Eastern Railroad Discussion > BM&R where is it

A rainy Sunday afternoon Somwhere on the Blue Mt. & Reading 1990.Dale you can guess if you want to.
Jim

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I'd guess between Shoemakersville and West Hamburg, PA
Gonut

jim6300loco Wrote:
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> A rainy Sunday afternoon Somwhere on the Blue Mt.
> & Reading 1990.Dale you can guess if you want to.
> Jim


Can I guess? I'm pretty sure I was in the cab that day.

dschlegel Wrote:
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> jim6300loco Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > A rainy Sunday afternoon Somwhere on the Blue
> Mt.
> > & Reading 1990.Dale you can guess if you want
> to.
> > Jim
>
>
> Can I guess? I'm pretty sure I was in the cab that
> day
not yet!
Pop

Gonut1 Wrote:
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> I'd guess between Shoemakersville and West
> Hamburg, PA
> Gonut


Nope!
Different branch.
jim

The ex-PRR Schuylkill Division below Leesport? Not very many clues to this one unless you were in the cab the day the photo was made! Just flat land, no pole line, no buildings and a smattering of generic Pennsylvanian hardwood trees!
Gonut

Gonut1 Wrote:
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> The ex-PRR Schuylkill Division below Leesport? Not
> very many clues to this one unless you were in the
> cab the day the photo was made! Just flat land, no
> pole line, no buildings and a smattering of
> generic Pennsylvanian hardwood trees!
> Gonut


You have to remember the BM&R operated the Perkoemen Cluster which was the old Reading lines from Pottstown to Boyertown,Emmaus to Pennsbug, and Topton to Kutztown. Today 2 of these lines are operated by East Penn Railroads and One line is operated for Berks County by an Operator that I do not know the name of. The line from Topton to Kutztown is owned by The Borough of Kutztown and the line from Emmaus to Pennsburg is owned by East Penn RR. Just as a hint it is one of these 3 lines.
Jim

I either didn't remember or never knew that the BM&R ever ran any of those branches. Anthracite Railways comes to mind and somehow I knew Kutztown owns their line. Your picture doesn't look anything like any part of the Perkiomen Branch. The only tangent track on that line is at Pennsburg and it is lined with industrial buildings. The Colebrookdale Branch is also hilly country that doesn't have a section of straight rail anywhere. The Kutztown Branch runs through flat farmland so...
Gonut
P.S.
Thinking about it, BM&R ran the 425 with the Beeline diesels on the Colbrookedale Branch once, 15-18 years ago.

That looks a lot like the straight stretch between Schwoyer's Crossing and the Kohler Rd. Crossing on the Kutztown Borough limits. Probably taken back in August of 1990 when Kutztown celebrated it's 175th anniversary, and they had passenger excursions which had the RDG 5513 for power.

beertrain Wrote:
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> That looks a lot like the straight stretch between
> Schwoyer's Crossing and the Kohler Rd. Crossing on
> the Kutztown Borough limits. Probably taken back
> in August of 1990 when Kutztown celebrated it's
> 175th anniversary, and they had passenger
> excursions which had the RDG 5513 for power.


You are correct!

Gonut1 Wrote:
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> I either didn't remember or never knew that the
> BM&R ever ran any of those branches. Anthracite
> Railways comes to mind and somehow I knew Kutztown
> owns their line. Your picture doesn't look
> anything like any part of the Perkiomen Branch.
> The only tangent track on that line is at
> Pennsburg and it is lined with industrial
> buildings. The Colebrookdale Branch is also hilly
> country that doesn't have a section of straight
> rail anywhere. The Kutztown Branch runs through
> flat farmland so...
> Gonut
> P.S.
> Thinking about it, BM&R ran the 425 with the
> Beeline diesels on the Colbrookedale Branch once,
> 15-18 years ago.

The BM&R operated the Perkoeman cluster from 1989 to 1993. the Anthracite RR. operated from 1984 to 1989. Previous to that Conrail operated the branches for the Penn Dept of Transportation.After the Penn Dot received the lines from the Bankrupt Reading Co. estate.
The cluster went up for sale in 2000. Penn Dot wasn't interested in owning any branch lines any longer. The Colebrooke dale branch has seen 3 owners since 2000. First was Berks County, then East Penn Railroad , Then it was sold back to Berks County.(East Penn made a heck of a profit from the sale of the line)East Penn RR. purchased the Perkoeman branch in 2000 and the new East Penn RR. Still owns it. The Kutztown Branch was purchased by the Borough of Kutztown in 2000 for $150,001.00.The Borough purchased it solely for the purpose of securing the right of way for their utility business Electric, water & sewer, and also Well Head protection. The East Penn Railroad is the designated operator for the Kutztown Transportation Authority. Now you know some of the story.
Jim

It sounds like Kutztown got a steal! I'd buy a viable rail line for $150,001! Does the draft gear manufacturer in town still receive or ship by rail?
I recall seeing Thomas the Tank Engine run (actually pushed by a diseasel) on the Kutztown line some years ago.
Gonut

Gonut1 Wrote:
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> It sounds like Kutztown got a steal! I'd buy a
> viable rail line for $150,001! Does the draft gear
> manufacturer in town still receive or ship by
> rail?
> I recall seeing Thomas the Tank Engine run
> (actually pushed by a diesel) on the Kutztown
> line some years ago.
> Gonut


yes the borough got a steal. the borough was the highest bidder. the other two bidders wanted it for the scrap value. Yes the Kutztown Foundry(Mc Conway & Torley) still receives scrap steel and Ships finished product out on the rail. the Kutztown Transportation Authority receives 10% of the Frt rate and the operator has to maintain the line.Yes Thomas was there in 1998.
Jim