Strasburg #90 and #475 on a revenue freight move. A lot of these happened after the revenue freight side of things started to pick up, but before they got the EMD SW8. The little GE 44-tonner they were using lacked the power and the reliability of it was also so-so.
Some sad news was announced over this weekend. Steamtown National Historic Site/National Park Services has announced that they have decided not to renew the agreement with the Lehigh & Wyoming Valley NRHS chapter. The L&WV NRHS had been handling all the fundraising and the majority of the work on Boston & Maine 4-6-2 #3713 since the restoration had begun in 1995, using Steamtown's shops and occasional help from Steamtown workers as well. Between 2013 and 2019, over $750,000 dollars was raised by the L&WV NRHS, and those donations along with funding secured by Steamtown witnessed a rebuild of the drivers, air pumps, feed water pump, boiler repair, a new firebox, cab and cistern for the tender.
The L&WV was basically locked out of the shop early in 2020, both due to Covid and the formal partnership expiring, and there has been not any real progress on the locomotive since. The partnership ultimately was not renewed by NPS, despite the concerted efforts of Chapter Officers and Committee members, who conducted several meetings with an earnest effort to have a partnership agreement renewed. They have since turned over all the funds that they raised to the NPS, with an understanding that those funds, as expended on #3713, will be reported to the Chapter, but in no means will the Chapter have any authority how the funds are spent. They have also already shut down the Project 3713 website and have announced that any and all questions about B&M #3713 should be directed to the National Park Services in general, and Steamtown NHS in particular.
It's a shame that the L&WV seems to have been shown the door in such a brusque manner, after decades of working to raise money for the project, only to have it terminated after they had reached a point where they could show conspicuous signs of progress. They were a good and dedicated partner and deserved better treatment in this and, even if the relationship had some defect that couldn't be fixed, there should have been some public statement of gratitude for their decades long efforts.
What does that mean for the #3713? Well, I hate to be Mr. Gloom-and-Doom, but I can't see it being finished by Steamtown. As it is, it took them 16 years just to restore a previously-operating 0-6-0. The buildings have all been closed since October of last year because the HVAC system failed and hasn't been repaired. They're frequently canceling even the short daily yard hops, due to a lack of operating crews, since most of them left during the three year period after Covid hit where they didn't operate trains, and a lot of the shop crew left then as well. The park workers have also stated that it's unlikely to see steam running to the Delaware Water Gap anywhere in the future, since it's "too hard on the equipment" and, again, they have insufficient staffing. The park has amassed such a negative reputation, that a lot of people don't want to volunteer there and groups don't want to partner with them (Who wants to spend almost 30 years working on an engine for them, just to have the rug pulled out from under you? Who wants to work there and then find that anytime it changes park superintendents you get yanked in a completely different direction?)
Also fairly alarming is that their only operating steam locomotive, Baldwin 0-6-0 #26, has currently chewed through half of it's 15 year certificate, and Steamtown doesn't have an engine that will likely be operating anytime soon.
I feel like the whole situation is headed towards critical mass and something will have to give soon. If it was a private operation, obviously you would have insolvency and liquidation. But a museum operated by a federal government? No clue. Will they just keep tossing the $5-6 million a year at it even after all the visitors and volunteers are gone, the buildings are fallen in, and nothing operates?
On a better note, the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad made it's first runs in three years over this weekend, with Polson Logging 2-8-2 #70 for power. The Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad, which runs between Mineral and Elbe on ex-Milwaukee Road trackage, last ran in May of 2020, when American Heritage Railways, who took over in 2016, announced that they were shuttering the MRSR due to financial losses incurred by the lawsuit against Durangon & Silverton (also run by AHR) and Covid. Western Forest Industries Museum acquired the railroad in 2022 and began operating railbikes at the beginning of the year, while also working on the track and locomotives. September 1st marked the first day of operations for the new Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad.
A statement from one of the volunteers on the dissolution of the partnership between L&WV NRHS and Steamtown:
This is going to be long, but it is the only comment I will make online about the subject.
Yesterday, my friends at the Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley Chapter of the NRHS (LWV) posted a note explaining that the Project3713 partnership between the Steamtown National Historic Site (SNHS) and the LWV to restore Boston & Maine #3713 “The Constitution” will not be renewed. The essentials are in the statement (you have to click the PDF from the page linked below). I was going to share these thoughts yesterday, but I felt that the passing of Mike Del Vecchio deserved to be the preservation story of the day.
