Product Details

Intricately engraved antique bond certificate from the Wilkes-Barre and Eastern Railroad Company dating back to the 1890's. This document, which is signed by the company President and Secretary, was printed by the Homer Lee Bank Note Company and measures approximately 10" (w) by 15" (h).

The certificate's detailed vignette features a train steaming down the tracks along a river.

Images

You will receive the exact certificate pictured.

Please note there are tape repairs on the verso.

Historical Context

The Wilkes-Barre & Eastern Railroad (WB&E) was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYS&W). It was charted in 1892 as a way for the NYS&W to bring coal from the mines in northeastern Pennsylvania directly to the NYS&W for delivery to the dock sides in Edgewater, NJ. Previously the Susquehanna was contracting the coal haulage in Pennsylvania to the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western. The Lackawanna originally brought the loads of coal to their interchange with the NYS&W at Gravel Place, PA. From there, the Susquehanna would haul the coal to their interchange with the Pennsylvania Railroad in New Jersey. With the WB&E in place and under their control along with their coal own distribution facilities in Edgewater, the NYS&W had direct way to move the coal from the mine to the market without having to rely on (and pay) two additional railroads. After the Erie Railroad gained control of the NYS&W in 1898 the Wilkes-Barre & Eastern became less important as coal traffic was diverted to the Erie's Wyoming Division. Unable to pay the interest on its mortgage bonds the WB&E filed for both bankruptcy and abandonment in 1937. An every other day local freight train continued to run until the line was abandoned in 1939. Except for a small stub of track in Suscon, PA and the bridge over the Susquehanna River, nothing remains today of the WB&E.

While there are no operating sections of the Wilkes-Barre and Eastern Railroad extant today, buildings from its car and locomotive shops are still standing in East Stroudsburg, near the ShopRite store. "The Olde Engine Works" now an antique shop, was formerly a Wilkes-Barre and Eastern car shop. Tracks still run through the middle of the building and a large crane is still there. Following Routes 940 West and some sections of Route 380 North near the junction with Route 80 in Mt. Pocono, traces of the right of way are clearly visible through the woods. Long Pond Road near the village of Little Summit intersects with the right of way and was a grade crossing at one time. Following Route 940 West towards Pocono Pines the right of way is easily visible through the lake on the right as are stanchions from a bridge that was once there. The railroad has been abandoned for almost 70 years but many of its structures and miles or right-of-way are still in existence.