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November 4, 2006 I found my Champion Map Company Map of Scranton and Vicinity from the 1980s. I bought it shortly after I started driving so if I got lost I would have something to refer to. The map sat in my glove compartment for years. It is will worn and marked with my notes (more in this later). Most notable is the list of things that were yet to be built, like "Proposed Montage", "Proposed Sports Arena". It also shows stuff that is long gone, like Rocky Glen Park/Ghost Town Park, the Hampton Yard Roundhouse, the Scranton TB Hospital (That is still there) it shows the assylum in Ransom that is no longer there (that was a scary place to pass at night. It does a good job of showing the tracks at Coxton Yard, but sort of skips over Taylor Yard and Scranton w/ just a few tracks. Strange names of things are also on the map - the Foriegn Trade Zone by the Airport is listed as "Kreig Development" and the Taylor Shopping Center is listed as "Neway Shopping Center". I remember the Waynes store there at the bottom of Taylor Hill, but never Neway. It also shows some streets that no longer exist, like one going through were the Moffat Breaker used to be in Taylor. It does not show the streets in the Feltsville Patch, however. The map extends from Duryea to Scranton to Olyphant and Archbald. It shows Cabondale in an inset, and also shows Moscow, Clarks Summit and Clarks Green. A good feature is that is shows place names like "Busch Patch", "Austin Heights","Taylor" and "Providence". Some rail lines are show on it, but not in great detail. The map also shows Nay Aug Park extending past I-81 into what is now called East Mt. I marked up the map with my notes - Junk Yards were in aqua blue highlighter. Any yard or rail junction I circled with a thin red marker. Possible coal breaker sites or streets named "Breaker" were also circled in red. Too bad the breakers were removed maybe 30 years before I got there. The place I always would go to was the Viewmont Mall, and when you first started driving, this was very confusing (and maybe still is). Once I got in the wrong lane as was forced to go up "The Notch" to Chinchilla and turn around, since it is a 4-lane divided highway. Rt 6 was always very dangerous and several times I went to the now long gone Jewelcor and Service Merchandise up there. Lastly I have listed "Ultima Thule 1/9/90" Eynon Shopping Center - the old Enyon Drug. Once or twice I went back - once to the Pothole - which was just a hole in the ground and once to Carbondale. Saw that O&W painted unit #901 outside Carbondale but at that time I did not carry a camera with me. |