The Erie Lackawanna Historical Society, Inc. is an organization of over 1,100 individuals interested in the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad; the Erie Railroad; the Erie Lackawanna Railway; and related lines.

The Erie Lackawanna Historical Society was founded by a group of model train and railfan enthusiasts in 1971. Originally called the Erie Railfan Society, the group organized for the purpose of promoting the preservation and dissemination of historical information about the railroads that made up the Erie Lackawanna system. In 1983 the Erie Railfan Society was reincorporated as the Erie Lackawanna Historical Society, Inc. This allowed the name of the Society to better reflect the focus and mission of the Society's goals of providing coverage of not only the Erie and the Erie Lackawanna, but also the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western.

Our members have diverse interests and include historians, photographers and writers; archivists, preservationists and modelers; as well as general enthusiasts. A number of our members worked for one or more of the companies, or had family members who did. Still others watched from trackside, or now wish they had been able to do at least that.

In addition, the extent to which our members get involved varies: some work to document the story of these railroads, while others preserve or recreate the lines and equipment through their modeling efforts. Then, there are those who wish to read or hear about the lines, or study the pictures, artifacts or models. All of these people make up the ELHS, and it is their common interest in the DL&W, Erie, and Erie Lackawanna that brings us all together.

The Society's efforts in preservation and education include an archive of DL&W, Erie and EL material, publishing books on various topics ranging from specific classes of motive power to in depth histories of portions of the railroads and of course the regular publication of our Society magazine, The Diamond. The Society has reproduced several technical manuals including locomotive, passenger and freight equipment diagram books used by the railroads that are valuable references for the historian and modeler alike.

The ELHS also provides technical advice to model manufacturers developing models for the Erie Lackawanna and its predecessor railroads. This has been in the form of helping a manufacturer properly reproduce paint schemes, lettering and logos to providing information about equipment design and detailing. We encourage and welcome all opportunities to assist model railroad manufactures to help them produce models that are as historically accurate for the DL&W, Erie and EL as possible.