Sold-out Reading & Northern special covers rare mileage

MOUNT CARMEL, Pa. — For the first time in decades, a passenger train Saturday (April 20, 2024) covered the full length of Reading & Northern Railroad’s Mahanoy & Shamokin Branch, carrying 194 riders aboard a trio of Budd Co. Rail Diesel Cars.

Sponsored by the affiliated Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society and the Railroad Historians of the Lehigh Valley, the Railroad Explorer 4 trip sold out within a week of its announcement in February (See “Rare-mileage trip to Mount Carmel, Pa., slated …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 7, 2024).

The 105-mile round trip departed from R&N headquarters in Port Clinton, Pa., passing through Tamaqua, Pa., en route to East Mahanoy Junction, diverging there from R&N’s main line to head west over the M&S Branch into the western tip of Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal field. Mining for both domestic home fuel and export power-plant markets still takes place here – near Mahanoy City, Pa., the train passed the Blaschak Anthracite Corp. yard where R&N hoppers were spotted at a loadout.

The special consisted of RDC1 cars Nos. 9167 (ex-New Haven) and 9168 (ex-New York Central), spliced by RDC3 snack-counter car No. 9166 (ex-Boston & Maine). Its route covered that of the former Reading Co. passenger trains Williamsporter (Philadelphia-Williamsport, discontinued 1950) and King Coal (Philadelphia-Shamokin, discontinued 1963).

At Locust Gap, Pa., the underfloor equipment on one car scraped on a high spot at a grade crossing, twisting open and deforming a hinged generator-housing access panel. A bungee cord contributed by photographer Oren Helbok, who was following the train, quickly got the special on its way.

En route, the train passed through the 3,409-foot-long Buck Mountain Tunnel, longest of the former Reading’s seven tunnels, with photo stops at both portals. Previous specials have run to Mahanoy City and Girardville (See “Reading & Northern special highlights rare mileage …,” News Wire, Aug. 24, 2021),  but this one continued all the way to R&N‘s interchange with the Shamokin Valley Railroad, one of the North Shore family of short lines. At Locust Summit, the train climbed a 2.6% grade that once was a helper district known for assignment of the biggest Reading Co. steam locomotives – Class K-1 2-10-2s, Class N-1 2-8-8-0s and, later, Class T-1 4-8-4s.

R&N officials Matt Fisher and Josh Cascarella said they were pleased with the operation and would like to operate more such specials. Already offering a full seasonal schedule of steam, diesel and RDC trains, R&N now carries some 300,000 passengers a year (See “Reading & Northern announces 2024 regular-season excursions …,” News Wire, Feb. 6, 2024).