Reading #1815 at Gordon, PA, having been converted to an N1-sd, meaning it has been converted from compound to single-expansion and had the trailing truck removed.
Reading #1815 at Gordon, PA, having been converted to an N1-sd, meaning it has been converted from compound to single-expansion and had the trailing truck removed.
Went to the scrapyard to drop off a bumper today, saw this-
Reading B-4a shop switcher #1251 at the coaling docks in Reading, PA on September 23rd, 1961. The #1251 was built at the Reading's locomotive shops in 1918 and its last revenue switching assignment occurred on February 8, 1963, making it the last active standard-gauge steam locomotive on an American class 1, hanging on nearly a full decade after most steam locomotives were parked on the Reading. It was frequently present whenever the Iron Horse Rambles passed through Reading, PA, and after it's retirement George Hart bought it, moved it down to the Maryland & Pennsylvania and ran a few excursions down there with it. In October 1966, the #1251 was formally retired from excursion service after its flue time expired, and it was subsequently replaced by larger locomotives. Eventually the #1251 was donated to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, where it sits on display to this day.
A brand new GP30 and a Fairbanks-Morse Train Master kick up a cloud of dust as they race through Macungie, PA on September 21st, 1963. All the folks standing along the platform are waiting for one of the Iron Horse Rambles to arrive. The GP30/H-24-66 pairing is an example of standard Reading operating doctrine, which was to pair a single 4-axle unit with a single 6-axle unit, although they didn't have that many 6-axle units, especially pre-1967, when the only 6-axle units were the nine H-24-66s.
Apologies in advance if it's been mentioned before, but the Shay locomotive is one of my personal favorites. It's super cool to see run in person.
I've seen the one in Cass, West Virginia, in action, but I haven't had the chance to ride it yet.
In reply to Colin Wood :
You ain't gonna get there fast, but you'll get there.
Geared locomotives are awesome.
A Baldwin AS-16 originally ordered by the Reading, now working for the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines, at Philadelphia, PA on August 29th, 1964. The PRSL, which was jointly owned by both Reading and Pennsylvania Railroad as a deal to stop a rate war on runs to Atlantic City, used a fleet almost entirely composed of Baldwin diesels through it's early life, with S-8 and S-12 switchers and steam generator-equipped DRS-4-4-1500 and AS-16 road switchers. Since it rostered only Baldwins, the oddball nature of them was less of a liability, and they all featured Baldwin's unique air throttle and MU system, so they all played nice together. Well, Reading ordered a late batch of AS-16s, equipped with conventional throttles and MU hookups and dynamic brakes, all of which were options introduced by Baldwin very later in their diesel era, and then decided to instead assign them to PRSL instead. The regular throttles and MU hookups made them orphans among orphans, since they weren't compatible with the other Baldwins on PRSL, and they also had no need for dynamic brakes, so they had to be sent back to Baldwin, converted to Baldwin air throttles, have the dynamic brakes removed and have steam generators installed.
A Reading SW1200m crosses a bridge at Wayne Junction, Philadelphia, PA in 1965. While the name SW1200m name and overall hood design makes you think it's an EMD product, the cab step skirts and rounded handrails indicate that all is not as it seems. Starting in 1959, Reading sent a bunch of it's old Baldwin VO-1000 end-cab switchers out to Illinois, where EMD repowered them with 1200hp EMD 567 V12s, both adding horsepower and improving reliability, as well as having better parts availability. This was kind of a rare situation for the Reading, since their H-24-66's kept their opposed-piston F-M engines, their RS-3s remained 244-powered, and their Baldwin AS-16s stayed De La Vergne-powered until the end. Reading did not participate in any of the engine transplants or nose chop jobs that other railroads undertook on their more unusual power.
