Steam & Excursion > Riding 765 Sunday Trip Report

Cliff Notes:   
  Sunday Aug 23...Bethlehem, PA to Pitston, PA  approx 175 miles round trip.    (about 12 hours total time) 
     I rode Standard Coach,    765 ran flawlessly,     Issues were addressed and fixed, I miss open windows,     Ohio State causes delay of train penalty.   Rich Melvin is a real gentleman

 Background I have ridden Southern/NS steam specials for 40 years. I have pulled the throttle for about 2000 miles of steam (Poland).  I have never ridden or seen 765. Saturday I photographed 765 (also 425).  Chase is not really the right word.    On a somewhat limited budget I bought cheap seats in the standard coach for Sunday.  My coach was NS 44 "Florida".  It was built by Pulman Std 1950 for C&O, sold for commuter use, then rebuilt by NS at Juniata Car Shops.  NS gutted the car and installed bench seating.  Basically fixed seating as found on commuter trains.  They cannot be turned.   The folks on Saturday all had to ride backwards the entire trip as the train was positioned that way.  We rode forward on Sunday.  Windows are wide and reasonably clean given it is a steam engine.   Glare was a big problem for photos.  Vestibule windows remained closed per NS rules.  In fact the dutch door was welded to a one piece door in our car.  You could ride in the vestibule to listen better and even smell the smoke, especially in the tunnels. Car #44 was 6 cars back.   Inside the coach you could sometimes hear the engine work going up grade and sometimes hear the whistle, mostly when the ac and blowers were off due to HEP problems.   My coach rode extremely smooth and quet.   No truck squeaks or groans or knocks to speak of.   The web site said coach tickets were sold out, but there were empty seats.   I believe this is done to accomadate families and groups so they don't have to be split up.  Also that gives back up in case a car has to be closed such as happened today.   Good planning. 

Logistics  Parking was down at the old Bethlehem Steel works....worthy of a trip in itself.  Original plans called to load the train there, but that changed to load the train at the old intermodal loading area about 2 miles west.   School buses shuttled us to the train.  That had to be an unforseen expense.  But the plan worked well.   Boarding is easy and efficient.  We were assigned a car but not a specific seat.  NS employees filled the first three cars.   The NS coach "Ohio State Univ" was in the consist but out of service due to malfunctioning AC unit.  But the AC was not taken off line.  The HEP for the train kept kicking in and out for the whole northbound segment.  At first I thought it was a bad HEP connection. Finally on the westbound trip the train was stopped for 30 min for NS people to troubleshoot and correct the issue.  AC in Ohio State was shut down and isolated.   No more HEP issues.  Our car was comfortably cool.  My coach, NS 44, had the toilet clog and not flush sometime on the return trip.  It was closed, but the car host said it would be fixed at Jim Thorpe.  NS guys did indeed fix it!   (Amtrak are you reading this?)

Northbound 30 mintes delay departing Bethlehem as we waited for a stack train to go by.  The connection on the Lehigh Line requries an interesting reversing move to get out of Bethlehem.  It's real railroading.   Huge crowds were all along the line.  Thousands of just plain folks out to see and photo the train.  Really I felt like I was on the Superbowl Parade.   Crowds were well behaved, I think.   The trip is roughly 85 miles with the first half on NS and the second half on the tracks of Reading and Northern.  The tracks are both former CNJ and Lehigh Valley. Those lines paralled each other and in the 60s the 2 railroads consolidated trackage using the best of both.   The trip basically follows the Lehigh River valley upgrade northbound, passing through the scenic Lehigh Gorge just north of Jim Thorpe.  Tons of bikers, hikers and white water river rafters.  (mostly class 3 rapids).   "Box" lunches were put on board at Pitston.  This was a Subway ham and cheese, bag of chips and big cookie + bottle water.  Satisfying.  Do first class passengers get the same?   Do they even need it? 

765 765 worked flawlessly as far as I could tell.  Great firing as seen 6 cars back.  Although NS caps the speed at 40 mph, I doubt this line could handle anything faster with all of the curves and grades.   The serious grades are going up to Mountain Top coming out of the valley into the Pocono Mountains.  We did that at a steady 25-30 mph.  The entire train wyed at Pitston. But interesting connections required a 1-1/2 time through the wye.  Just say it required backing into the yard a 2nd time.  We paused to bring on box lunches from Subway.   (650 people on board!)  No engine servicing or water taken.  Returning it is another steep grade up to "Mountain Top" near that famous CP Laural Run (TO member Ed K).  After cresting the grade it's mostly all down hill.   I wondered what the pilots were thinking as all of the train was braked with only air brakes.  Dynamics have changed the whole art of train braking.  

