known as the Lackawanna Old Road, starting the railroad's decline. In 1945, DL&W officially bought the Warren Railroad. In 1955 revenue freight service ended on the Hampton Branch; the last train to operate on the line was a work train in 1956. The line was officially abandoned in 1958. The grand Changewater truss bridge and Route 31 bridge in Hampton were removed in April 1959. Trackage remained intact until 1963 when Erie Lackawanna removed all of it. Hurricane Diane caused extensive damage to the line at Delaware and Manunka Chunk in 1955. The PRR junction was soon abandoned. The Old Road Branch was then single tracked from Washington to Delaware. Storm damage in 1968 near Oxford, New Jersey, led to the railroad's demise. All remaining trackage was removed by April 1970 between Washington and Delaware. Track remained in Delaware for some time after the line south to Washington was torn up because it was needed for coal train back ups from the Portland power plant. Track was later shortened to the truss bridge over the Delaware River by 1980. Until about 15 years ago, coal trains still backed out on the truss bridge. Connections Two connections from other railroads were made to the Warren Railroad. The Blairstown Railway opened in 1877, from a connection to the Warren Railroad in Delaware to Blairstown. While the Blairstown Railway was a partial thoroughfare for the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad and the Lehigh & New England Railroad, the section from Delaware to Hainesburg was just a vestigial branch line known as the Delaware Branch, which was abandoned in 1928. The Belvidere Delaware Railroad (Bel Del) was extended north from Belvidere, New Jersey, to form a junction with the Warren Railroad at Manunka Chunk, which opened on May 16, 1864. The Pennsylvania Railroad operated to East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, via trackage rights. Passenger service ceased in 1952, and the tracks north of Belvidere to the junction were washed out by Hurricane Diane in 1955. The Lehigh and Hudson River Railway crossed beneath the Warren Railroad south of Bridgeville, without an interchange. References Predecessors of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Railway companies established in 1851 Railway companies disestablished in 1945 Defunct New Jersey railroads Lackawanna Cut-Off 1851 establishments in New Jersey 1945 disestablishments in New Jersey 1945 mergers and acquisitions