The Ghosts of Mayfield...
Mayfield yard was located near Scranton, PA. During the heyday of the railroad it was one of the busiest yards on the system, being a gathering point for anthracite coal traffic coming out of the numerous breakers in the area. When the O&W shut down in 1957 several pieces of equipment remained at Mayfield including the steel mail and baggage cars, a wood coach and some boxcars. No buyer was ever found for this equipment, and it remained in place.
Part of the old yard property was purchased by Baumann’s scrap yard. Over the years Baumann’s bought and scrapped numerous pieces of mine equipment, vehicles and other scrap. Amazingly, the O&W’s cars remained intact, shorn of their trucks and used as storage sheds. Over the years the vegetation grew up to the point that the cars were encased in a forest of trees. Time was not kind to the cars, rust and weather took their toll. The roof on one of the RPO’s collapsed, and the side sheets of the others rotted through. Attempts to preserve the cars were unsuccessful, although to be honest they were probably too far gone to be restored. Some reports say that the cars were finally cut up just recently.
Here are some photos of the equipment over the years, a graphic reminder of the fate of the O&W.
Note: Baumann’s scrapyard is private property and trespassing without permission is not only illegal, but also not a good idea!
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RPO-Baggage #171 is seen is this Osgood-Bradley builder's photo from 1927. Originally painted green, at least one of the RPO's and one of the baggage cars were painted gray to match the diesels. |
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The interior of RPO-Baggage #171 when new. |
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Could this be the same car? Its almost impossible to tell... |
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The interior of the car above. Ironically, the reason for their continued existence also may have hastened their demise. The cars were used as storage sheds, and were full of rags and paper. The contents absorbed moisture which accelerated the rusting of the body panels. Compare this shot to the builder's photo above from the same angle, but some 75 years earlier. Its amazing how much remains - note the heater coils between the doors and the light fixtures that are still in place. |
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The outside of one of the baggage cars. This gives a pretty graphic reminder of just how far gone the body panels were. |
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A real gem - once - this wood coach sat alongside a parking area just off of the main road. Amazingly, although the exterior was in such bad shape most of the interior woodwork was still in great shape with its original varnish. Even some of the stained glass clerestory windows were intact. |
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This is the sad remains of caboose #8307. Interestingly, it showed that the wooden bodied cars were built over a steel framework. |