According to the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce, this is the site of "the first commercial locomotive on rails in the western hemisphere",[i] taking place on August 8, 1829.

In 1868, the charter of the Jefferson Railroad was reactivated and construction progressed from Hawley towards Honesdale, hoping to reach Carbondale.

Wayne County officials then made plans to purchase the branch from EL to avoid abandonment and to continue serving its remaining customers.

Rail Service Associates (RSA) formed the Delaware, Lackawaxen and Western Railroad to take over operations of the branch, and they began their feasibility study.

Early negotiations for subsidy came with the requirement that former union employees be made an offer for work at their current salary and benefit levels.

[6] The ownership of the tracks was still in question, so an emergency order was delivered by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to direct the LASB to operate the branch after March 30, 1976.

[10] The railroad was purchased from the estate of EL by the Lackawaxen-Honesdale Shippers Association (LHSA) in 1977, with operation contracted to DO.

[7] From 1980 to 1982, DO used federal funding to upgrade the LASB's trackage to class II standards, which allowed trains to travel on the line at 25 miles per hour (40 km/h).

[12] Service was suspended in 2005, when a bridge spanning the Wallenpaupack Creek was destroyed after Pennsylvania Power and Light made emergency water releases from the Lake Wallenpaupack Dam following heavy rains in April, 2005; heavy rainfalls in June 2006 further damaged the weakened structure.

[13] A grant of $800,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, plus $703,278 worth of FEMA money, were put towards repairing the trestle over Wallenpaupack Creek.

The line between Norfolk Southern Railroad and Route 590 in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania was repaired in anticipation of resumed service.

A news story dated September 11, 2012 provided additional details, stating "a lack of money is keeping the Stourbridge Line Railroad excursions in Wayne County idle for the first time in more than 30 years... [T]he train needs repairs, and so do the tracks.