I have a confession to make, I'm not a steam enthusiast in the way most railfans are steam enthusiasts. For steam people if something goes "chug chug", its an excuse to drive at unsafe speeds and elbow others out of the way to get that perfectly composed photo that looks like everyone else's perfectly composed photo. When I have been in the company of steam excursions it has been to ride the excursion to get both covered in cinders and get an open window view of the line and by extension its pieces of historic infrastructure. However when riding a RBMN #2102 excursion to Pittston in 2024 I was able to make note of the surviving CNJ searchlight signal locations on the former Conrail Lehigh Line. So since I was obviously going to have to come out again to photo these signals, why not do it in conjunction with a #2102 trip and generate some content that everybody can enjoy? So anyway here are photos from my first time being trackside for a man line steam excursion.
Like I said, my primary mission that day was to get photos of former Central RR of NJ searchlight signals between White Haven and Mountain Top. After the CNJ abandoned operations west (north) of Lehighton in the 1960's, the Lehigh Valley RR incorporated this section of the CNJ route due to its superior alignment and industrial connections. The CNJ vintage searchlights were distinctive for having a square "basket" like structure around each maintenance platform. Here we see the Milepost 146 southbound intermediate signal displaying an Approach indication for the holdout signal at CP-WHITE HAVEN. The former CNJ signals are normally dark, but will illuminate when a route has been established by the dispatcher.
At first I was confused why the Reading and Northern was running a southbound train within an hour of the northbound 2102 excursion. It turns out the signal was for the "regularly scheduled" Pittston to Mach Chunk diesel hauled excursion train featuring Reading and Northern 40th anniversary GP38-2 #2023, which I caught at the northbound Milepost 148 signal.
As expected the previously dark northbound signal popped up with a Clear signal indication for #2102. I could hear the engine approaching in the distance when what I will call the "traveling circus" of train chasers began to show up with their tripods. When #2105 did arrive it was applying all 5000 of its horsepower to muscle the 21 cars of the excursion train up the stiff grade. This spectacle was quite a bit more thrilling trackside and made it easy to understand what was motivating the traveling circus to chase these trains again and again.
The R&N's latest innovation in making money is open observation car #22 which offers a premium view to those lucky enough to grab one of the 30 tickets available for each departure. Not going to lie, but #22 is definitely on my radar for a future trip, even if it covers territory I have already traveled.
The second part of my whirlwind Columbus Day Weekend tour of the Connecticut River valley wasn't just about fall foliage as the Vermonter Route re-signaling project was accelerating and I still had a couple key locations to visit in the Bellows Falls area. This set ( mirror ) will also cover my return trip back south with stops at Springfield and New Haven.
Driving in from Keene I passed by the Green Mountain Railroad backlot, which is ironically across the river in New Hampshire as opposed to Vermont. Visible from the car was former New York Central RDC #M-453 and Bangor and Aroostook painted private car #101.
A previous track configuration created some phantoms in the signaling system with an Approach Medium at the north end of the Walpole siding leading to a Medium Clear over a straight route at the south end. These southbound signals along with the one at the BELLOWS FALLS diamond were displaying a route for that day's Vermonter.
Passengers were already waiting inside the Bellows Falls station, which is shared with the Green Mountain Railroad's excursion trains. Vermonter Route stations are staffed by a volunteer station host program.
That days southbound Vermonter Train 57 was pretty much on time and lead by P42DC #112. The valley the station is located in creates a pretty neat horn echo effect.
I was booked on a 4pm Amtrak Springfield Shuttle train out of Springfield, so after a quick lunch I got dropped off and walked through the new Bus depot built on the location of Union Station's old baggage office, which included the New York Central's TOWER 96. You can see the new bricks patching the side of the main Union Station building.
Shuttle Train 465 was departing from low level track #8 and featured Phase III Heritage P42DC #145 and Metroliner Cab Car #9646.
I was connecting to a southbound Acela so I had time to linger on the platform and catch various Metro North and Amtrak action.
Walking over to the Amtrak New Haven engine terminal I managed to catch "Phase L" 50th anniversary heritage P42DC #100 along with #145 and sibling Ps42DC #89 and #95.
While waiting for my Acela on platform A, Springfield Regional Train 140 arrived on platform B and began the process of swapping out its electric ACS-86 #603 with diesel P42DC #95.
On track #3 was MNRR M8 #9200, which was the first of the 150 MTA owned cars.
It was too dark for a photo of Acela power car #2031 at New Haven, but I snagged one at Penn Station.
That's it for my Fall 2024 Connecticut Valley trip. Next time I'll be in DC to say Farewell to the WMATA 2000-series railcars.
With the reactivation of Reading T-1 class 4-8-4 steam locomotive #2102, the Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern has been on a tear finding new places and ways to run main line steam excursions. In 2024, the RBMN used its August slot to take fans from its new "Regional Transportation Center" in Nesquehoning, PA to the Scranton-adjacent town of Pittston, PA in conjunction with its annual Tomato Festival. Seeing as how I had been looking to ride an excursion up the Lehigh Gorge to the Wyoming Valley, I booked tickets with a friend and set out from the Baltimore area at 5am for the RBMN's 9am departure. If you are interested in the video content, you can catch it here and if you want to browse the full set of photos you can find that here ( mirror ).
