NS Sunbury Line Guide

Note: This guide is for the Sunbury Line outside of Scranton. Please see the Scranton Guide for railfanning the line in Scranton.

The Sunbury Line has a complex and interesting history. Currently, it is owned and operated by [[ Norfolk Southern ]]. The line is certainly not in its prime, having its second track removed. However, the line still sees regular traffic today and there’s always rumors of expansion!

The Sunbury sees a very diverse range of traffic, although it’s common to see intermodal, sand/rock/hoppers, fuel/tankers, lumber/centerbeams, and boxcars. Autoracks are sometimes seen on southbounds, but never on northbound trains. In the summer months it’s also more common to see MoW related trains.

NS 11Z Southbound on the Sunbury Line in the Winter

NS 11Z Southbound on the Sunbury Line in the Winter

by NEPATrains.org - All rights reserved

This is a photo of NS train 11Z running southbound on the Sunbury Line, near milepost 665.

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Locations

From Binghamton to Clarks Summit:

Click map to zoom/pan.

Noteworthy Mileposts

These are mileposts you should pay attention to on your scanner.

Milepost Notes
Container Binghamton Yard
643 Kingsley DED
659 Dalton Siding North
661 Dalton Siding South
662 Glenburn DED
669-665 Clarks Summit Hill
672 Taylor Yard North
673 Taylor Yard South
676.9 Minooka Junction DED

Timetable

Since the start of PSR across all of Norfolk Southern’s systems, most trains have lost their “regularity”, and so the “Usual Time” column has been temporarily removed.

Symbol Starts Ends Frequency Extra
12Z Roanoke, VA Binghamton, NY Daily  
11Z Binghamton, NY Roanoke, VA Daily  
K82 Scranton, PA Binghamton, NY Sat-Sun  
K81 Scranton, PA Wilkes Barre, PA Daily Scranton/W-B Local
K79 ? ? ?  
H97 Binghamton, NY Taylor, PA Mon-Fri  
DL3 Scranton, PA (Steamtown) Scranton, PA (Steamtown) Daily Steamtown to Taylor and back DL runner.
PISB Pittston, PA Pittston, PA Sun-Fri RBMN Pittston to Taylor and back runner.

Notes:

  • A hi-rail usually inspects the track once a weekend.
  • MoW crews are very active in the summer.

Clarks Summit Hill

CP-669 to CP-665, commonly known as the Clarks Summit Hill, is a 4 mile climb into Clarks Summit. This segment of rail is extremely steep for trains. So steep in fact, the once-daily train 37T (pre-PSR) would sometimes stall on the hill, holding up the whole line for the rest of the day!