The Allentown/Bethlehem, Pennsylvania area can be frustrating and confusing if you don't know your way around.. This video shows you the more popular places to railfan if you're new....
I lived in Bethlehem for over 70 years. It was interesting watching how the trains from P-Burg all tied in up to Allentown. I also worked at the Beth Steel for 31 years. The history of the Steel is also very interesting. You touched on some of it.
Nice presentation sir! I enjoyed it, especially since I live here in the ABE Rail-Land all my life. A few things you didn't mention and may not even know about .... BOTH roundhouses that were here in the Heyday are completely gone .. only some concrete floor remains of either one :( .... the Bethlehem Curved Yards is only used anymore for storage of excess intermodal stock ... and the only way to get to the new intermodal transfer is by driving almost to Hellertown to get to the access street. Allentown Passenger Station still stands! In Bethlehem, the P/RR-LV/RR Station is still there and completely restored .. used by St. Luke's Hospital, And across the river from that one, the Jersey Central Freight Station & Storehouse are still there and in Great shape, being used for offices and a restaurant! Easton's Station ... what's left of it ... is a disaster! Regarding Railfanning ..... My apologies, but in NS's defense, there are MANY issues along the lines between P'Burg and Emmaus (for reason's I can't explain) with vagrancy, graffiti, property damage, vandalism of equipment. Trespassers seem to especially piss em off : ) .. rightly so I guess .. given security concerns as well. SO .... AGAIN, thank you friend for a great video !!!!!
Thanks Man.. And thank you for shedding some light on the situation.. I understand NS's stance on trespassers but it doesn't make it any less frustrating from an outsiders point of view.. I noticed your avatar of the Reading F-unit.. Was that taken at Steamtown?
NO .. that shot was taken in Emmaus. The Reading Club ( I forget their name) was running a special every year that went down to Dillingersville on the Perkiomen sub. Their Steamer didn't show up ... instead they came with this one that year. Was great for me since I happen to like F models. I have nice collection of traction pics ... If you'd like a copy of the original picture which the avatar comes from, leave your address on my channel and i'll send it too you !!!
Nice video! It is kind of like memory lane for me. I was born in Phillipsburg, NJ, though I haven't visited there very much. My family used to have a house in Bethlehem, and we drove around the steel area a lot. We sold the house about 15 years ago. I have cousins in Whitehall, near Allentown, and we drive on RT 145/ MacArthur Road, which you showed, to see them.
Great A.C.! I almost feel I should be sending you tuition and getting prepared for an exam with all the great education you provide on Pennsylvania area railroading.
Well done and is there a track connection between the CNJ & PRR Delaware River Line currently used by the steam Excursion train volunteered there 6 years ago Thomas and Friends event July 2013.
Norfolk Southern owns the yard at East Deerfield, Mass. along with the rest of the former Boston & Maine west end stretching as far east as Ayer, Mass. NSC does own the line(s), but does officially operate them. The operations are done by Springfield Terminal; a subsidiary of the former Guilford Transportation rebranded Pan Am Railways with the ST now being an entity of Pan Am Southern which is a joint venture of Pan Am Railways and Norfolk Southern. The interchange at East Deerfield would be what I'd term an administrative interchange, as NSC is still receiving haulage through ownership. Lastly, Norfolk Southern retains intermodal,automotive and marketing rights over these lines while Pan Am Railways markets industrial traffic, what little remains. Norfolk Southern seems to be increasing its equity stake in New England railroads. I'm now seeing their locomotives on the former CN line from Auburn, Maine to Montreal.Perhaps these great videos will come north to cover this?
awesome catch of the Heritage Unit's and the Indiana SD90/43MAC #7337 & #7241. awesome power and lashup's. awesome catches. awesome video. learned something from this video and give me some of idea's to. when i go visit this place.
What's up AC I like these videos a lot better where you narrate you're a good narrator I like your real fan documentaries very much good job my friend peace out into the world have a great day
I was born and raised in south bethlehem. We used to jump the trains all the time as kids. I knew a man who lost a leg from the knee down. Amplex St. Bethlehem, Pa.
Locations: Phillipsburg Railway Museum (Historians) Freemansburg Industrial Track B-town CP-JU Allentown Yard Bethlehem Container Facility CP Allen CP Burn CP Bethlehem CP Phillipsburg Central Railroad of NJ Phillipsburg Yard (with miniature railway included!) The Black Bridge PA/NJ State Line (near Phillipsburg) Train 14R from Enola, PA to East Deerfield, MA (Taylor Yard on the Southern Tier area) 34:02 Check out those ex-KCS Southern Bell hoppers (These hoppers acquired by Kansas City Southern Railroad had been sold to COER leasing, they are going somewhere to be worked.)!! CP Ham
When you drive around it's not hard to notice that there seems to be areas where tracks used to be all over. It's because there used to be tracks everywhere! Allentown had a 4 track mainline cutting through it and even in my small home town there was a 3 track mainline!