When industry consolidation closed the Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. factory in Nesquehoning, PA, the Reading and Northern seized the opportunity to purchase its sizable manufacturing campus for conversion into an omnibus rail operations base with shoppe facilities and administrative offices. A side effect of this purchase was a new location to stage rail excursions that was both closer to Scranton and wouldn't interfere with the popular Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railroad, which was already parking limited in the busy tourist town of Mauch Chunk.
To this end, RBMN owner Andy Muller built and christened the Nesquehoning Regional Transportation Center on the property with the official ribbon cutting taking place before the day's Iron Horse Ramble.
Also on hand for the event was the RBMN's black bear mascot and Andy's personal M5 light tank.
While I had ridden on this part of the RBMN Main Line as part of the 2102+425 ramble in 2022, I turned onto new route milage at JIM THORPE JCT, crossing the Lehigh River on the state funded bridge that finally connected the two halves of the RBMN Main Line between Reading and Pittston. Except for a few small gaps, this Main Line is equipped with CTC signaling and interlockings.
Although the day was overcast, the former Lehigh Valley Railroad path through the Gorge offered ample photo opportunities.
One legacy issue with the line is the near complete lack of signaled passing sidings in the 60 odd miles between Tamaqua and Mountain top. This makes trains having to pull into hand operated sidings and spur tracks the only way to achieve a meet. Here #2102 meets RBMN GP38-2 #2023 and the southbound Pittston to Mauch Chunk tourist train at the TANNERY siding.
#2102 crossing back to the west side of the Lehigh River at White Haven.
With 16+ cars and a steep grade to the Pocono summit at Mountain Top, the 5000hp T-1 class consumed a lot of water and has to stop to top up at the old CNJ yard at Mountain Top, which also hosts the RBMN Penobscott Station.
The yard is home to RBMN's locomotive deadline with freight units like SD50's #5033 and #5022, but also a pair of former SRNJ F3's cab units that used to work the Salem Branch before being stored at Windows Jct for over a decade.
Since Andy Muller isn't made of brake shoes, a pair of "Fast Freight" painted SD50's (#5019 and #5018) are attached to the head end at Mountain Top so that the consist can enjoy the benefits of dynamic braking into the Wyoming Valley.
At Pittston the Ramble train was greeted by loads of railfans as well as local buses drafted into transporting the passengers to the town's Tomatoe Festival during the four hour layover. Even in his 70's, Andy Muller is a consummate businessman and we suspected that he had worked out some deal with the town to bring an extra 1500 or so odd captive tourists to their local event.
The festival was conceived in the 80's as a way to revive the local scene after the collapse of Anthracite coal mining. In addition to the typical carnival fare, the local "Old Forge" pizza style was also on offer.
The Pittston station, which sees regularly scheduled Lehigh Gorge tourist trains to Mauch Chunk, had also been styled as the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Regional Transportation Centre.
When we got back to the station #2102 was getting serviced, including an ash pan dump.
Pittston has been the base of RBMN's Scranton area operations for decades with the passenger service being the relative newcomer. GP30 rebuild #2533 and caboose #92817 were on hand for local operations.
Speaking of local operations, there was no way that Andy was going to let a steam passenger Ramble get in the way of normal freight operations. As a result GP30 rebuild #2534 and SD50M #5049 were out getting a single lumber car out for delivery.
#2102 returned from servicing triggering a pair of vintage grade crossing wigways. These electro-mechanical warning lights were once common, but have become pretty much extinct on the North American rail network in recent years.
#2102 proceeded out to Pittston yard to couple up to the Ramble consist before heading forward to platform the train.
Heading back up the grade, we eventually passed the returning Mauch Chunk weekend excursion train with GP38-2 #2015, waiting at CP--SOLOMONS GAP.
Passing Crestwood Road at Milepost 153 one can get a good feeling for the traveling circus of railfans that always accompany these mainline steam excursions.
Passing the intermediate White Haven station. The Poconos have lodging and attractions over a wide area so Andy Muller has added intermediate stops to attract ridership.
The Interstate 80 Lehigh River Bridge replacement project is under way.
People who pine for the days of steam and coal have probably never ridden a trip like this and don't realize how dirty coal is as a fuel.
#2102 after a hard day's work at Nesquehoning.
The parking situation still encourages one to hang out for a bit and get some additional photos. I'm not sure what role GP38-2 #2014 was going to play getting the Ramble train back to Port Clinton, but it looked nice sparkling in the twilight.
KME's main assembly building has been converted into a locomotive repair hall with new tracks being cut through the former parking lot.
Since I was continuing on to South Jersey, I wasn't in a position to get my steam excursion buddy home that day. Instead I put him on an NJT Atlantic City Line train at Cherry Hill, where he would connect to Amtrak via 30th St. The ACRL link was powered by GP40PH-2B #4204.
Well that's it for my big RBMN Main Line Steam excursion of 2024. Next time I'll be getting my steps in visiting some of the neat railfanning locations in Washington, DC.
