The Owego & Harford and the Tioga Scenic.

The Owego & Harford Railway began service on May 1, 1992, after the Tioga Central left Owego. Owego & Harford is currently the freight operator of the line between Owego & Harford Mills, and the Tioga Scenic offered passenger excursions between 1992 and 2005.
 

The Owego & Harford is controlled by Steven C. May, who also controls
The Luzerne & Susquehanna Railway. - source
The Meridian Southern Railway in Mississippi.
And in 2009 a fourth shortline has been created in the O&H family, the new Lehigh Railway.
 

The first locomotive used by the new OHRY was leased Lackawanna Valley MLW RS18 1801
This unit is now GVT 1801, (Depew, Lancaster & Western) currently (2008) stored in 
Batavia, NY

(see page 2 for a complete history and timeline)
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

And thats everything as far as known Owego & Harford units.
Only the four units above, 40, 151, 1216 and 1811.
 

However.. there are several ambigious units! ;)

There are actually five more units associated with the O&H and TS!
 

1.) a photo here: http://www.newyorkrailroads.com/gvt/roster/gvtphoto2/index.htm says:
"Former Lackawanna Valley RS18 # 1801 was working on the Owego & Harford RR in Owego, NY on November 28, 1992.
 Unit would become GVT's DL&W #1801.  [photo by Tom Trencansky]"
I believe this unit was leased, and never actually owned by OHRY.
 

2.) The October 1995 issue of Railpace has a photo, with a caption that reads:
"Owego & Harford has aquired Conrail SW1500 9562, seen at Newark Valley, NY August 6, 1995"
But the locomotive in the photo shows FULL Conrail markings..
nothing crossed out, no O&H reporting marks or anything like that..
its wearing completely un-altered CR markings..which makes me think it might also
have been a leased unit, and not actually owned by the O&H.
Further research shows that this unit transferred from CR to NS in 1999, and is now
NS 2221, which further implies it was simply leased by the O&H, and not owned.
 

3.) A photo here: http://www.jefflubchanskycpa.com/shorts.html
and a reference here: http://www.trainweb.org/emdloco/10400.htm
mentions a OHRY SW7 #50.
LUZERNE  SW7 #50 OUT OF ALTOONA WITH IT'S NEW PAINT JOB.
EX PRR 9363, PC 9089, CR 9089, OHRY 50.
#50 is currently operating on the Luzerne & Susquehanna.
did this unit ever actually operate in Owego? I dont believe it has,
but I don't know for sure.

4.) Was there once a TS30? (see Tioga Scenic section below)

5.) RS11u 1850, see below.
 

That would make two presumed leased units on the O&H:
GVT RS11 1801
Conrail SW1500 9562

Can anyone shed any light on any of these locomotives and their specific relationship to the O&H?
 
 

There has been a second MLW RS18u sitting in Owego for many years, the 1850.
which is still in Owego as I write this. (late 2008)

For the last 10 years, it has generally been believed that 1850 is privately owned and had been merely stored in Owego all this time, and is not in fact owned by the O&H.

1850 arrived in Owego along with the 1811 in 1998, and has been sitting there, mostly unused,
ever since. 1850 is still wearing its CP red paintscheme.

Some discussion about the 1850, its owner, and status, (it was for sale in 2005)
can be found here.  The "for sale" listing from 2005 said 1850 was then owned by
"Cayuga Rail Leasing, LLC" based in Syracuse, NY.

However during the last few years (2006-2008) 1850 has now been seen wearing LS reporting
marks, (The LS reporting marks were not there in 2005!) which implies the 1850 is now owned by the OHRY/LS, but apparently the unit was planned for the LS, was never actually owened by LS, and is *still* privately owned and still does not officially belong to the O&H or LS! 
unless I hear otherwise, im keeping 1850 off the O&H roster for now.

I believe any rosters that show this unit as belonging to the O&H or LS are likely incorrect,
but its been a very ambigious unit lately..
 

