05-16-2009 -- Reading & Blue Mt Railroad Charity Run
07-10-2009, 08:19 AM
#1
JK Super Freak
Thread Starter
05-16-2009 -- Reading & Blue Mt Railroad Charity Run
Can't believe I didn't post this or anything before now. But anyway, back in May, the Reading & Blue Mt Railroad did a special charity for the Wyoming County United Way organization. All the ticket sales went to the charity, which was really cool considering they had a sold out train with 14 cars, and at $70 a person, it really added up.
The trip was from Tunkhannock, PA to Jim Thorpe, PA. It took just over 4 hours to go one way. We then had a 3 hour layover in Jim Thorpe, and then returned on the same path. I got to see them turn the engine this time (something i missed last time i went on this train).
Oh, and yes, this trip was a little over 11 hours long. 
The whole trip was amazing and the weather held out till the very end, well kind of. It was very cloudy all day and the 70% chance of rain that i kept seeing for that saturday in the two weeks up to then was sort of pissing me off. Mainly cause there was no rain, at all for the 5 days before that saturday, and then no rain for the next 4 days after. It was like god hated that train and didn't want it to be a good day.
But, we only got a very light and short drizzle while in Jim Thorpe. The rest of the time, it was just grey. But about 30 minutes before getting to the station in Tunkhannock, the sky opened up. Guess it couldn't hold it any longer. It was a down poor. And we all just sat on the train for about another 20 minutes after arriving just waiting for the rain to stop so we could get from the train to the shuttle busses without getting a bath.
Despite the gloomy weather, I had a great time, loved the entire trip and can't wait till October when I'm going again to ride the fall color's train ride.
Anyway, here are the better pictures from the trip...
We followed the Squesquahana River for 22 miles starting at Tunkhannock. I will admit, that there is nothing like hearing the roaring whitsle of a steam engine echoing back from the mountains. They would blow the whistle and several seconds later, as if another train was blowing its whistle, you'd hear it come back.
along our trip, we past through two rail yards, and past several factories. This was in addition to all the little towns we blazed through.
This factory, i thought, was interesting in that they had made the box cars sitting on the side track a perminate part of the building.
random grave yard in a farm field...
first rail yard. And this is also where we stopped following the river.
before this was a rail yard, it was a coal mine. But it got shut down back in the 70's when one of the tunnels going under the river collasped and sealed all the tunnels past that with water from the river. There is estimated to be over 150 workers still down there trapped on the other side (dead of course).
and speaking of grave yards... here's a diesel grave yard...
another local...
i think i got a better picture of this coming back, but this is the "tripple decker" junction. Its three railroad lines crossing each other at different levels.
they had a big forest fire a while back in this area. took out a lot of land.
The trip was from Tunkhannock, PA to Jim Thorpe, PA. It took just over 4 hours to go one way. We then had a 3 hour layover in Jim Thorpe, and then returned on the same path. I got to see them turn the engine this time (something i missed last time i went on this train).
Oh, and yes, this trip was a little over 11 hours long. The whole trip was amazing and the weather held out till the very end, well kind of. It was very cloudy all day and the 70% chance of rain that i kept seeing for that saturday in the two weeks up to then was sort of pissing me off. Mainly cause there was no rain, at all for the 5 days before that saturday, and then no rain for the next 4 days after. It was like god hated that train and didn't want it to be a good day.
But, we only got a very light and short drizzle while in Jim Thorpe. The rest of the time, it was just grey. But about 30 minutes before getting to the station in Tunkhannock, the sky opened up. Guess it couldn't hold it any longer. It was a down poor. And we all just sat on the train for about another 20 minutes after arriving just waiting for the rain to stop so we could get from the train to the shuttle busses without getting a bath.Despite the gloomy weather, I had a great time, loved the entire trip and can't wait till October when I'm going again to ride the fall color's train ride.
Anyway, here are the better pictures from the trip...
We followed the Squesquahana River for 22 miles starting at Tunkhannock. I will admit, that there is nothing like hearing the roaring whitsle of a steam engine echoing back from the mountains. They would blow the whistle and several seconds later, as if another train was blowing its whistle, you'd hear it come back.
along our trip, we past through two rail yards, and past several factories. This was in addition to all the little towns we blazed through.
