Reading & Northern's Pittston-to-Jim Thorpe train: walkthrough and ride highlights
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- čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
- Reading & Northern Railroad's all-day Pittston-to-Jim Thorpe excursion trains return for their second season on April 6, 2024.
This ride takes passengers from the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Regional Railroad Station in Pittston, PA to Jim Thorpe, on the northern half of the RBMN mainline. It starts by going through the neighborhoods of Duryea, Avoca, Dupont, and Pittston Township before climbing up Penobscot Mountain and making a station stop in Mountain Top. From there it's downhill to White Haven, for another station stop. The second half of the trip traverses the entirety of Lehigh Gorge State Park before arriving in idyllic Jim Thorpe.
In this video, I'll show you what to expect when you arrive at the Pittston Station, walk you through the railcars most commonly found in the PIJT consist, and show you the 40th anniversary diesel locomotive that usually pulls the PIJT. Then we'll hop on board so you can see some of the scenic highlights of the ride.
0:00 Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Regional Railroad Station
1:00 Crown Class coaches
1:46 Crown Class coach 452 Deer Park
2:36 Crown Class coach 453 Pulpit Rock
3:24 Dining car 1166 North by Northwest
4:31 Observation lounge car 7 King Coal
5:59 40th anniversary locomotive EMD GP38-2 2023
6:33 Pittston to Jim Thorpe ride highlights
10:13 end screen
Chasing trains and building models is hard work! You can help me refuel and support my adventures at:
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Good morning Jamie. I hope you're having a good day friend. Thank you for the tour. Absolutely wonderful. Looks like a great way to spend the day. Thanks for all the tips as well. I hope you and the kids are doing great. Have yourself an awesome Easter friend.
Good afternoon Dennis! The kids and I are doing great on this lovely Friday. And they're happy I stayed home despite the nice weather, but I've had a lot of editing to catch up. Hope you're doing well, and enjoy your Easter weekend.
Great video, Jaime! What a treat for the folks in that area to ride in such fine vintage coaches and I'm not even talking about the spectacular scenery everywhere!! Well I guess I did talk about it.
Thanks so much! Everything about this railroad is awesome, and I'm glad you enjoyed the tour.
Howdy Jamie. Rewatching 👍🇺🇸👍
Hey there buddy, thanks for the rewatch!
Awesome Video Jamie!!!! Im SOO Exited for the Excursions to start, Which means More Railfan action once again!!!!!!!!! I am hoping to get up there to ride or chase the Pittston Excursion, Because it looks sooo fun!! Maybe for any new riders out of Reading this year, Maybe show what Folks out of Reading can expect! Awesome video once again!!!
Scott
Thanks Scott! Reading and Pittston trips start April 6, just over a week away. And as luck would have it, I'm editing the Reading equivalent to this video this week. Should be out soon.
@@JamieMakin thats great news!!! Looking forward to the new video!
Excellent video! I'm planning to taking this ride on the King Coal this Spring. Happy to get a sneak peek!
Awesome! Hope you enjoy your ride!
Very informative video Jamie.
Thanks.😊
Thanks so much, Henry!
Happy Easter jamie from our family to yours
Thank you Westley, and Happy Easter to you and your family.
Awesome PR work!
Thanks Paul!
Thanks for sharing Jamie. Can't wait to visit in May for the 2024 You Tuber's M&G
Thanks so much, Ron! I hope you enjoy your visit in May.
Great video jamie
Thanks so much, Westley!
Awesome video Jamie
Thanks Marilyn!
That was awesome Jamie! Love those vintage round roofed heavyweight passenger cars. A lot of railroads modernized these Pullman built heavyweight cars in the 1940s and '50s to "mate" with the newer lightweight streamlined cars. (The three axle trucks are a giveaway that they're heavyweight cars) The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad modernized a lot of their heavyweight cars, starting in the late 1930s for their premiere train, the Capitol Limited. About 10 years ago, Walthers did a run on this train in HO scale, which I have in my collection, including matching EMD E8A and E8B passenger diesels. I added some of the Walthers B&O heavyweight cars to this consists, some of them are round roofed. (I'm a huge B&O / Chessie System fan) I just haven't added the lighting kits to any of these cars yet, as I've not run them. Do these coaches the Reading & Northern has have engine generator sets to supply HEP? Or do they have a "power car"? God bless.