As a volunteer member of the LWV side of the partnership (I focused on marketing and fundraising), I often posted updates on Ahead of the Torch. I’d be remiss if I didn’t write this final note to the AOTT community about Project3713. I hope sharing my perspective will help others who may face similar challenges (and rewards).
Spoiler alert: anyone looking for a salacious tale is going to be disappointed. There’s no National Enquirer-worthy headline.
I am sad to see the partnership dissolve, but the writing has been on the wall for some time. I wish I had more to share on exactly what’s next for the restoration but as a former volunteer of an expired partnership I cannot speak with any authority to Steamtown’s plans to complete the job. Nor can I speak for the LWV. The locomotive belongs to Steamtown, so they have every right to change course. The LWV and SNHS have many shared interests, not the least of which are excursions to the Moscow, PA passenger and freight stations which the LWV has meticulously restored. The only news is the partnership not being renewed.
Getting involved with Project3713 in 2012 required a leap of faith. The restoration was already 17 years old. A series of situations had left things stalled. Some new folks were added to the LWV side with the intent of reinvigorating the work. Why it had taken 17 years to that point is a long story. I wasn’t there for it, so I have no first-hand commentary to share, and I refuse to add to the litany of second-hand accounts and telephone-game rumors that abound.
Even the refreshed group hit immediate challenges, not the least of which was the unexpected passing of Steamtown Superintendent Kip Hagen, who had supported the idea of reigniting excitement around Project3713.
The reformed group eventually hit our stride. We created the successful America’s Locomotive campaign ($750K raised), had advisors the likes of the Smithsonian’s Bill Withuhn and Amtrak president Joe Boardman come on board, and Steamtown put renewed priority on #3713 – especially once Superintendent Debbie Conway took over at SNHS. (Personal note: having Bill as a mentor to the project was an amazing experience.)
Over the next 7 years the Steamtown shop crew, LWV volunteers, Steamtown shop volunteers and contractors made tremendous progress. Still slower than we would have liked, but progress none the less. An admittedly incomplete list from the late 2010’s includes: a new inner firebox, new cab, new tender cistern, rebuilt drivers, new engine truck pieces, boiler repairs, tender deck & truck work, and a litany of other assemblies including air pumps, feed water pump, new headlight and more.
We were on the verge of even more positive times but changes came at Steamtown (and almost simultaneously to the Covid-stricken world). Momentum was lost. Eventually, the decision was made by SNHS to not renew the partnership.
I am sure a lot of valid questions will be raised, and I fear a lot of misinformation will come via those who have trolled the effort all along. There’s nothing to do to stop that. Opinion is fact, and fact is fiction in our pixelated world. Trying to tackle confirmation bias on the Internet is a fool’s errand.
The team working on Project3713 was outstanding. From employees to volunteers and donors, it was the people that made the effort even more worthwhile. I have a deep passion for Steamtown that dates back to 1972, so I wanted to work hard from that angle. And I knew some of the Project3713 team before joining. Once I got to know everyone involved, my passion evolved into not just doing right by Steamtown, but doing right by them.
The one truth I can share is that no one ever intended this restoration to take 28 years (and counting). I truly thought it would have been done by now. September 2022 was the 235 anniversary of the of the convention that resulted in the locomotive’s namesake, the United States Constitution. The marketer in me really wanted it to be ready for that. Maybe now for the 240th? I mean, we coined the marketing campaign “America’s Locomotive,” the artifact is owned by the Federal government and was named “The Constitution,” it was no-brainer to want to make that connection.
Were there frustrations? Sure. The focus was an 80-year old machine that spent 30+ years displayed outdoors, with about half of them in ocean air. And dealing with a government partner brings a unique set of challenges, but we all knew all of this going in. I still want to see #3713 in operation just as much as ever.
I am still proud to be a member of the LWV and my respect for thier leadership continues.
And I still believe in the promise of what Steamtown can be. With the right leadership and funding I have no doubt great things can happen.
Let’s hope that’s what comes next.
What did I learn? Three things:
#1 Ownership Is Essential To Me - I came to realize that at my age, and with my life priorities, I need to focus my time on projects where I own - or an entity in which I have a formal leadership role owns - the artifact being restored. It’s just easier to have one place for the buck to stop. It also makes success and failures easier to diagnose. That’s not to say I would refuse to help Steamtown or an entity like it in the future, but for now I need control. The creation of the Railroad & Industrial Preservation Society, Inc. to restore Lehigh & New England Alco S2 #611 grew directly from this realization (and heck, it’s only 14 years-to-the-month younger than #3713).