This factory, i thought, was interesting in that they had made the box cars sitting on the side track a perminate part of the building.
random grave yard in a farm field...
first rail yard. And this is also where we stopped following the river.
before this was a rail yard, it was a coal mine. But it got shut down back in the 70's when one of the tunnels going under the river collasped and sealed all the tunnels past that with water from the river. There is estimated to be over 150 workers still down there trapped on the other side (dead of course).
and speaking of grave yards... here's a diesel grave yard...
another local...
i think i got a better picture of this coming back, but this is the "tripple decker" junction. Its three railroad lines crossing each other at different levels.
they had a big forest fire a while back in this area. took out a lot of land.
Last edited by atomicmecha; 07-10-2009 at 08:45 AM.
07-10-2009, 08:21 AM
#2
JK Super Freak
Thread Starter
more...
and now entering the 2nd train yard...
look at all the sand dumped on the tracks...
the local...
neat thing about this trip was that there were 3 tunnels along the way.
and following the Lehigh River, we will follow this river all the way to Jim Thorpe. There were a lot of rafters on this river...
a rail road lawn mower...
this is the main line for the Lehigh Railway (part of the Reading & Blue Mt) but we took the spur track that crosses the river and goes into Jim Thorpe.
now, back in october, I rode this train for the fall colors ride. We went from Port Clinton, PA to Jim Thorpe, PA. This track is the one we rode in on before. You can also follow that track and make connections and find your way all the way to Cali.
coming into the small yard at Jim Thorpe. All these cabooses are for sale btw...
the president's (of the railroad company) car... you should see the inside of that thing... wow
the lighting on this one kinda sucks, but its still cool...
But I got the ones above and the next few during my walk up the yard to the turn table to watch them turn the engine around.
old cars sitting in the yard...
they had to make 4 switches to get him onto the turn table...
#4
with both tender and water wagon, he barely fit on the table.
the old turn table. they are slowly rebuilding it. they just put new latches on it. and they had to after the train almost jumped the track last time cause the table shifted when the engine was moving onto it. But its still un-powered so they chain a back-ho to it and drive it around the edge to turn the thing around. I made a video of it.
look at all the sand dumped on the tracks...
the local...
neat thing about this trip was that there were 3 tunnels along the way.
and following the Lehigh River, we will follow this river all the way to Jim Thorpe. There were a lot of rafters on this river...
a rail road lawn mower...
this is the main line for the Lehigh Railway (part of the Reading & Blue Mt) but we took the spur track that crosses the river and goes into Jim Thorpe.
now, back in october, I rode this train for the fall colors ride. We went from Port Clinton, PA to Jim Thorpe, PA. This track is the one we rode in on before. You can also follow that track and make connections and find your way all the way to Cali.
coming into the small yard at Jim Thorpe. All these cabooses are for sale btw...
the president's (of the railroad company) car... you should see the inside of that thing... wow
the lighting on this one kinda sucks, but its still cool...
But I got the ones above and the next few during my walk up the yard to the turn table to watch them turn the engine around.
old cars sitting in the yard...
they had to make 4 switches to get him onto the turn table...
#4
with both tender and water wagon, he barely fit on the table.
the old turn table. they are slowly rebuilding it. they just put new latches on it. and they had to after the train almost jumped the track last time cause the table shifted when the engine was moving onto it. But its still un-powered so they chain a back-ho to it and drive it around the edge to turn the thing around. I made a video of it.
07-10-2009, 08:22 AM
#3
JK Super Freak
Thread Starter
more...
so while they were refilling the coal supply, gave all us train nuts a chance to get some good pictures.
backing her back to the station to be refilled with water and to wait till we are ready to leave.
an old fell'a sitting in the yard...
u can see the new latch's in this one...
and check out the old Mac water pump truck...
a 6x6 with portal axles...
now, because this was too early in the year, the Lehigh scenic train wasn't running. So this time they got to leave the cars at the station instead of having to push them into the other yard till it was time to leave. So i got some nice shots of the diesels.
but back to the steam engine...
it was raining... i looked goofy as hell...
the sudden rain put a stop to me going far in town.
but i still got a few pictures.
after a bit, and right before we were to leave, it stopped raining long enough for me to get some pictures...
course, on the way back... since i was in the front going, i'm now in the back (sorta) going back. They just turn the engine around... not the whole train. But they do turn the two private cars around and move them to the end of the train. so we were last, but close...
