After Elizabeth left for breakfast and to open the registration room until the buses departed, I arose and did my Internet duties before walking over to Dunkin' Donuts and ordering a cream-filled doughnut and an orange juice. I returned to the Hilton and met Dan Meyer, who was in the bus host in charge of Bus 1 again, and formed the line for his bus. Once everyone was aboard all three buses, we drove Interstate 83 East to Pennsylvania Highway 183 to US Highway 222 to Reading, then Pennsylvania Highway 12 to Pottsville Pike and turned right into Outer Reading Station.
Reading & Northern Railroad ExcursionThe Reading & Northern Railroad, also known as Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad, is a regional railroad with over 400 miles of track in eastern Pennsylvania. It began operating in 1983 and runs freight services and passenger excursions. The railroad's excursion fleet includes Rail Diesel Cars built by Budd in the 1950s for various railroads. RDCs have functional windows, clean restrooms and are climate controlled. The Railroad's main steam shops are in Port Clinton which is home to their three steam locomotives. On this day, we will ride chartered motor coaches from the Hotel to Reading Outer Station, where we will board the train for the trip to Minersville. At Minersville, we will detrain to pick up a box lunch and view a depot, heavyweight business car and steam locomotive Jersey Central 113 on static display. After re-boarding the train, the excursion will continue via Pottsville en route to Port Clinton, where we will detrain and tour the steam shops. After the tour we will re-board the train for the return trip back to Reading Outer Station, where we will re-board the motor coaches for return back to the Hotel. Photo runbys are planned for this day.
Outer Reading Station tower.
Our trainset for the trip.
Members who could not negotiate the stairs used the pathway to access the train. I boarded the first coach and soon Elizabeth found my seat; she would be selling convention merchandise in the middle RDC.
The Reading and Northern Company map.
Resume Speed signpost.
My souvenir ticket for the trip.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern RDC1 9168, ex. Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority 9168, nee New York Central M499, built by the Budd Company in 1950.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern RDC3 0166, ex. Reading Company 1966, nee Boston and Maine 6305, built by the Budd Company in 1958.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern RDC1 9167, ex. Metro North Commuter Railway 43, exx. Southern Railroad Company of New Jersey 7, exxx. New York Susquehanna & Western M7, exxxx. Penn Central 43, nee New Haven and Hartford 43, built by the Budd Company in 1953.
Reading Outer Station before our departure. I visited with Elizabeth and bought a large golf shirt and a convention hat then returned to my seat for our on-time departure to Minersville at 10:00 AM.
Just outside of the station, we passed a Reading Blue Mountain & Northern freight train which had Reading Blue Mountain & Northern SD50-2 5019, ex. CSX 8550, nee Seaboard Air Line 8550 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1984 and DPU Reading Blue Mountain & Northern SD40-2 3068, ex. Conrail 6469, nee Norfolk Southern 3397 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1978.
Schuylkill River.
Looking out of the front of the lead RDC.
NRHS members in my RDC.
Views from the front of the lead RDC.
A green signal keeps us going.
We came to a yellow-over-red signal.
Milepost 74.
These white flowering shrubs are invasive.
Curving into West Hamburg.
The West Hamburg station sign.
A yellow-over-double-red signal means we were nearing Port Clinton.
Two versions of Reading Blue Mountain & Northern hopper cars, 7040 and 8632.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern box car 82201.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern GP38-2 2014, ex. Norfolk Southern 5603, exx. Norfolk Southern 2833, nee Southern 2822, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1971.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern SD50 2049, nee Missouri Pacific 5049, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1984.
We curved out of Port Clinton passing Reading Blue Mountain & Northern hopper cars.
Now we were on the Minersville Branch.
A coal car along our route.
Out on the mainline.