#2 A Portion of the Preservation Industry Needs Therapy, an Enema and an MBA - The hate emails, nasty comments, unhinged messages and social media vendettas from the broader preservation and railfan communities were disturbing but - sadly - expected when I joined Project3713. The restoration had slowed, people were frustrated and had legit questions. Unfortunately, a good portion of them were worded in ways that shut down conversation rather than opened it. There’s a reason proper introductory letters start with “Dear Sir/Madame/etc” and not “Hey, Sheep F’er.” Perhaps that lesson should be taught in railfan school.
Fellowship is born from wanting like-minded individuals to succeed, not salivating while hoping they fail.
But that wasn’t the shocking part.
In general, I noticed a sharp divide in business acumen among the preservation industry (including, for the sake of this discussion, contractors, service providers, highly skilled in-demand volunteers and even the professional rail media).
Steamtown has loads of regulations to deal with for contractors, and I want to be clear that was not part of my work on the partnership. Yet, I did receive a lot of introductory communication as the person monitoring the Project3713 emails.
These specific comments are not just limited to my Project3713 experiences, for sure. It’s an ongoing problem.
I have seen everything from unintelligible written communication to belligerent threats straight out of B-level mafia films – again not from railfans, but preservation “professionals.”
Maybe it is a topic for the HRA to go deeper on with seminars about basic business practices?
The difference between those who know how to communicate and those who don’t is stark, and my guess is that some very qualified people are missing opportunities because they never learned basic business acumen or anger management, while some less talented people are getting gigs simply because they know how to deal with people.
I want to repeat that last point. I have to think that business opportunities are missed and doors are closed because of one’s own actions, not those of others. I hear complaints around the preservation community that certain shops or contractors are getting all the work, even when other options are available. I would bet the companies winning the lion’s share of the work are the ones with better business acumen.
As forces outside our community increase pressure to act professionally, acumen will become even more of a deciding factor in who gets opportunities and who doesn’t.
#3 Government-Owned Railroad Museums Can Succeed - Anytime something happens at Steamtown that someone doesn’t like, a chorus of anti-government chatter arises. Understand that I was no stranger to Steamtown when I joined Project3713. I volunteered at the park during college in the late 1980’s, I have life-long friends who have worked there, and to one extent or another I have known all but two of the superintendents. Once I was on the inside of a partnership with SNHS, I saw more of the inner workings of the National Park Service. And through my relationship with a couple of Superintendents in particular, I learned a lot about how things need to be navigated.
I became obsessed with understanding how successful government-run railroad museums operated and that led me to the world class National Railway Museum (NRM) in the UK. Through multiple visits and conversations with NRM leadership, it helped me see how the NRM could: a) maintain world class museum sites b) maintain mainline steam on the national network and c) lead to greater interpretation through the lending or reassignment of assets to the heritage railroad network.
Many of the learnings were applied to Project3713 in its later years, but time ran out for the bigger ideas to have a chance to flourish.
The effort left me with one conclusion: the model can work if the government properly staffs and funds the effort. And those are Steamtown’s greatest needs. People used to complain to me that we were raising money for a government-owned asset. It’s true. We were, because we had to. The National Park Service is simply not adequately funded.
With heartfelt respect to all who worked on - and on the behalf of - B&M #3713 I unequivocally wish the Steamtown team the greatest success with the restoration and in all their endeavors.
Rob Davis
A pair of long-time display pieces at Steamtown are also leaving the property in the near future, departing for better pastures. It was announced that SMS Rail Lines has purchased the two Reading FP7s, #902 and #903, with intent to move them to their Woodstown Central passenger subsidiary for a return to operation.The Reading purchased the #902 and #903, along with six other EMD FP7s, in 1950 to bump the remaining G-3 Pacifics off the big passenger trains, leaving them on PRSL commuter runs, while EMU cars handled just about everything else on the Reading property. The FP7s worked their way east from Illinois on B&O passenger trains (the B&O had a large interest in the Reading, mostly to use the CNJ, which the Reading owned, to make their way into New York City via New Jersey) and then were delivered to the Reading. They handled the Wall Street, the Crusader, and the Schuylkill predominantly, throughout the '50s, and they also handled frequent fan excursions and even helped out on the Iron Horse Ramble when too many of the T-1s came up lame, or the trip was headed over a branch that couldn't support the big Northern's axle loadings. After the loss of the RPO contract in the early '60s though, Reading began replacing most of the named train runs to New York with RDCs, diminishing the need for the FP7s, although Reading did institute a "push-pull" train between Reading and Philadelphia, using an FP7 on each end of the train connected by a pass-through MU cable on the passenger cars.
