Maybe others find this boring. But as a lifelong fan of Conrail I found it very informative and its certainly history. Lucknow and all the other Conrail facilities in PA did a top-notch job keeping the traffic running safely and had some of the best people in the industry working there. Now that NS essentially owns all of it it is not the same and Hollidaysburg and Altoona are shadows of what they were.
The observation car on the 765 excursion said Norfolk Southern on it and there were NS diesels mixed with Conrail diesels on the one freight train at Temple. NS took over some Conrail lines in PA including the ex-Reading and LV lines that the 765 ran on in 1998-1999. BM&R also ran excursions on Conrail in fall 1987 and May to October 1988 with #2102, the PRR E8's, and the Reading GP30 and Alco Century. 425 ran some Shopper's Specials to Norristown in Dec 1985 and Dec. 1987 and on the NJT/MN Port Jervis line in 1986. #2102 ran on the Port Jervis line in 1987.
You can ride this route anytime on Amtrak. It's the NS ex-Reading lines east of Harrisburg that have been freight only for decades and you currently can't ride. Amtrak had Autumn Express excursions in Nov 2014 and Oct 2016 that went through Reading, but there currently are no excursions at all on NS.
That was a VERY long excursion. Something like that won't happen again even with the PRR E8's owned by Bennett Levin in Philly the ex-Conrail E units, because of the March 2018 Amtrak excursion ban and the E's don't have PTC installed. And open window coaches with friction bearings like the RBMN owns are now banned from NS and all class 1's. Conrail was more lenient in the 80's and let Andy run excursions from fall 1987 through 1988. #2102 also ran four excursions from Temple in Sept. 1985 after it traveled to Reading from Ohio. Andy bought the T-1 in 1986.
I remember this like it was yesterday - my mom, grandmother, grandfather and dad were all there. I remember feeling the thrill as they came screaming by, whistles filling the air while the ground shook under me. And boy, those E-8s glided rather than pulled. Behind the beloved steam engines, there was a jolt as the train started. But behind the E-8s, you barely realized the train had started! Thankfully, the Reading and Northern still runs its trains as fast today, and that is why they are so awesome! We get to see what railroading was.
B&O / CSX had a machine that wasn't as nice as this one in MK / Rowlesburg Tower. It controlled what became the end of double track after the 1985 flood took out the Cheat River Bridge and was rebuilt with just one track from MK to MP 254. I only saw it a time or two, and i don't know if it was code-controlled or hard-wired. It wasn't all that far away and probably wasn't in service more than five or six years before the double track was cut back to Blaser at the top of Cheat River Grade. It really looked like something a hobbyist would have built from old appliance knobs and Radio Shack parts.
One of the locomotives there is a H10 2-8-0, They used to run them in Long Island pulling loads from Queens towards Levittown which my Uncle saw when he was growing up in the 50s
1391, there is no way to left ( lift) the right of way. That has to be loaded with front end loaders and dump trucks IF it has any value. 4235, obviously it was Conrail as these are Conrail units and cars.
If 425 comes back and does a third time doubleheader with 2102, maybe 425 could lead the 2102 in the future! 425 could also doublehead with NKP 765 in the future as well!
Thank you for posting these. I have been a fan of Conrail since childhood and really miss these as well as the CP Rail trains too. I grew up in the Philly area and would see Conrail daily and CP sometimes.
Hello RWhite! I used to work at AT&T in Reading 20+ years ago, and spent many lunchtimes at "CP Schwambachs" diner parking lot watching and recording Conrail and R&N trains. I remember your Dad stopping there and had many conversations with him, along with a number of other railfans. Some names I remember were Paul (worked at Fromm Electric), one man who worked at Clover Farms Dairy, Fred Leer (Met Ed) and (sadly) some others whose names I can't recall. I really like the videos that you're sending to RU-vid! I posted a number on my own RU-vid channel (STC Yardmaster). I recently retired so I should have more time to compile and add to my collection. I plan to get back to the Reading area to do some "before and now" videos - although many of the locations that I used to shoot videos/photos from are now either too tree-covered, built-up, or otherwise inaccessible. Just like CP Belt. The diner is gone and replaced with a car dealership. ... STC Yerdmaster - just subscribed
Always was curious what it looked like inside the tower. My dad used to take me down there as a kid to watch them hump the trains. Everyone was friendly and didn’t mind you taking video.
What will the future be like for 5513? I’ve been hearing that she will be restored back into excursion service to ride the rails in the future by the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum!
Thanks for posting this if you have more please share it. I would love to see the 2102 run this line again. It's very doubtful it will happen. I talked to the manager of the line and he said when they ran the diesel excursion in 2009 some of the spectators were disrespecting people's property and getting into fights. He also said this line is not up to spec. for passenger service.
This route will never happen again. NS now owns the former Conrail lines since 1998 or 1999. They had a newer steam program from Sept. 2011 to May 2017 and the 765 did visit Harrisburg for employee excursions in 2012, and public excursions from Lewistown to Horseshoe Curve May 2013 and Bethlehem to Pittston August 2015. I was on both 765 excursions in PA. RBMN will only run excursions on their own track now. The Amtrak AEM7’s and heritage coaches are extinct now, some coaches wound up on tourist railroads. A couple AEM7’s were preserved for display, the rest were probably scrapped. They have newer electric locomotives by Siemens.
This was the final off line excursion on Conrail before BM&R and Conrail pulled the plug. Now RBMN has their own track to get to Jim Thorpe through Tamaqua. Most of the Conrail track is now NS except for the track north of Reading which Andy Muller bought in Dec 1990. You can ride behind the 2102 from Reading to Jim Thorpe again, it first ran again last year and will be running again for several dates starting in July this year. The boarding in Reading is along Rt. 61.