Reading Baldwin DS-4-4-1000 switcher #712 shifting cars at the Port Liberty Yard behind the Wayne Junction Station in Philadelphia, PA. The Reading actually purchased two batches of DS-4-4-1000s, and this is one of the later batches. The early batch had the naturally-aspirated 8-cylinder De La Vergne engine, which had four exhaust stacks, while the later batch had a turbocharged 6-cylinder De La Vergne engine, which had the single exhaust stack like the #712 here. The Baldwins were the "quintessential Reading switcher" during the days of first-generation diesel power; they could be seen all over the Philadelphia and Reading Divisions, handling local switching duties in the various towns along main and branch lines. The railroad even used them in hump service at Rutherford and experimented with using them paired in road service. The Baldwins also had the distinction of the highest availability percentage among the three switcher manufacturers (Alco, EMD and BLW).
Reading GP30 #3606 and C424 #5207 at Nicetown Junction, in Philadelphia, PA on May 7th, 1972. The GP30 has already been renumbered from the original 5500-series slot down to the 3600-series, a move that was done in anticipation of a possible merger with the B&O, which would have placed the GP30s in line with the B&O's GP30s. From this angle you can also see one of the unique features of the Reading's C424s, which were an early build ("Phase 1") unit, which is the protruding radiators and number boards at the rear. While later C424s had the typical notched numberboard locations of other Alco products that were recessed into the body, the early C424s had this almost GE-esque hammerhead configuration.
The railroad financed the acquisition of these ten 4-axle, 2400 horsepower units through trading in the remaining Alco FA/FB cab units on the roster. The Reading originally explored purchasing additional EMD GP-30 locomotives instead of the C424s, but Alco swayed them over by offering more favorable terms on the trade-in of the old units. Oddly the C424s did not reuse the trucks off the FA, which was a popular trade-in feature seen on other units like Soo Line GP30s and GM&O GP30s. Once in service, the C424s could be found all over the Reading system in both main and branchline service. Due to their weight, they did not operate on the Bloomsburg, Kentmere, Princeton Traction, Venice, and Broad/Callowhill Branches though. Given their higher horsepower, two C424s could do the work of three Alco RS-3s, and the 251 engine was more reliable than the 244s in the RS-3s. These units could be seen operating alone in branchline service, or mated with other 4 or 6-axle units on mainline trains. In an interesting side note, the C424s' strong performance on the Reading was what prompted the Belt Railway of Chicago to purchase their own fleet of these units, after requesting cost and reliability info from the Reading. From a reliability standpoint, these units compared very favorably with the GP30 and GP35 units, although neither of those were EMD's finest efforts. Their versatility and reliability led to them being the only second-generation Alcos that remained in service during the downturn in traffic in 1975, when the other Alcos on the roster were stored at Reading and Rutherford.
The #5207 has led a long, colorful life. After Conrail's formation, it became Conrail #2494, and then was traded in to GE. Delaware & Hudson then bought it and had it overhauled by GE and converted to a C424m, which involved updated electrical gear and replacing the 2400hp 251-16 with a 2000hp 251-12. When D&H was taken over by Guilford Rail Systems, it wore Maine Central and Springfield Terminal lettering and numbers at various times, then went back to the D&H after Guilford cast the D&H into bankruptcy, and then eventually ended up on the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville-owned Bath & Hammondsport. While the LA&L has idled the old B&H, they still run the unit on the parent company property.
Reading C424 #5201 and ex-passenger GP7 #665 at Allentown in March of 1970. Again, you can see the protruding numberboards of a Phase 1 C424, as well as the battery boxes fore and aft of the cab (later ones had them all tucked under the left rear walkway), the oblong openings in the frame side that vanished on later built units, and the single air reservoirs on each side. The #5201 was retired and scrapped during the Conrail era, but the #665 was sold by Conrail to Illinois Central Gulf, who rebuilt it into a GP8 and had it in service at least as late as 1987 as #7734. Also, note Rocky, the prancing goat mascot of Great Northern, on the boxcar two tracks over.
Reading GP35 #3644 and GP39-2 #3404 crossing the bridge over Mill Creek in Gladwyne PA, just west of the Flat Rock tunnel by about half a mile or so. The presence of a GP39-2 dates this as being near the very end of the Reading, as those showed up not long before it's absorption by Conrail.