FP7s #904 and #905 were scrapped in 1965-1966, and #906 was traded to EMD the following year toward the purchase of the SD45s. In 1970, locomotives #901 and #907 were also traded to EMD, leaving only #900, #902 and #903 on the roster. Two units powered the "push-pull" train, with one unit held in reserve to be rotated in and out as needed. The three remaining FP7s were conveyed to SEPTA in 1974, when SEPTA took over Reading's commuter runs, and they remained in service there until 1981, handling the same "push-pull" run, when SEPTA ceased all diesel-powered operations in 1981.
After retirement, the trio of FP7s went up for sale in September of 1983, and the PA preservationists jumped at the chance to save them. The Lancaster County chapter of the NRHS purchased #900 and #902, with the intent to donate them to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, while the Philadelphia chapter of the NRHS purchased the #903. All three were stored at the RRMoPA, and restoration was begun on the #902 and #903 in 1986. By 1995, the #902 and #903 were operational and rattled around the area on a number of excursions, including a particularly special one from Philadelphia to Leaman Place and then up the Strasburg (making them the only outside excursions to run up Strasburg without a change in power). In 2007, after long-running negotiations with the RRMoPA fell through, the Lancaster County NRHS decided to donate the #902 and the unrestored, inoperable #900 to the Reading Company Technical & Historical Society, located in Hamburg, PA, with the #900 being moved to the museum proper over the Reading & Northern. They ran their last trips on ex-Reading lines operated by the Penn Eastern in 2008, and then were moved to Scranton in 2009.
In January 2010, the #902 and #903 were officially loaned to for a year to Steamtown, with the agreement that Steamtown would maintain the locomotives in exchange for excursion rights. They ran a few excursions in 201, but then were parked the same year, due to a rumored bad truck on the #902 and the wheels on both locomotives needing to be trued up and re-profiled. Steamtown, which had the NKP GP9 and the two "DL&W" ex-BAR EMD F3s at their disposal, never returned the FP7s to operation, preferring to display them next to Reading T-1 #2124. Despite the lease being a one year term originally, the lack of storage space owned by the Philadelphia NRHS for #903, and the RCT&HS had enough on their plate to warrant #902 back, so they've sat at Steamtown for the past 13 years.
Well, until yesterday's announcement. SMS Rail Lines approached both the Philadelphia NRHS and the RCT&HS to propose a 10-year lease for a return to operation and use on the new Woodstown Central. The Philadelphia NRHS said they held a discussion on the proposal and came to the conclusion that, unlike the RCT&HS, they lack a place to store and work on the #903, and they also realized that most of the members who had helped perform the original restoration and had mechanical knowledge of the #903 had since passed away. They held a vote, and the end result was that of the twelve officers, nine voted to actually outright sell the #903 to SMS, two voted to enter into the lease agreement, and the last proposed outright donating the #903 to the RCT&HS. Reports indicate that the #902 will also be making the move to Bridgeport, NJ, SMS's shop location, but it's not currently known if the RCT&HS is also selling the #902 to them, or just taking the 10-year lease deal.
My own photo of #902 and #903 alongside the #2124 from two years ago.
The Reading FP7s and the "DL&W" F3s at Scranton in 2010.
Reading #903 and #902 making the trip from the Leaman Place interchange to Strasburg with a Philadelphia NRHS excursion. The trip came up from Philadelphia, with the two Reading FP7s and a Republic Locomotive RL1000 in tow to provide HEP, plus a couple of modern SEPTA coaches, and then ran up from Leaman Place, parked at Strasburg, and those aboard got out and took a regular trip down and back behind a steam locomotive. This was really unusual, because most excursions to Strasburg came to Leaman Place using conventional Amtrak or SEPTA equipment, stopped, everyone got off and hopped aboard Strasburg coaches and rode up to the east end of the line.