Thanks, so goad you enjoyed the tour! Also thanks for sharing the info on other heavyweight coaches. Some of the coaches have generators (including the dining cars and one of the Crown Class cars), but most don't.
#Pittston Is Beginning To Rock Again With Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars Of Improvements And New Construction; Including Two New Bridges Over The #Susquehanna River Plus New Medical/Residential And Entertainment/Arts Facilities.....In It's Urbanized Core.
Glad to hear it!
NS should sell the tracks from Hazleton to Allentown and Mehoopany to Athens (below Sayre) to RBMN. Mehoopany to Athens through Towanda is leased by Lehigh Railway. RBMN had the 4 mile branch from Towanda to a grain mill but it looks abandoned now and part of the rails are paved over at a small crossing in Towanda near the station. That would provide more excursion routes for RBMN. There is no way that RBMN excursion trains can touch one inch of NS owned rail for various reasons. Can someone board one of these excursions in Jim Thorpe and ride to Pittston and back? Is there more than one round trip a day?
Now that would be something!
Right now the trains start in Pittston and go to Jim Thorpe and back. There's no option to start in Jim Thorpe, and they do just one round trip per day. A lot of people have wished for RBMN to buy the Lehigh Line for years, but I don't know if it'll happen. I have seen NS doing a lot of track work in the past year or so on that line, and I doubt they would be investing so heavily in it if they were planning to sell it.
What freight business does NS have on the line from Allentown to Hazleton? NS sold seven miles of track in Hazleton to RBMN that goes to the Humboldt industrial park over several years ago. Does NS still have the freight that goes from Allentown to Binghamton, NY and uses 45 miles of RBMN from CP Independence to CP Dupont? Then the two 2102 excursions this year are the only way to ride from the Jim Thorpe area (they start in Nesquehoning) to Pittston or beyond? And there is an F unit excursion to Pittston as well in August the day after the 2102 one. I'm riding from Nesquehoning to Tunkhannock on June 22 hopefully behind 2102. Is NS off limits to RBMN excursion trains including the RDC's? That means they can never go to downtown Reading to Franklin St. Station to meet Amtrak when Amtrak starts service between Philly and Reading. Is the reason NS won't allow RBMN passenger trains on its tracks liability even if they would use a diesel hauled train with roller bearing coaches? RBMN does run into NS's Spring St. Yard with freight trains.
The H66 from Allentown to Hazelton and back is the only NS train that runs on that track at these days. All NS tracks are off-limits to all RBMN passenger trains, and I'm not privy to the reason why. There will be an F unit trip from Nesquehoning to Pittston and back on 8/18, but I don't think tickets have gone on sale for that yet.
That's why NS should sell the tracks from Allentown to Hazleton and Mehoopany to Athens, PA below Sayre to RBMN. I wonder why NS is holding on to the Hazleton line? But they sold several miles to RBMN that goes to the Humboldt industrial park. And NS leased the Mehoopany to Athens segment of the former Lehigh Valley mainline to Lehigh Railway a while back. Maybe if the lease expires RBMN could jump on it. RBMN did have the 4 mile branch from Towanda to a feed mill but it looks out of service now and a small crossing is paved over in Towanda near the station buildings I saw on Google street view. In the mid-late 1980's Conrail let Andy run 2102 to Harrisburg, Philly, Jim Thorpe via Allentown, and other places but that ended after 1988 and the only off line excursions in 1986 were the 425 ones from Hoboken, NJ to Port Jervis, NY and return. The big reason why class 1 railroads frown on excursions is because of the liability. Another reason is what equipment is used. NS does not like friction (plain) bearings because they can trip detectors and hotbox. And NS won't allow open windows now, they did in the old steam program through 1994. At least RBMN has enough track to run long excursions. Amtrak also banned excursions in March 2018. That means no more opportunities to ride freight only NS tracks in eastern PA unless Amtrak starts regular service on some of them like to Reading and Allentown.