Model - MLW RS18u
Built - May 1957
Bld No. - 81613
Arrived - 1998 Owego 
History: 
 1957 - Built by MLW as Canadian Pacific RS18 8738 
 1989 - rebuilt by CP into a RS18u, nose chopped, and renumbured to CP 1850. - source
 1998 - sold to "Cayuga Railway" by CP on 4/30/1998, arrived in Owego in May '98. - source
             (The reference to "Cayuga Railway" on the CP RS18 webpage is likely incorrect,  and "Cayuga Rail Leasing, LLC"
                 was actually meant. There is no modern "Cayuga Railway" that is an actual, operating railroad.) 
 2006 - 2008 - is wearing LS reporting marks, but is believed still owned by Cayuga Rail Leasing.
 2008 - Still stored in Owego. 
 

The Tioga Scenic started up in 1992, alongside the O&H, taking over the passenger excursion
side of the Owego operation after the Tioga Central left town.

The Tioga Scenic was owned and operated by the Owego & Harford.
essentially the same operation as the O&H, just given the name "Tioga Scenic" 
for the excursion side of the operation.

Tioga Scenic - passenger excursions only.
Owego & Harford - freight only.

I am aware of only one locomotive that was specifically lettered for the Tioga Scenic,
EMD SW1 No. 40.

The number 40 was painted green while it operated the excursion trains 1996 - 2005,
with "Tioga Scenic Railroad" in gold lettering on the side.

The Tioga Scenic ran its last excursion trains in autumn 2005, then ceased passenger excursions.
Near the end of excursion operations, The number 40 was painted solid red, with no markings other than the number 40.  (it is seen in Red in September 2005)
and still remains in Owego as of August 2008. It is believed the unit is still owned by the O&H,
although she currently has no reporting marks.
 
 

We know that Number 30 and 40 were stored in Portland Maine from 1991 - 1995,
and arrived on the TS and LS in 1996.
before 1996 the TS excursion trains were powered by the O&H GP9 151.
 

Number 40 was in Owego by 1996, still wearing the previous Provencial Shortline colors.
 

Sister unit number 30 might have also belonged to the Tioga Scenic at some point! but its unclear..
this page refers to B&M 1127 becoming TS Number 30.
that reference, and here, refer to a Tioga Scenic number 30.

I suspect that the OHRY/LS/TC might have given locomotives reporting marks with the intention of that locomotive
going to a specific place..then, as plans changed, perhaps that loco never actually operated where its reporting marks
might lead us believe..

for example, number 30 might have been labeled TS 30 at some point, but then never actually operated in Owego.
Same with "OHRY 50" and "LS 1850"..but note, this is just speculation on my part! based only on reporting marks seen,
then the unit not seen where those marks would imply it "should" be! ;)

As far as I know, "TS 30" and "OHRY 50" never actually operated in Owego.
and..there are some references to "LS 40", but as far as I know, number 40 only operated in Owego!

Number 30 is now a Luzerne & Susquehanna unit, she was also once leased to the Delaware Lackawanna and was lettered DL 30.

Anyone know if Number 30 ever operated in Owego with the TS?
As far as I know, number 30 was never an Owego unit, only L&S.
and number 40 was never a LS unit, only TS in Owego.

B&M 1126 - B/N 18193 - ST 1405 - Provencial Shortline 40 - now number 40 in Owego.
B&M 1127 - B/N 18194 - ST 1406 - Provencial Shortline 30 - now number 30 on the Luzerne & Susquehanna.

(there are a few on-line rosters that have those numbers reversed:
B&M 1126 - B/N 18193 - ST 1405 - now number 30 on the Delaware-Lackawanna. (that is wrong)
B&M 1127 - B/N 18194 - ST 1406 - now number 40 in Owego. (that is wrong)

But that is clearly incorrect..and I can prove it! ;)
check out this pic..you can see B&M 1127 still showing on the front of the unit!

Continue to Page 5, The Luzerne & Susquehanna 

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