Schuylkill River, which flows for 135 miles from Pottsville southeast to Philadelphia, where it joins the Delaware River as one of its largest tributaries. The river's watershed of about 2,000 square miles lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania, stretching from the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians through the Piedmont to the Atlantic Plain. Historically the Schuylkill lay within the territory of the Susquehannock and Lenape peoples. In 1682, William Penn founded the city of Philadelphia between the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers on lands purchased from the Lenape Indian tribe. The Schuylkill River became key in the development of the city and the surrounding region. While long used for transport, the river was made fully navigable via the Schuylkill Canal in 1825, followed by the construction of the Reading Railroad Main Line in 1838 and the Schuylkill Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1884. Through these corridors, millions of tons of anthracite coal flowed down the Schuylkill from the Coal Region to its north in Northeast Pennsylvania. The canal was abandoned in 1931, while the Schuylkill Expressway was completed in 1959.
Rolling down the line.
Our Reading Blue Mountain & Northern engineer.
Continuing down the line.
Milepost 87.
Rolling down the railroad.
Milepost 88.
We curved into the Schuylkill Township. The word "Schuylkill" means "Hidden River" in Dutch. The first non-native settlers in the area were Swedish and Holland-Dutch families who moved westward along the Schuylkill River soon after William Penn's founding of Philadelphia.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Schuylkill Haven station built in 1901.
The line to Pottsville diverged from our route and is to the right.
We curved by some tank cars.
Entering West Cressona.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern GP38-2 2017, ex. Norfolk and Western 5259, exx. Conrail 8042, nee Penn Central 8042, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1973.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern SD40-2 3059, ex. Norfolk Southern 3327, nee Southern 3327, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1979.
The West Cressona restoration shop.
An unknown passenger car behind some gondolas.
Reading West Cressona station built in 1911.
Leaving West Cressona.
Rolling along to Minersville.
Our conductor punching our souvenir tickets.
On the way to Minersville.
An industry in Minersville.
We went around this bend and saw Minersville station.
Milepost 7 came into view.
Approaching Minersville Reading station.
Central of New Jersey 0-6-0 113 built by American Locomotive Company in 1923. It was sold in 1953 to Philadelphia & Reading Coal and Iron Company 113 then became Philadelphia & Reading Corporation 113 in 1955. A year later, it was transferred to Reading Anthracite Coal Company 113 then in 1980, donated to Historic Red Clay Valley Incorporated then sold to R&R Railway in Minersville.
Since 1979, when the late Mr. Robert Kimmel, Sr., started a complete restoration project of this steam engine, called Project 113, numerous volunteers and area partners, including the Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern and the NRHS, have donated both money and time to help make the restoration a success. The restoration is still occurring and one of the volunteers was on hand inside the station, selling souvenirs with all proceeds going to Project 113. Many of our members, including myself and Elizabeth, purchased various clothing items and other souvenirs.
Central of New Jersey 0-6-0 113.
Central of New Jersey observation car 98 built by Harlan & Hollingsworth in 1914. The car was acquired by the Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern around October 1966. This car was not purchased by the railroad directly. Instead, four men from within the organization each chipped in $200 to cover the car's $800 purchase price. Motivation for the purchase was to provide the public with "something new" in 1967. Number 98 was moved to the south end of the back track behind the station. The back track or "museum track" was home to an collection of static displays and other attractions. This collection included 0-4-0 Cooke locomotive 3 at the north end of the track followed by LNE caboose 512, Atlantic City car 72, Baltimore and Ohio coach 4111 and then Central of New Jersey 98. The collection was called the Museum Train and was run by a separate non-profit organization called the Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern Rail Road and Historical Foundation. They planned to call 98 the "Mountain Queen" and had some grand restoration plans including a Royal Purple paint job. But the Foundation appears to have fizzled out with the railroad's closure at the end of 1968.
When the railroad came back in 1970, the Historical Foundation was gone and everything on the back track was repurposed. By 1973 car 98 was back in active service as an extra-fare or party/charter car. It was re-lettered for the Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern and named "The Golden Hawk". As early as 1976, the car was regularly chartered by the Horlacher Brewing Company of Allentown. The Golden Hawk lettering was covered over by a red rectangular paint patch with "The Horlacher Club" in yellow lettering. The design also included a yellow suit of clubs symbol and a yellow border around the red rectangle. The livery was topped off with gold platform railings and a purple and orange drumhead. The brewery hosted outings two Sundays a month with a keg on tap. Horlacher had been struggling financially and went out of business in 1978 still owing money to the railroad. The red and yellow Horlacher Club logo was covered with a black or olive paint patch and the car was never re-lettered.
