Left to right, seated, Wes Tolley, Tom Melvin, Rich Janesko, Craig King. Standing, Jim Kosydar, Ken Jarvis, Sean Palermo, Dave Visoski, Mike Palermo, Carl Grill, Fred Reilly.

Workers on the Delaware Lackawanna Railroad (DL) became members of the BMWE in late November 1998 after the National Mediation Board certified that those voting unanimously chose the BMWE to represent them.

The DL is a short line railroad that operates approximately 55 miles of track in the Scranton, Pennsylvania area. DL is owned by the Lackawanna County Rail Authority and is currently operated under contract with the Genessee Valley Transportation Company (GVT).

The DL was incorporated in 1985 but most of the men worked on the same track in its previous incarnations. Craig King, Office/Extra Engineer, started in 1970 on the then Laurel Line, then Erie Lackawanna, then Conrail, then Pocono NE. Rich Janesko and Tom Melvin, Engineers, started in 1973 and 1974, respectively, on the Erie Lackawanna. Wes Tolley, Track Foreman and one of the in-house organizers, started in 1979 on the Delaware & Hudson, then Susquehanna, then DL. The BMWE represents all crafts on the DL, which besides the foregoing, also includes Signal Maintainer/Conductor Mike Palermo and Shop Machinist Fred Reilly in addition to other track positions.

The first lodge meeting was held on December 15, 1998, at which time Wes Tolley was elected as President, Craig King as Secretary-Treasurer and Rich Janesko as Local Chairman. Paul Swanson, Grand Lodge Director of Organizing, conducted the elections.

Stuart Hurlburt, BMWE General Chairman on the Northeastern System Federation, said he "looks forward to sitting down at the bargaining table and resolving issues quickly and fairly for our new members on the Delaware Lackawanna."