I was cleaning out and discovered this little card. Back when I was a kid my father and I went on two of the NYO&W Historical Society's walks of the abandoned Northfield tunnel in Merrickville, NY. They had been doing this for a few years but they stopped doing it after the second year we went, due to the one portal getting badly deteriorated. There were huge chunks of concrete clinging to pieces of rebar waiting to fall on someone's head.
Also uncovered in my quarantine cleanout was this 1956 edition of the Rules Of The Operating Department for the New York Central, belonging to a fireman by the name of J. D. Taylor. It also has a 1961 rules supplement inside. No clue when or where I acquired this.
Reading #2124 and #2100 at Paxinos on Harrisburg–West Milton trip, Oct. 23, 1960. Reading kept 5 of the big homebrewed Northerns for use on the company-operated Iron Horse Rambles excursions. #2100, #2102 and #2124 hauled the trains, #2101 was held in reserve and never actually used on the Rambles, and #2123 was used as a parts source to keep the three engines running.
#2124 on Jenkintown–Gettysburg trip at Peach Glen, May 1, 1960.
#2102 on Philadelphia–Schwenksville trip at Tamaqua, Sept. 19, 1964.
2100 and 2102 on Bethlehem–West Milton trip, climbing to Locust Summit, Oct. 14, 1962.
2102 on Jenkintown–Gettysburg trip at Mount Holly Springs, April 19, 1962.
#2124 on a Belle Mead, N.J.–Zionsville trip at Reading Outer Station on July 17, 1960. #2100 is on as standby power.
2124 on a Williamsport–Reading trip at Reading on June 18, 1960. Check out the 0-6-0T shop switcher, #1251, at the right. It continued to be operated until it was finally retired in 1963. By then, #1251 was then the only steam engine still in use on a US Class I railroad. The #1251 was bought by George Hart/Rail Tours in 1964 and operated on the Maryland and Pennsylvania heritage railroad line in York, PA. It was paired with a former Reading tender for water supply and remained in service until 1966. It is now at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
#2124 on a Jenkintown–Gettysburg trip approaching Mount Holly Springs on May 1, 1960. Since these trips were run by Reading employees and crews over Reading trackage with Reading equipment, plus the T-1s were relatively new and in good shape, these were a pretty flawless operation. The worsening financial conditions and degrading facilities of the Reading eventually led to the program being ended though.
#2100 on Philadelphia–Hummelstown trip at Hershey, June 22, 1963.
#2124 on Philadelphia–Shamokin trip at Molino, Oct. 25, 1959. This was the very first Iron Horse Rambles.
#2100 and #2102 on Philadelphia/Harrisburg–West Milton trip at Locust Gap, Oct. 12, 1963. The train split into two sections at Reading, PA and rejoined at Reading on the return trip.
#2102 from Harrisburg and #2100 from Philadelphia at Reading Outer Station, Oct. 12, 1963. The two trains will combine and the locomotives doublehead to West Milton.
Reading also owned the very last Pacifics built for US usage. The 10 G3 Pacifics were delivered in 1948, unusual in that by that point in time the Pacific had been essentially superseded by the 4-6-4, and the diesel era was already setting in. With 80" drivers, sustained 280psi boiler pressure, and cylinder dimensions of 25x28 inches they were real speedsters. But the huge Wooten fireboxes, above-center headlight, Elesco vertical-coil feedwater heater and mismatched drive wheels (the center was a Boxpok disc driver for better strength and balance, the outer two were spoke-style) they were not what I would consider a cosmetically-pleasing design.
As the diesels made more inroads on the Reading, they were bumped from the Philadelphia-Jersey City run to the Camden-Atlantic City service over the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines (a joint PRR/Reading operated line) and other commuter services. They were all pulled from service in 1957 and parked, either as reserve power or waiting for their equipment trusts to run out. Don Wood, a rail photographer, tried to purchase one of the G3s (he had previously tried to purchase CNJ #774) but was unsuccessful. All G3s were scrapped in 1959, along with 5 of 10 remaining T1 Northerns. Sadly just months after the last G3 was cut up, Reading launched their Iron Horse Ramble excursions with T1 #2100, #2102 and #2124. Had a G3 survived that long, would it have been used and eventually preserved? Hard to say, but it seems likely.
How many people staggered out of the bar and on to the tracks?
300 mph Maglev. =~ 0
We had these at work to push a flatcar full of cannon from one building to another. I saw the engine rebuild once, pistons looked like 1/2 gallon coffee cans!
914Driver said:How many people staggered out of the bar and on to the tracks?
A bit of Google-fu tells me that this is Sunbury, PA. Found an older photo as well, with a K4s on the lead.
And one with a snow covered Alco RS27 towing an EMD F-unit booster
In reply to NickD :
If Google Maps is to be believed the tracks are still there, running right through the town. There's a Norfolk Southern yard just northwest, so I suspect they still get some use.
914Driver said:How many people staggered out of the bar and on to the tracks?
From an era where, if you managed to get hit by a train, it was YOUR fault.
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