Brown Street By Morning
Today was a first. I arranged my first ever photo charter for a private group of friends on the Middletown and Hummelstown Railroad. This came about because of my quest to photograph as many street running railroads as I can. A post of photos by a friend ultimately led to a query to the railroad and before I knew it I'd rented the railroad for the day and was selling tickets!
The M&H runs about 1000 ft down Brown Street through the center of Middletown passing homes, an old school diner and down an alley beside a busy local grocery. This was what I wanted to shoot, but the railroad offers so much more as you will see.
Per the railroad's website, the original Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad Company was formed in 1888 by local businessmen. Construction of the line between its namesake boroughs was completed in 1890. From then until 1976 it was part of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, later the Reading Company. In 1976 upon the coming of Conrail the route was not included in the USRA's final system plan and a group of investors saved the line and created the current Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad, nicknamed "The Milk and Honey Line." Since then they have operated the 7-mile line between their namesake towns providing freight service, and in 1986 they began offering excursion passenger trains which have continued unabated for more than three decades. Freight service is provided to a Univar facility in Middletown that is currently the line's only regular active customer generating several hundred carloads a year. The remainder of the line as far as the bridge over Swatara Creek sees only the passenger trains and the last mile or so into Hummelstown has been out of service since 2011 when Tropical Storm Lee washed out the trackage just north of the bridge.
Anyway, the fine folks at the M&H opened their railroad to us, and at our behest put together a mixed freight behind their classic Alco S6 which was built in March 1956 for the Western Maryland. Trailing was a consist of two open hoppers (one ex C&O and one PRR), an old riveted tank car, a PFE reefer, a 1954 CNJ caboose, and a DL&W passenger MU cab car.
We ran shoved up through the street and posed the train beside Amtrak's Harrisburg Line main before returning to the yard, running around, and then shoving back to the end of serviceable track at the Swatara Creek bridge. A few photo stops were made on the return trip to Middletown where we wrapped up with some more street running with our train and then a bonus run with a second train. The railroad graciously put together a double header with their other two serviceable locomotives GE 65 tonners number 1 (blt. Aug. 1941 as US Army 7272) and number 2 (blt. Apr. 1955 as Standard Slag 46) a side dump hopper and six revenue modern tank cars. It was a day for the ages!
I shot hundreds of images and will have many to share but lets start with this.
M&H 151 shoves west up Brown Street passing the more than six decade old Kuppy's Diner with its classic neon sign becoming folks in for coffee and hash. And yes, we did have breakfast there to start the day and it was FABULOUS! If you like the good old American diner I highly recommend it.
Middletown, Pennsylvania
Saturday November 14, 2020
Brown Street By Morning
Today was a first. I arranged my first ever photo charter for a private group of friends on the Middletown and Hummelstown Railroad. This came about because of my quest to photograph as many street running railroads as I can. A post of photos by a friend ultimately led to a query to the railroad and before I knew it I'd rented the railroad for the day and was selling tickets!
The M&H runs about 1000 ft down Brown Street through the center of Middletown passing homes, an old school diner and down an alley beside a busy local grocery. This was what I wanted to shoot, but the railroad offers so much more as you will see.
Per the railroad's website, the original Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad Company was formed in 1888 by local businessmen. Construction of the line between its namesake boroughs was completed in 1890. From then until 1976 it was part of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, later the Reading Company. In 1976 upon the coming of Conrail the route was not included in the USRA's final system plan and a group of investors saved the line and created the current Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad, nicknamed "The Milk and Honey Line." Since then they have operated the 7-mile line between their namesake towns providing freight service, and in 1986 they began offering excursion passenger trains which have continued unabated for more than three decades. Freight service is provided to a Univar facility in Middletown that is currently the line's only regular active customer generating several hundred carloads a year. The remainder of the line as far as the bridge over Swatara Creek sees only the passenger trains and the last mile or so into Hummelstown has been out of service since 2011 when Tropical Storm Lee washed out the trackage just north of the bridge.
Anyway, the fine folks at the M&H opened their railroad to us, and at our behest put together a mixed freight behind their classic Alco S6 which was built in March 1956 for the Western Maryland. Trailing was a consist of two open hoppers (one ex C&O and one PRR), an old riveted tank car, a PFE reefer, a 1954 CNJ caboose, and a DL&W passenger MU cab car.
We ran shoved up through the street and posed the train beside Amtrak's Harrisburg Line main before returning to the yard, running around, and then shoving back to the end of serviceable track at the Swatara Creek bridge. A few photo stops were made on the return trip to Middletown where we wrapped up with some more street running with our train and then a bonus run with a second train. The railroad graciously put together a double header with their other two serviceable locomotives GE 65 tonners number 1 (blt. Aug. 1941 as US Army 7272) and number 2 (blt. Apr. 1955 as Standard Slag 46) a side dump hopper and six revenue modern tank cars. It was a day for the ages!
I shot hundreds of images and will have many to share but lets start with this.
M&H 151 shoves west up Brown Street passing the more than six decade old Kuppy's Diner with its classic neon sign becoming folks in for coffee and hash. And yes, we did have breakfast there to start the day and it was FABULOUS! If you like the good old American diner I highly recommend it.
Middletown, Pennsylvania
Saturday November 14, 2020