Nesquehoning Three Ways
I found myself back in Jim Thorpe this weekend for reasons that should need no explanation to even the the most casual of railfans!
So here is a fun little trifecta of shots taken at the exact same spot of three very different trains on three consecutive days highlighting the diversity of operations to be found along the rails of the Reading and Northern Railroad. All three of these shots are taken looking compass west (railroad south) at about MP 117.7 on the modern day RBMN's Reading Division mainline. I'm standing on Mill Street as the train approaches the Allen Street crossing just behind me cutting through a residential neighborhood in the small town that owes its existence (just like the railroad) to once mighty anthracite coal industry.
This trackage is former Central Railroad of New Jersey having been built in 1870 as Nesquehoning Valley Railroad Company. This stretch of the mainline is newly acquired having finally been purchased outright in June 2021 from Carbon County which saved the 18.5 miles of line from Packerton Junction to Haucks in 1981 when it was up for abandonment. Operated for a time by the Panther Valley Railroad and then the C&S Railroad, RBMN has been the defacto operator of the line under contract to C&S since 2004 so things really won't look different. The big changes will come in terms of infrastructure investment now that the railroad wholly owns the property they intend to upgrade the line and install signals so that it meets the same high standards as the rest of the mainline and is a fully CTC signaled continuous mainline from Reading to Pittston.
You can read more at this link: www.rbmnrr.com/s/Magazine-Final-Summer-2021-compressed_1.pdf
For train three on day three we see symbol OSJT the regular weekend all day excursion from Reading Outer Station a bit over 60 miles to Jim Thorpe where passengers have 3 1/2 hrs to enjoy the scenic and popular tourist town before returning home. This day's train consisted of two of the three fully operational self propelled Budd RDCs the railroad owns, 9166 and 9168. The lead one is an RDC-3 blt. in Feb. 1958 as Boston and Maine 6305 and 9168 trailing is an RDC-1 blt. in Apr. 1951 as New York Central M499.
Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania
Sunday August 14, 2022
Nesquehoning Three Ways
I found myself back in Jim Thorpe this weekend for reasons that should need no explanation to even the the most casual of railfans!
So here is a fun little trifecta of shots taken at the exact same spot of three very different trains on three consecutive days highlighting the diversity of operations to be found along the rails of the Reading and Northern Railroad. All three of these shots are taken looking compass west (railroad south) at about MP 117.7 on the modern day RBMN's Reading Division mainline. I'm standing on Mill Street as the train approaches the Allen Street crossing just behind me cutting through a residential neighborhood in the small town that owes its existence (just like the railroad) to once mighty anthracite coal industry.
This trackage is former Central Railroad of New Jersey having been built in 1870 as Nesquehoning Valley Railroad Company. This stretch of the mainline is newly acquired having finally been purchased outright in June 2021 from Carbon County which saved the 18.5 miles of line from Packerton Junction to Haucks in 1981 when it was up for abandonment. Operated for a time by the Panther Valley Railroad and then the C&S Railroad, RBMN has been the defacto operator of the line under contract to C&S since 2004 so things really won't look different. The big changes will come in terms of infrastructure investment now that the railroad wholly owns the property they intend to upgrade the line and install signals so that it meets the same high standards as the rest of the mainline and is a fully CTC signaled continuous mainline from Reading to Pittston.
You can read more at this link: www.rbmnrr.com/s/Magazine-Final-Summer-2021-compressed_1.pdf
For train three on day three we see symbol OSJT the regular weekend all day excursion from Reading Outer Station a bit over 60 miles to Jim Thorpe where passengers have 3 1/2 hrs to enjoy the scenic and popular tourist town before returning home. This day's train consisted of two of the three fully operational self propelled Budd RDCs the railroad owns, 9166 and 9168. The lead one is an RDC-3 blt. in Feb. 1958 as Boston and Maine 6305 and 9168 trailing is an RDC-1 blt. in Apr. 1951 as New York Central M499.
Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania
Sunday August 14, 2022