Wow great history lesson about PA... narration of your videos is impressive love the end shot of Taylor Yard and saw that Yard Limit sign as soon as I saw it I thought back to your video Yard Action 👏🏽
Can’t tell you how much I thoroughly enjoy not only the great videos but your excellent narratives on the ABE area. I grew up in Reading, then Allentown and finally Scranton before leaving the area in 1964 for the Air Force from which I retired in ‘93 and settled in the metro Phoenix AZ area. But as a kid I remember the big steamers hauling coal down thru the valley,and the Lackawanna’s Phoebe Snow making a shorty stop in Scranton at that beautiful station (now a hotel), sometimes still packed with snow on its way down from Buffalo to Hoboken. Now I occasionally will spot mile long trains as I drive the I-40 from NM to AZ, see them as they race thru either Flagstaff in the north or Maricopa, some 35 miles south. Again, thanks so much for rekindling the memories of the “golden age” in my mind, and keep up with the great work.
Great work! I am a newbie railfan, and I learned a TON. I live less than a mile from the NS tracks at Center Street (Rt. 512) in Bethlehem. Usually two trips a day - both ways (9:30am then 5:00pm). Sometimes on Thursday Nights, LATE NIGHT trains. Love hearing them!
OK, so speaking of 16R out of Bingotown, will 5643 be overhauled for teardown by Pan Am POAY? It will, because 14R's itinerary was to bring back the ex-KCS Southern Belle hoppers and hand them to a POAY or RJAY or ED-8. Then CSX freight car train Q012 was to arrive in East Deerfield, Massachusetts to cut away the power, pickup the retired CN 5643, run around the train, let a Guilford locomotive get the COER hoppers, push them to the back of the Q012 and then the CSX intermodal cuts its way back to Maine as Pan Am CBTM (Cut Back to Maine) and then drop them on a storage track. A Pan Am RJAY would proceed past CBTM with Santa Fe C44-9W #654 leading and a BNSF SD70ACe-P4 trailing third. The RJAY could have originated from Rotterdam Junction, New York grain elevator but it only had 15 covered hoppers including one with the green BN logo on the side. An NS 23K intermodal train then met the Pan Am grain train RJAY with a Canadian National SD70ACe-P6 trailing behind a NS SD60. Pan Am's OCS then pulled to a siding in Maine because of the CBTM train leaving the yard. The dispatcher on the cab of RJAY (BNSF 654 Santa Fe Warbonnet, BNSF 5836 ES44C4 and BNSF SD70ACe-P4) has told CBTM to leave Maine and arrive in the Carolinas to park for the night before finally arriving in Atlanta, GA as NS 071 the next day. Day 2 NS 071 (CSX Q012, Pan Am CBTM) came past when we arrived in Austell, GA. This is where Norfolk Southern's Atlanta North District connects Norfolk Southern's East End District. Before NS 071's CSX/PAS cut back train arrived, Norfolk Southern's 282 intermodal train came through with NS AC44C6M #4004 and NS AC44C6M #4005 (both specially painted as DC-AC conversion that was for rebuild at Juniata with a blue stripe on the cab) leading the train from Jacksonville, FL to Chicago. After the 282 passed by, the 071 got a clear signal to cross over tracks and finally arrive in Inman Yard to cut off the train. An extra NS C44-9W then hopped over to the yard tracks to grab the rear half of CBTM and then run as NS 099 from Atlanta, GA to Birmingham, AL via the East End District. After the 099's tail disappeared on the East End, we called it a day and fly home. Overall, very good info about the CSX/PAS/NS intermodal interchange between Massachusetts and Alabama.
14R just runs from Enola, PA to East Deerfield, MA. In a few weeks it will run as 16R back to Binghamton, NY from Bingotown to Massachusetts. So speaking of familiar faces, does anything in a locomotive consist look familiar all to you?
We call that type of local with engines on both ends a push pull on the NS , that was probably an H11, H74 or H76. I work out of Allentown, great shots and videos from you guys.
what a great video. keep up the great work, where is cp 87 and where do you get all your info regarding trains and routing.thanks, any help will be appreciated.
Yes and no.. Both NS and Pan Am Railways own an equal 50% stack in the Pan Am Southern between Ayer, MA and Mechanicville, NY.. The main freight yard on the line is at East Deerfield, MA so that's where the freights are made up and broken down.
one question. what does CP stand for? great video! ill need to plan another railfan trip to Bethlehem, the'res a lot of rail action in the Leigh valley. also i never knew there was a museum in Philipsburg, ill have to check that out. keep up the good work -Alex.
Im not far from Phillipsburg NJ. How often does that train run thru there? At what times? Im new to this railfan thing. Im planning a trip to Altoona to check out the activity. Id like to visit Phillipsburg as well. Great vids. I subscribed.
Knew the area because I live in Stewartsville,NJ and I'm always at the Old CRRNJ Sation location vicinity because there is a church and a cycle shop next to it. 2:00-5:00 at the CRRNJ Tower the track to the left is the Erie Lackawanna Railroad Phillipsburg Branch to Hackettstown NJ transit station. Triple Crown Roadrailer terminal is actually off exit 67 Interstate 78 Hellertown Bethlehem PA-412 by the old Reading RR shops now a Trans bridge lines 42nd Street Port Authority Bus Terminal to Sands Casino via Hellertown stop.