Reading #616, a unique L6-sa class 4-6-0, at Reading, PA posing for a builder photo. This had been #603, an L7-sb class Camelback 4-6-0, built as saturated steam and later superheated with 68.5" drivers, that was involved in a pretty terrific smash-up on April 9th, 1928. Two years later, Reading put together all the pieces into a single-cab 4-6-0, classed as an L6-sa with the number of #616. This was the only rear-cab Ten-Wheeler that the Reading owned, and the diamond-shaped number plate was also fairly rare, only used on one other engine, G1-sb Pacific #201
A Reading Baldwin VO-660 at an unknown location. These were the smaller, less-powerful companion to the VO-1000, and Baldwin traded these in to EMD to be "rebuilt" into SW900s. Unlike the SW1200ms, which were VO-1000 frames, trucks, cabs and generators with a new engine and hood, the VO-600s that were "rebuilt" into SW900s were literally just the Baldwin trucks and Westinghouse traction motors underneath an all-new EMD SW900. At the time, EMD offered a $5000 discount on GP30s and GP35s (and presumably some amount on switchers) if they reused trucks and traction motors, which is why there was a decent amount of second-generation EMDs rolling around on trucks off of other locomotives. While the up-front discount was noticeable, it had the long-term effect of still having to stock parts for the different trucks and traction motors, which offset the discount somewhat.
A big Elesco feedwater heater-equipped Central Railroad of New Jersey P-52 Pacific strides out of Reading Outer Station with a "crossline" train. With the close corporate relations of the two, Reading owning 44% of the CNJ, it was common for Reading trains to run over CNJ rails with Reading power, and passenger trains to run into Reading Outer Station with CNJ power. Coaches were also painted identically and often pooled, and if I understand, the Reading didn't own any parlor cars, they were all owned by CNJ. So you had CNJ parlor cars tagged onto Reading trains that neither originated or terminated in CNJ territory.
Reading RDCs bound for for Philadelphia at Bethlehem PA, on November 1st, 1975.
An unusual sight of four diesels, with an SD45 in the lead and a GP30 behind it plus two others, screaming through Lewisburg, PA in 1972 with a coal train.
Reading T-1 #2100 getting prepped for the second-to-last of the Iron Horse Rambles on September 19th 1964.
NickD; Always impressed by the depth of your coverage.
On recent trip to Statue of Liberty we left from the NJ side. I was reminded about just how impressive some of the major train stations were in the heyday of rail travel. I sort of got used to seeing cute little rural stations, but wow, the big city stations were engineering and architectural works of art. I was stunned how many platforms dead-ended in that one NJ station. Damn, during the rush hours when people were either getting on the ferries to NYC, or coming off the ferries it must have been quite the scene.
Reading C424 #5204 at the Camp Hill station, switching some cars. The #5204 was sold off by Conrail and was purchased by the Alco stronghold that was the Green Bay & Western and then, after the GB&W retired it in the early '90s, it was bought by the Reading Company Technical & Historical Society, where it awaits an eventual restoration to Reading green and yellow. Check out the Reading Company bus on the left too, likely used to shuttle employees to assignments.
A Reading GP35 and a Western Maryland BL-2 lay over at Hagerstown.
Reading C630 #5300 and C424 #5202 headed south to West Falls Yard in Philadelphia, with a Reading boxcar right behind them. This was the West Norristown line, which had been freight-only since the '30s
A Reading SW900, not one of the ones rebuilt from Baldwin VO-660s, moves a PRR Gondola past the Wayne Junction station.
Reading SD45 #7600 affords a good look at the "Bee Line Service" logo on the side. In the distance is the shuttered Reading Outer Station, closed since the end of medium-distance passenger service to Reading in 1969.
One of the SW1200ms (VO-1000 repowered with 1200hp EMD 567 V12) tied up at North Catawissa with a caboose.
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