Reading and Northern  We passed strings of stored oil tank cars.  We were told Readning and Northern has about 1500 cars presently stored.  Each car @ $3 per day.   Plus a number of covered hoppers too.  Our train had a meet near M&H JCT with the R&N 425 and the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Train.   425 and train were in the siding and we rolled by at 30-40 mph.  When is the last time 2 steam engines in the US had a meet at more than 15 mph?

Crew  Our train arrived in Jim Thorpe just after 4 PM unload then pulled south of the station to allow 425 and train to enter station.   425 cut off, a diesel took over for the 4:30 train.  Rich Melvin visted the cab of 425 while it shuffled around Jim Thorpe. It later rapidly left town with just a water car but a very loud bark.   I had a chance to chat a bit with Rich Melvin and thank him.  He is very humble to make sure that an entire team makes this happen.   Like most of the crew, he will NOT stay in Scanton (Steamtown) this week with 765....he has work to do.  New videos are due out.   Dedication...the gal in the concession car tending the food counter loves doing this.  She lives in NW Ohio.  But she had to be at work Monday morning.....after an 8 hour drive back home Sunday night!!!!   765 was lubed at JT.  We had 2 car host.  One from Ft. Wayne and one from Reading& Northern. They were terrifc and most pleasant. (Amtrak are you reading?)

765 "Runby"   After an hour our train returned by backing into the station.  BUT, they kept on backing well past the station. Then they triumphantly pulled forward.    Now all could see 765 entering the station.   Good job, whoever thought of that.    Ten miles or so south of JT we stopped for water at Bowmanstown.  A crossroad town.  Fire company was ready and waiting.  It looked like a NASCAR pit stop.   I timed it.  In 17 minutes we were on our way.  I suspect that they did not fill the tanks, as it was only another 30 miles or so to Bethlehem and a 5000 gal water tank truck waiting.  The water stop may be one of the biggest events in decades in Bowmanstown.   Hundreds of folks gathered.

Arrival  We arrived back in Bethlehem roughly 8PM   About 2 hours late, about 12 hours after scheduled departure.    Google maps says you can drive to Pitston in 1h 4min on Interstates.  Not near as much fun.  The bench seats are a little hard, I do not recommend this for wives or families for long trips.   I didn't mind. 

Things i miss.   There was NO route guide handout with milepost and highlights. This would have been most helpful.  I guess the downside of not having NRHS groups sponser the trips.  Open windows, doors.   I sure wish NS would consider some type of concession or open car.  Put chain link over the door/window to prevent leaning out.  Place the car near the front of the train.

Question for Dome Riders???   On Sunday the domes were deep in the consist.  Could you really see that much given all of the curves?   Saturday with the consist running reverse would have been much better. 

I had a great time and would do it again.   I'll give it 4.5 out of 5 whistles 

1.   765 and train prior to departure

3. Reverse move at CP Burn Allentown/Bethlehem

4.  By Allentown yard headed for north Lehigh line.

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4.  Standar Coach NS #44 "Florida"

5.  Interior of NS 44

6. Interior  NS coach Ohio State University .  Out of service due to malfunction AC unit.   (former Budd coach)

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7.  Looking back on train as it turn at Pitston

8. Looking forward.

9.  Crew awaiting pick up. 

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10.  Lunch put on board at Pitston

11.  Dutch door welded into one piece door

12.  Empty oil cars stored on R&N.  Impromtu derail applied. 

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13.  Original CNJ Milepost.   Measured from Jersey City. 

14.  This is northeastern Pennsylvania?

15. Whitewater River Rafting on the Lehigh  (a mild section here)

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16.  Rich Melvin climbs aboard 425.   "Where can I get some of that blue paint?"

17.  Crowds in Jim Thorpe

18.  The star of the show in Jim Thorpe. 

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OOOOOPs.   This was supposed to be picture #1.
 

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Nice report. I talked to Rich Melvin in Jim Thorpe and he was disappointed he could not run this weekend due to a pulled tendon in his left arm. He hopes he can on the Scranton trips. Both RBMN pilots were staem qualified and got some throttle time.   

Doug Rowland
Philadelphia, PA

Great trip report.  Interesting photos too.  Well done.  Made me feel like I was a participant.

We have over 2000 tank cars stored at $6 per day.

Posted from iPhone

Very good report. Thanks for posting

Thank you for a very informative narrative on the entire operation of this trip. 

Great report! We rode in the Collinsville Inn (were originally assigned to the Ohio State) on Sunday.
All in all it was an outstanding day and well worth the ticket cost!
Dan

Posted from iPhone

A very good report which concisely pointed out the spirit and reality of the trip. As you noted, everything isn't perfect but on balance those inconveniences were overcome by the positive aspects.

DaleR