Dude…this is insane! How cool would it be to take a utility car from the Temple station to the ends of that line and the line that goes to Evansville!!! When I was a kid and rode the steam locomotive from Hamburg to Temple, we HAD to have crossed that bridge!
You definitely crossed this bridge as a kid. There has to be some old railfan footage out there catching 425 rolling across this thing. If you thought I had a big smile on my face when showed me those tunnels in Adamsdale, imagine my face if we were running speeders up and down those two lines. I think I would enjoy the Schuylkill and Lehigh more. As you know that one is near and dear to me.
That bridge was crossed by Reading Blue Mountain & Northern steam engines 425 & 2102 back in the mid 1980's. Starting about 1986 after it was acquired from ConRail.
@@kevinsalsbury2118 It was featured on the BM & R timetables / brochures from 1986 to at least 1992 with the 425 and 2102 on it. I don't know of any videos but if there were any it would probably be poor quality VHS format.
If they offered an excursion on this line I guarantee it would sell out. I'm sure the logistics would be difficult and the track is a bit rough in spots but man it would be fun.
@@kevinsalsbury2118 They ran a short excursion train from Hamburg to Temple back in the late 80's -- I rode it once, not long after my family moved to the area when I was in college. The conductor was an old codger who knew a good bit of the line's history and had a running spiel along the way. We went over this bridge not long before the train pulled into the station at Temple, then the engine switched ends and pulled the train back to Hamburg. Neat little trip, but pretty short. I remember there was talk of running all the way to Pottsville, but that never happened as far as I know. I guess the novelty wore off and the economics just didn't make sense for a tourist train...
Wouldn't that be something. This used to be the line they ran their excursions on back in the 80s and 90s. They have a station in Hamburg they built. It's right before the Reading technical and historical museum. Very cool.
thanks for sharing! A beautiful piece of old engineering, in a beautiful setting. Also, I'm not sure anyone else noticed at 3:24, the gnarly tree roots look like a 4-legged troll has come to feed on the remains of another vieographer
Hi Kevin! Great historical railfanning bridge video. Great to see it's survived and still in use. Great exercise you must have gotten shooting this video. 😊
Nice catch, Kevin! You know that bridge was built tough if it survived Tropical Storm Agnes back in '72. That confluence of the creek and the river over there must have been raging back then.
Good morning Nick. I never thought about that as I was standing there. You're absolutely right though. Imagine the noise this would have produced. I wonder if the Maiden Creek being damed up helped keep this bridge standing. I've got to think the Ontelaunee dam must have held back a lot of what Agnes was dumping.
@@kevinsalsbury2118 Yep! Exactly, Kevin. That dam probably saved that bridge. I heard many other railroad bridges were washed out in other parts of the state. I was 9 years old when Agnes hit, and I can remember the Schuylkill River was like 12 feet over its banks all the way down to Philly. It was crazy!
Going back to your earlier videos, if the PRR was willing to build something like this bridge for the long term, it’s just odd that above St. Claire they had to use running rights for short stretches on the RDG and the LV. There must have been an all PRR routing there once that got flood damaged or given up for road construction or whatever that resulted in negotiated trackage rights.
Good morning Bob. Not only this bridge but what about the line coming up from Philadelphia. There are over 50 miles to the south that we haven't seen yet. I believe a lot of it is railtrail now, but there must be amazing things to see. Let's not forget about the Dark Water trestle. That was a much grander structure than this one. I have to assume that the Reading grade was just better being that it was there first and possibly easier to climb. Flooding definitely could have been an issue to. You have my mind going now. Good stuff Bob!!
Hey Kevin: I hear you but for that trackage north of St. Claire I’d bet that the PRR once upon a time had their own line all the way through. Back in those days competing railroads weren’t about to cooperate with each other. It either was part of the deal in which the Reading bought the Shenandoah line or an earlier situation where maybe there was a flood and washout that the PRR wound up using trackage rights over other railroads. When the depression began coupled with the steady drop in demand for Anthracite coal I think that both the PRR and the RDG saw a hit to their profits and became more willing to work together. I think that it was a result of the depression that they stopped competing in NJ and formed the PRSL. Neither of us were around and sitting in the presidents office of either railroad back in the 1920’s and 30’s so we will never know. But it’s fun to speculate! Keep up the good work! I only with that I were 30 years younger and I could join you on your explorations.
Good evening Bob. I really enjoy hearing from you. You make some really good points and are incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. The PRR definitely had their own line through to the top of the Frackville grade. We've definitely walked some of it. Like you said, when the railroads started to feel the pinch of economic problems they had no choice but to cooperate. The Reading line would have been used first which means it was probably the best route to take over the mountain. I can only speculate they started working together to help each other survive. I wish I could walk and talk with you about these lines, but for now I will try to bring them to you.
Good morning Nate. You have a keen eye and this is a great question. My answer is only speculative but here it goes. The bridge was always a single track. I think they built really large cut waters onto the bridge in case of a "hundred year flood " which happened in 1972 with hurricane Agnes. All that stone that doesn't have an arch is there to provide extra support for the rest of the span. I have seen other bridges on this same line with larger cut waters than usual. It appears they just wanted to have extra protection in case of flooding. In my opinion it worked. Again all speculative.
Thinking about what they had to do to get the ROW back then, all the property owners they had to buy land from, I wonder if they used eminent domain or twisted the arms of land owners. Or paid off politicians to put pressure on the land owners. For a good number of the warehouses and businesses in small cities in upstate NY they ran the railroad in the streets Railroad Avenue and Railroad Street is common That cribbing must have been for a wooded bridge I bet there was a wood bridge there in the beginning
Good morning Bill. I'm sure there were all kinds of deals going on and land being taken. What I always forget is there was another 50 plus miles from Philadelphia to Reading that had to be built before they even got to this point. This spot right here is about the farthest south I've gone on the Pennsy. I believe the majority of it is rail trail along the Schuylkill, south of Reading. I need to start heading that way and see what is hiding in the woods.
