Bracketing The Budds
Fall weekends in Pennsylvania finds passenger trains running all over the Reading and Northern system. On this soggy Saturday in addition to the big trip from North Reading behind steam locomotive 2102, the railroad was running eight LGSR trips from Jim Thorpe into the gorge, a round trip down from Pittston and a round trip from Pottsville.
The latter is what is seen here after arriving from Pottsville with three RBMN Budd RDCs which were led south by SD40-2 3052 (I'm not sure why they weren't running on their own power). After adding RBMN 2012 (GP38-2 blt. Sep. 1979 as high hood SOU 5256) to the north end and boarding passengers they are on the move departing the yard at MP 78.3 on modern day RBMN's Reading Division mainline.
Home of the RBMN's corporate offices, dispatching center, locomotive shop, and covered train shed for their OCS equipment Port Clinton is a railfan's delight with props galore like this Reading Anthracite sign and the historic signal bridge that was saved and reinstalled here (if anyone knows where it was originally I'd love to know). Now fully equipped with a CTC signaled mainline there was virtually nothing here in 1996 when the RBMN chose this site for their new centralized headquarters and shop complex. When the Reading Cluster was acquired from Conrail in 1990 the only thing to be found in this spot was a lonely unsignaled switch in the middle of the woods.
Port Clinton, Pennsylvania
Saturday October 14, 2023
Bracketing The Budds
Fall weekends in Pennsylvania finds passenger trains running all over the Reading and Northern system. On this soggy Saturday in addition to the big trip from North Reading behind steam locomotive 2102, the railroad was running eight LGSR trips from Jim Thorpe into the gorge, a round trip down from Pittston and a round trip from Pottsville.
The latter is what is seen here after arriving from Pottsville with three RBMN Budd RDCs which were led south by SD40-2 3052 (I'm not sure why they weren't running on their own power). After adding RBMN 2012 (GP38-2 blt. Sep. 1979 as high hood SOU 5256) to the north end and boarding passengers they are on the move departing the yard at MP 78.3 on modern day RBMN's Reading Division mainline.
Home of the RBMN's corporate offices, dispatching center, locomotive shop, and covered train shed for their OCS equipment Port Clinton is a railfan's delight with props galore like this Reading Anthracite sign and the historic signal bridge that was saved and reinstalled here (if anyone knows where it was originally I'd love to know). Now fully equipped with a CTC signaled mainline there was virtually nothing here in 1996 when the RBMN chose this site for their new centralized headquarters and shop complex. When the Reading Cluster was acquired from Conrail in 1990 the only thing to be found in this spot was a lonely unsignaled switch in the middle of the woods.
Port Clinton, Pennsylvania
Saturday October 14, 2023