R&N Early Years 1

A look at early operations on the Reading & Northern RR from 1990 to 1995

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• trains
• Reading
• Northern
• hard
• coal
• anthracite

[rwk360]

Fmnut, can you answer this question? How were they able to run long distance excursions on Conrail which boarded at Temple station Sept. 1985, then also Leesport, Shoemakersville, and South Hamburg fall 1987, and 1988 but they stopped running those trips after 1988? Did Conrail put its foot down and say no to the excursions after a while or wasn't Andy Muller interested in doing them anymore? I know it would be much harder if not impossible for Reading and Northern to run excursions on NS today.

[fmnut]

@rwk360 The answer is, both. Conrail put a $20M insurance requirement on all mainline trips which effectively killed any trips including the RBMN's, . In a way, you can thank another operator, NS, for the rise in costs after the wreck in 1986 in Virginia with the CEO at the throttle. This was a wakeup call for everyone in the business, and the insurance companies didn't mis it either. Also, Herr Muller was way too busy setting up the R&N in 1989-1990 to be bothered with fantrips.

[rwk360]

I liked when the BM&R ran two trains, I remember the PRR E8's passing us at Leesport when I rode the Railfan Weekend II train June 27, 1987 from Temple with 425. The E's were heading southbound to Temple while we were heading northbound to South Hamburg. When they passed, it seemed like they were going 50 mph and the horn blew right in my ear! It was loud! How often did the BM&R run two trains? When were those two trains with the Reading diesels passing each other at Leesport in this video?

[fmnut]

@rwk360 The two trains with the 5513 and the U23B were on an Easter Bunny weekend in 1991 I think. They usually ran two trains for special occasions like Easter Bunny, Santa Claus trains at Christmas, and Railfan Weekends.

[rwk360]

What kind of horn did those blue BM&R CF7's have? It sounded like a blat horn, like what some F units and GG1's had. Was it a Wabco E something or a Leslie A-200?

[fmnut]

@rwk360 I believe they were A-200's. They were the original horns as delivered on the ATSF F units that the CF's were made from.

[rwk360]

Why did the railroads switch from steam to diesel in the first place? Because diesel cost less, was less maintenance/labor intensive, and easier to run. But, on tourist railroads, it's steam that brings out the people and equals more ticket sales. Why is Strasburg popular? Because they run steam everyday. Why are most eastern PA/NJ tourist railroads except Strasburg and Steamtown not running steam and using diesel this year? Is it because most of the steam locomotives are down for maintenance?

[fmnut]

@rwk360 Also, the creation of the Reading & Northern absorbed most of the attention of owner and management, and the little Temple-Hamburg line became an orphan as far as the railroad was concerned. As to the 425, it needs work. Whether the RR will put the money into it or not remains to be seen. As for 2102, don't hold your breath. The railroad's priorities need to be focused on running the railroad, not window dressing like steam trips. They are a big money loser at the end of the day.

[fmnut]

@rwk360 To make a long story short, they weren't making any money on the tourist runs. Part of this had to do with running diesel instead of steam. It was costing them big time to run the steam every day, but using diesel, while lowering operating costs, also cost revenue because people turned away when they saw there was no steam. The other thing was, by 1988 or 89 the initial "wow" factor had worn off, and the BM&R was but one of many options for a train ride in eastern PA.