ProRail 2026

New York, Susquehanna and Western with the Lehigh and Hudson River


Quick Overview

Owner

Jerry Dziedzic

Prototype

Proto-freelanced operations based on the New York Susquehanna & Western RR and the Lehigh & Hudson River Ry in northwestern New Jersey

Era

1947

Physical Location

32 miles west – About 0:35 travel time

Layout Dimensions

24’ x 36’ with adjoining 16′ x 22′ staging

Mainline Run

NYS&W Main – 3 scale miles, NYS&W Hanford Branch – 2 scale miles, L&HR Main – 2 scale miles

Scale

HO

Scenery

25%

Pets

None

Handicap Accessible

No

Description

The modeled territory includes the NYS&W mainline from Butler, NJ to Hainesburg Jct., NJ with the Hanford Branch from Beaver Lake, NJ to Unionville, NY and the L&HR mainline from Hudson (Phillipsburg), NJ to Maybrook, NY.

The Susquehanna was a vibrant northeastern carrier in 1947, reaching across northern NJ with coal, cement, and merchandise traffic to the metropolitan New York area. The road was one of the first Class One railroads to dieselize, acquiring a stable of Alco S-2s and RS-1s, but steam still saw occasional service.

Operations follow timetable and train order rules. Susquehanna runs mail and milk on first class schedules. Freights run as extras. L&HR sees symbol freight traffic from CNJ, LV, and PRR connections in the Phillipsburg area to the Maybrook gateway, along with trackage rights L&NE freights. Traffic over both lines is heavy, but well-suited for TT&TO operations.

New Jersey Zinc at Franklin, NJ is the layout’s major on-line shipper. It originates zinc ore traffic for both Susquehanna and L&HR. Other on-line traffic includes coal, feed, and building materials.

Operations

What to know about the operations of this layout.

Control System

Digitrax DCC with WiThrottles and secondary UT4D radio throttles

Dispatching

TT&TO governs NYS&W and smoke orders govern L&HR. Interlockings at East Sparta and Sparta Jct. govern movements at those points.

Communications

Company telephone OSing to DS

Car Routing

Car cards, 4 cycle waybills

What to Bring/Needed

Download full-featured WiThrottle or Engine Driver app on your phone or other device.

UT4D radio throttles available, but Wi-Fi throttles highly recommended and strongly preferred.

Pace

Easygoing

Crew Size

12

Operating Positions

Dispatcher

Operator/Towerman

Six road crews, including three two-man crews, rotate through jobs.

Gallery

Susquehanna’s Bridge 65.93 spanning Papakating Creek on the Hanford Branch inspired this scene.
CNJ Baldwin Baby Faces head L&HR HO-6 (Allentown to Maybrook) through Sparta Jct. while the L&HR Grab East works the interchange.
No. 104 arrives at Beaver Lake behind Susquehanna M-3002. No. 104 connects with No. 904 here, today headed by NYO&W 405. The big Y-class Mountain is a Hal Carstens memento.
Doesn’t an unexpected jackpot surprise many operating sessions? Here, three crews crowd Sussex (upper deck) and Blairstown (lower deck).
L&HR Extra 83 East holds at the Sparta Jct. home signal for NYS&W No. 101, the Stroudsburg Mail.
The M&U crew works customers in Unionville. That’s Middletown Milk on the left and Manning’s on the right.
Camelback types became common on eastern anthracite roads because burning hard coal demanded more grate area than soft coal. A O&W U-1 class 4-6-0 uses trackage rights to roll coal empties up the Hanford Branch.