The same excursion at Langhorne, PA. The machine cut in behind the FP7s is a Republic Locomotive RL-1000, an odd little beast. Republic Locomotive was a small builder that popped up in the late '80s, trying to rebuild older EMDs into Caterpillar-powered machines. Like most Caterpillar rebuilds, Republic was not particularly successful, and built just a handful of locomotives before vanishing from the scene. SEPTA bought the sole two RL-1000s, a Geep-based rebuild with a 1000hp Caterpillar engine and a skid-mounted HEP generator, and one of them, the #60 is along for the ride here, providing HEP for the modern Bombardier coaches.
Passing Groff's Grove picnic grove.
Woodstown Central has also posted photos of the current status of SMS Rail #9, the ex-USATC 0-6-0 that they've been slowly working on getting back together. They did a hydrostatic test last year, and now have the cab and boiler jacket on, and have reassembled the running gear.
I'll be honest, when Reading & Northern bought the FP7s, I was really hoping that they'd paint them up in this livery, since they were all in on the classic Reading liveries. The black and white with red stripes is really nice, but the only thing it really matches is the two, now three, Fast Freight SD50s.
This livery was used by the Reading on all of their carbody motive power: EMD FTs, F3s, F7s and FP7s and Alco FA-1s and FB-1s. The Reading skipped the EMD E-series and the Alco PAs, as well as the Fairbanks-Morse Erie-Builts and C-Liners and any of the Baldwin carbody offerings. Supposedly Reading was looking at buying Baldwin RF-16s at one point, and Baldwin even assigned constructor numbers for an order of RF-16s, which really would have looked sharp in this livery, but Reading ended up converting the order to AS16 road switchers instead.
Reading #903 and either #900 or #902, at West Trenton, NJ on March 21st, 1976, with a special "Farewell To The Reading" excursion. In 11 days, the Reading Company would cease to exist, merged into Conrail.
A grungy Reading #900 waits at Reading Terminal in Philadelphia with Train #7, the push-pull between Reading and Philly. There's one of the other two remaining FP7s hooked on the other end.
According to the Philadelphia NRHS chapter, they sold the #903 to SMS Rail Lines for a whopping $10000. Jeez, you mean I could have bought an FP7? I kid, I kid, I'm sure it was some sort of special deal for SMS Rail Lines. Part of the reason that SMS wanted the FP7s is they have a bunch of employees who were around during the early years of the New Hope & Ivyland, which was the old Reading New Hope Branch, and during those early years, the Reading would lease them some of the FP7s, since they were being bumped off of services and mostly just standby power and it was an easy way for the Reading to make some money.
Here's a trivia question? In 1948, which railroad had more than 33,000 freight cars, served an estimated 6,700 shippers, interchanged cars at 43 points across its system, hauled more tonnage on its rails than Canadian National did on its 24,000-mile transcontinental system, and hauled more freight than either Southern Pacific or Union Pacific?
It's the same railroad that dispatched nearly 500 passenger trains a week out of it's main passenger terminal, owned 86"-drivered speed demon Atlantics, the last Pacifics built for United State usage, the largest and heaviest 2-10-2s, the most powerful articulated locomotives in it's region, some of the heaviest and most powerful 2-8-0s constructed, built some of the finest 4-8-4s to grace the rails and purchased all the most powerful diesel locomotives commercially available at the time (F-M Train Masters, EMD SD45s, GE U30Cs, Alco C630s)
No, it's not the Santa Fe, or the Pennsy, or the New York Central, or any of the Hill Lines. Nope, I'm talking about the Reading Company, variously known as the Philadelphia & Reading, Reading Lines, or just "the Reading". Making all those feats even more impressive is that the Reading operated a 1,338-mile network all within an approximate 130-mile radius of Philadelphia, and the Reading barely even left it's home state of Pennsylvania on it's own rails, with just the Wilmington & Northern tiptoeing into Wilmington, Delaware and a small finger reaching up into northern NJ. It used trackage rights over the CNJ and the jointly-owned Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines to access New Jersey, and trackage rights over the Western Maryland gave it access as far as Hagerstown, Maryland.
