2008.

Uploaded

November 7th, 2014