The car was deteriorating by the 1980's but apparently there was one particular group that continued to hold their annual company picnic at the WK&S and would always charter "The Golden Hawk". That would have been the car's last stand at the WK&S. Throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s and into the new millennium, 98 was out of service and left as a victim of weather and vandals. starting in 2003 and continuing in 2004, it underwent a partial cosmetic restoration including some body patching, a new roof coating and a new coat of olive paint. In 2004 a deal was struck to send 98 to Minersville and it became part of the Railway Restoration Project 113. In exchange, the WK&S received a 1956 General Electric 65-ton center-cab 734. Number 98 finally left the property on January 3, 2007 and since arriving at Minersville, the car has been re-lettered for the CNJ.
The RDCs at rest.
Reading Railroad Minersville station built in 1913.
Anyone who wanted to was allowed in the cab of the steam engine.
Elizabeth and Roger Hooson, a new member of the Central Coast Chapter, of which Elizabeth is National Representative.
The rear of Central of New Jersey 0-6-0 113. We picked up our lunches, which were being distributed by Dan Meyer, Dawn Holmberg and Elizabeth, and I had a plain turkey sandwich, thank you John Goodman for arranging for the special lunches today.
Once everyone was aboard, we started the journey back to West Cressona.
Schuylkill River. We arrived at West Cressona for a photo runby.
We passed the two locomotives that were here this morning.
The reverse move for the photo runby.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern SD40-2 3054, nee Chicago and North Western 6867 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1964.
The West Cressona station.
Photo runby one.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern SD40-2 3059, ex. Southern 3327, nee Norfolk Southern 3327 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1979. We all reboarded the RDCs and made our way to Pottsville.
The train went by those tank cars again.
The line ahead to Pottsville.
The leg on the wye we did not use.
On the way to Pottsville and the rare mileage portion of this excursion since only Santa Trains use this line.
Milepost 91 signpost.
Still on the way to Pottsville.
Milepost 92 signpost.
Continuing the journey.
Pottsville Junction.
Riding the remaining miles to Pottsville.
Milepost 93 signpost.
We were all almost to Pottsviile.
The track bumper in Pottsville and the end of our rare mileage. The engineer switched ends and we proceeded to our next photo runby location in Auburn.
The reverse move.
Photo runby two.
Photo runby three under the rail trail bridge that was the Pennsylvania Railroad Schuylkill Division, which connected with the Lehigh Valley at Morea.
Photo runby four.
Photo runby five, after which everyone reboarded.
On the way to Port Clinton, where most members detrained.
Tender of Reading Blue Mountain & Northern 425.
Tender of Reading Blue Mountain & Northern 2102.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern SW8 803, ex. Conrail 8684, nee Leigh Valley 270, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1951.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern 4-8-4 2102, ex. 1985 move to Reading, exx. 1980 sold to Rails Diversified of Ohio, exxx. 1974 moved to Brownsville, nee. 1967 moved to Reading, built by the railroad in 1945.
The company, using parts from a former 76-foot Class I-10sa Consolidation 1923 Baldwin locomotive, created a fleet of 30 middleweight engines in the T-1 series. The goal of building these locomotives was to be able to haul both freight and passenger traffic along the rails. The original Baldwin-built I-10 class, which were large 2-8-0 locomotives, would become the T-1 class, converted to much larger 4-8-4 engines by redesigning and lengthening the boiler and replacing the frame and wheels with brand new parts. Baldwin supplied the parts, but the rebuilding was done in the Reading Railroad's own shops in Reading.