So, how did a railroad that wouldn't even be considered a Class I today do battle with the giants of the industry? Traffic density. They may not have been making any long hauls, but the Reading had service to just about every town and business in southeastern PA. Seriously, go down in that area and to this day you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a branch line or spur that is ex-Reading, and a lot of them are still active under various regional railroads, shortlines, Class Is, and tourist lines. And there was a lot of industry down there for it to serve, with all the coal mines, cement and gravel mines, and steel mills. And the Reading remained a friendly railroad; when the Pennsy turned railfan request for excursions down in the '30s, they went over to the Reading, who ran excursions all over the system with pretty much any equipment requested (Bert Pennypacker recounts a trip up the desolate Tremont Branch with one of the streamlined Crusader Pacifics for power). In 1959, they fired up Reading T-1s and ran their own corporate excursions all over the sytem for five years, until the equipment and infrastructure got too worn out. When the buses and trolleys went on strike in Philly, the Reading said "No problem" and assigned extra steam locomotives and traditional coaches to handle the extra traffic (Pennypacker wrote of a commuter who became friends with a Reading engineer who would let him ride in the cab of the EMU cars. Come one of those strikes and that train was handled by a G1 Pacific and coaches, and the engineer saw the commuter and invited him up to ride in the big Pacific as well)
The Reading was a railroad I didn't really care for early on. Their steam locomotives were of questionable aesthetics, they lacked the flashy big-name passenger trains, I didn't think their diesel liveries looked that great either. But having learned more of the Reading through my travels, and ridden a fair bit of mileage over it's system, as well as experiencing it's spiritual successor Reading & Northern, I view it in a much more favorable light.
Doubleheaded Reading T1s #2124 and #2100 at Port Clinton, PA, performing a runby for one of the Iron Horse Rambles.
In reply to NickD :
I tend to follow more western roads, but there's no denying that the Reading has always been a scrappy operator.
In reply to Recon1342 :
Definitely a fascinating road. I bought a back issue of The Bee Line, which is the RCT&HS's magazine, and I was mindblown at the fact that the Reading dispatched 475 passenger trains a week, a lot of them out of Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, and a lot of them EMU car runs. According to Bert Pennypacker, Reading actually did look at having electric locomotives constructed for freight and passenger, but the arrival of diesels dimished the economic value of electric locomotives, so they decided not to. Their EMU cars were also pretty interesting in that they had roof-mounted bus bars, so that as soon as they were coupled, they connected, usually with a loud snap and a big spark. No having to hook up MU cables or anything. SEPTA had some of those 1930s-vintage EMU cars in service until 1990.
The Reading was actually still financially solvent until 1972, when Hurricane Agnes damaged quite a bit of it. I almost wonder if that hadn't happened if the Reading would have had a future as an independent road, functioning as a feeder line for Conrail, Chessie System and D&H.
Reading T-1 #2108 highballs a fast freight east through Wernersville, PA, on the Reading’s Harrisburg–Reading main line sometime in the late 1940s or early ’50s
A Bee Line Service train at Douglassville, PA. "Bee Line Service" wasn't just a nifty slogan painted on the side of some locomotives, it was an actual service offered by the Reading as a way to win back short-haul customers from over-the-road trucks. Any on-line customer could call up the Reading dispatchers with a 2-hour notice of a shipment of 20 carloads or less, no intermodal transport though, and the Reading would dispatch a single locomotive to pick it up and move it directly to it's destination. Also, Reading got permission to run these trains with reduced crew, 3 men instead of 5 men, and could bypass division points without a crew change. So if a run would take it over a division changeover point, it wouldn't stop and grab a new crew, it would just continue on. This meant faster service and the Reading wouldn't have to pay more crews, reducing them from paying 5 or 10 or 15 crew members down to just 3. It's hard to say how profitable it was, but it was pretty revolutionary and likely kept some customers around.
A Reading SD45, GP30 and C630 have picked up a westbound freight from the Central Railroad of New Jersey at Allentown Yard. The lead SD45 has the "Bee Line Service" logo that was applied to some of the big 6-axle power that they purchased in 1967 when they introduced the Bee Line Service system. Also, although difficult too see in this angle, the SD45 has a cab with the front wall, with the headlights, extended forward 11". This was because Reading ordered their five SD45s with dual control stands, allowing them to be operated in either direction, which made them the only regular SD45s with dual control stands (there were some SDP45s and SD45-2s built with dual control stands). Conrail ended up selling four of the five to C&NW in 1983, where it's debated whether they actually operated, and then they were traded in to EMD and scrapped in 1986. The remaining one was held onto by Conrail and then eventually also traded in to EMD around 1986 as well. According to some sources, Conrail did offer an SD45 to the Reading Company Technical & Historical Society but they had just acquired their GP30, U30C and C630 and weren't in a financial position to buy the SD45.
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