The Lackawana Cutoff is located almost entirely within the State of New Jersey, except for the final few feet as it crosses the Delaware River and ties into the tracks on the Pennsy side of the river. It's the Lack Cutoff that is currently out of service, however NJT has started working on restoring the first few miles of that line.Part of the reason (and a good one too) is that there are no tracks on portions of the route. From Scranton to Syracuse I know there is, while PHL to Scranton I'm not sure of. Is this part of the Lackawana (sp?) Cutoff?
Norfolk Southern still uses the tracks on the Pennsy side where the Lack Cutoff merges at Slateford Junction. Unfortunately the line heads into New Jersey further south and doesn't reach Philly. The most direct route from Philly is no longer intact, but would involve using SEPTA tracks to Lansdale, then north to Quakertown. Unfortunately north of Quakertown on the way to Allentown the tracks are not only gone, but so is part of the ROW from what I've heard. Not sure if there is an alternate routing that could be built to get around that spot.
If they could get to Allentown, then it would be possible to tie into the NS line to Scranton just over the river in NJ.
Currently the only intact rail route that I can see to get to Scranton from the south would involve leaving the Amtrak line in Harrisburg and heading up along the Susquehanna River through Shamokin, Bloomsburg, and Wilkes Barrie to reach Scranton.
Alternatively you could head east into Central NJ and then assuming that there is a track connection in the Manville/Bound Brook area that goes in the right direction, turn west to run back to the NS line along the D. River in PA.
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