Over the next decade, the 2102 pulled both freight and coal hoppers through Schuylkill County along the Reading Lines. Many still remember the sound of the 2102, a musical mixture of chugs and puffs as the wheels pushed against the cold steel of the rails and the steam hissed from the boiler. The combination of mechanical engineering perfection and a time long ago, when coal was king and iron horses raced across the region, echoed through valleys as she glided along her path, being heard miles away before she was seen.
Many of 2102’s sister engines fell to time and deterioration, and by 1958, most had been put into storage where they rusted and crumbled to the elements, were picked clean for parts and later scrapped. But the 2102, along with T-1s 2100, 2101 and 2124 continued their journeys.
Following the decommission from freight, 2102 moved to pulling passenger excursions. It led a number of “Iron Horse Rambles” along with 2100 and 2124 until the very popular outings ceased in October 1964 as a result of high locomotive repair costs and declining economic conditions. The others eventually found homes with 2100 in storage in Ohio, 2101 at The B&O Museum in Maryland and 2124 at Steamtown National Historic Park in Scranton. 2102 was sold to private owners in Ohio in 1967.
Over the next few decades, the 2102 resided at a number of railroads in Ohio and western Pennsylvania. It was finally brought HOME to Reading in 1985 by the Reading Company Technical and Historical Society and Conrail. In 1986 the 2102 was purchased by Andy Muller Jr. for use on the Blue Mountain and Reading Railroad (now the Reading & Northern).
When he acquired the 2102, Muller was just beginning his venture in the railroad industry. He saw the potential in this engine and began making plans for it. 2102 became the crown jewel of the railroad and popularity in steam began to grow. In addition to the BM&R running between Hamburg & Temple, 2102 pulled excursions to such places as Philadelphia, Gettysburg and on a New Jersey Transit trip from Hoboken, New Jersey to Port Jervis, New York.
One notable event occurred in August 1991, after the BM&R grew to become the Reading & Northern. 2102 led the “Anthracite Express” on a 4½-hour, 75-mile round-trip excursion from Tamaqua to Port Clinton and Reading. The express was the first train to leave Tamaqua in 25 years and was held in honor of the 160th anniversary of the Little Schuylkill Navigation Railroad, the first railroad in the United States to haul coal with a steam locomotive. Nearly 800 passengers from all over the tri-state area, as well as rail enthusiasts from as far away as Florida, graced the seats of the excursion.
Four years later, Muller moved the engine to Steamtown in Scranton for minor restoration work. The 2102 was brought back to Port Clinton in 1998 for display at the railroad's open house and then stored alongside steam locomotive 425, where it remained until 2016.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern 4-6-2 425, ex. sold to Brian Woodcock, exx. leased to Valley Forge Scenic Railroad 425, exxx. sold to Malcolm Ottinger in 1962, exxxx. Gulf Sand & Gravel Corporation 2 at Shiloh, Louisiana, exxxxx. sold to Gulf Sand & Gravel Corp. (Louisiana Eastern 4) in 1950, exxxxx. Gulf Mobile & Ohio 580 in 1940, nee Gulf, Mobile & Northern 425 built by Baldwin in January 1928.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern 4-8-4 2102.
Wheel True Shop. Once everyone boarded, we departed for Reading Outer Station.
A line of locomotives.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern SD50 5049, ex. Union Pacific 5049, nee Missouri Pacific 5049, built by Electro-Motiove Division in 1984.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern GP38-2 2014, ex. Norfolk Southern 5603, exx. Norfolk Southern 2833, nee Southern 2833, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1971.
Reading Blue Mountain & Northern SD50 5014, ex. Union Pacific 5014, nee Missouri Pacific 5014, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1984.
We returned to Reading Outer Station about twenty minutes later and I detrained a very happy railfan. Once Dan had everyone's attention, he read out all our names and we answered him. That way, he knew everyone who should be on board board Bus 1 was indeed on board. We drove past the Reading Railroad Museum in Hamburg so everyone could see where it was before entering Interstate 83 and returned to Harrisburg.
Elizabeth returned to the registration room until mid-evening and I went to Subway to get her some dinner, as well as myself. I returned to our hotel room and ate my dinner then caught upon e-mail and continued working on stories until we called it a night.
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