The new route, the cutoff, would ultimately eliminate two-thirds of this curvature, 2400 degrees, the equivalent of more than six and a half circles.
This was a decided improvement over the curves on the old route, some of which exceeded 6° (955.37 ft or 291.20 m radius, restricting trains to 35 mph or 56 km/h).
[1][page needed] The Cutoff was built in a manner similar to that of the Lackawanna Cut-Off in New Jersey that had opened in December 1911.
But unlike the New Jersey Cut-Off, which used reinforced concrete in all its structures, the Pennsylvania Cutoff used other materials (such as bricks) as well.
The Tunkhannock Viaduct at Nicholson, the line's namesake, is considered to be the world's largest concrete structure.
In 1990, The National Railroad Historical Society designated this structure as a historic railroad landmark.
The
Tunkhannock Viaduct
on the Nicholson Cutoff in 1989. Located near Milepost 162 in
Nicholson, Pennsylvania
, the bridge is 240 feet (73.15 m) high and 2,375 feet (724 m) long. It is believed to be the largest reinforced concrete structure in the world. The roadway,
US Route 11
, follows the right-of-way of the old line that the cutoff replaced.
The eastern starting point of the Nicholson Cutoff (
milepost
152) in Clarks Summit in 1989 shows three
Guilford Rail System
pusher units awaiting their next assignment after pushing a long freight up the grade from
Scranton, Pennsylvania
. Note the weed-covered switch in the foreground, a vestige of the old line that ran past the Clarks Summit passenger station, about a mile away on the hill to the left. The station was not rebuilt even though the new line was a considerable distance down the hill from the old line.