the old tunnel for the line we are on. The tunnel was built before the diesel era so it was too small. and they found that it was cheaper to just shift the track around a few hundred feet and build a bridge then to open the tunnel up more.
a new solar power signal tower.
yeah... back of the bus...
only on long, open turns can you even begin to see the engines...
still nice scenic view's tho...
interstate I-81 which we went under a few minutes later.
back in the train yard.
and more of the forest fire.
at the other yard... and here's that local again...
not to long after this, it started raining really hard. so i stopped taking pictures. I also didn't take as many coming back cause it was hard to see the train, and i got a picture of everything interesting on the way to Jim Thorpe.
and i hated the women in the seat in front of me... she was such a bee-youch. When it started raining, everyone closed their windows, EXCEPT her. And she kept wanting to stick her head out the window. She even got a newspaper and was trying to use it as a shield against the heavy rain pounding her face when she stuck it out the window. she was soaked, and her face was red from the rain hitting her at 40mph for so long. i swear to god she was retarded or something. Her husband and 3 kids all kept yelling at her saying she should put the window down and one of her kids even called her "stupid woman" after a while. I couldn't sit next to the window in my seat cause it was getting soaked from the rain coming in her window. and when i said she should put the window down and to stop putting her head out the window, she gave me a bad look and said "i want to see the engine". I didnt say anyting back, but i was like "bee-youch, you are 13 cars back from the engine, we are in heavy trees from here to the station, you cant see the damn engine, grow up and stop being the one idiot on the train."
But like i said, it was a fun trip, i will do it again next year (if they run it again) and i'm going again in october. I highly recommend this trip to anyone. its not like most scenic trips that just go out and back for an hour or so. this ride gives you the feeling of what it was like riding these old steam trains years ago. awesome trip. hope you enjoyed the pictures!
backing her back to the station to be refilled with water and to wait till we are ready to leave.
an old fell'a sitting in the yard...
u can see the new latch's in this one...
and check out the old Mac water pump truck...
a 6x6 with portal axles...
now, because this was too early in the year, the Lehigh scenic train wasn't running. So this time they got to leave the cars at the station instead of having to push them into the other yard till it was time to leave. So i got some nice shots of the diesels.
but back to the steam engine...
it was raining... i looked goofy as hell...
the sudden rain put a stop to me going far in town.
but i still got a few pictures.after a bit, and right before we were to leave, it stopped raining long enough for me to get some pictures...
course, on the way back... since i was in the front going, i'm now in the back (sorta) going back. They just turn the engine around... not the whole train. But they do turn the two private cars around and move them to the end of the train. so we were last, but close...
the old tunnel for the line we are on. The tunnel was built before the diesel era so it was too small. and they found that it was cheaper to just shift the track around a few hundred feet and build a bridge then to open the tunnel up more.
a new solar power signal tower.
yeah... back of the bus...
only on long, open turns can you even begin to see the engines...
still nice scenic view's tho...
interstate I-81 which we went under a few minutes later.
back in the train yard.
and more of the forest fire.
at the other yard... and here's that local again...
not to long after this, it started raining really hard. so i stopped taking pictures. I also didn't take as many coming back cause it was hard to see the train, and i got a picture of everything interesting on the way to Jim Thorpe.
and i hated the women in the seat in front of me... she was such a bee-youch. When it started raining, everyone closed their windows, EXCEPT her. And she kept wanting to stick her head out the window. She even got a newspaper and was trying to use it as a shield against the heavy rain pounding her face when she stuck it out the window. she was soaked, and her face was red from the rain hitting her at 40mph for so long. i swear to god she was retarded or something. Her husband and 3 kids all kept yelling at her saying she should put the window down and one of her kids even called her "stupid woman" after a while. I couldn't sit next to the window in my seat cause it was getting soaked from the rain coming in her window. and when i said she should put the window down and to stop putting her head out the window, she gave me a bad look and said "i want to see the engine". I didnt say anyting back, but i was like "bee-youch, you are 13 cars back from the engine, we are in heavy trees from here to the station, you cant see the damn engine, grow up and stop being the one idiot on the train."
But like i said, it was a fun trip, i will do it again next year (if they run it again) and i'm going again in october. I highly recommend this trip to anyone. its not like most scenic trips that just go out and back for an hour or so. this ride gives you the feeling of what it was like riding these old steam trains years ago. awesome trip.
hope you enjoyed the pictures!
