Steam & Excursion > R&N 425 from July 6th

Finally got time to edit my photos and gather two videos from the excursion train the R&N 425 pulled on July 6th.  My son and I made a day out of out and brought the bikes with us for bicycling into the Lehigh Gorge for our inbound and outbound photo spots.  As already documented, Mother Nature wasn't kind in the morning, providing a strong thunderstorm with real heavy rain.  

Our original plan with to bike up to the area around MP130, which the R&N refers to 'Old Penn Haven'.  As we headed into the Lehigh Gorge, the clouds came in and with the mountains and river echoing the sound, we couldn't quite determine which way the thunder was coming from.  Needless to say, we started heading back, but got caught in the rain nonetheless.  And boy did we get wet.  It was raining so hard, we had a hard time hearing the steam engine.  We ended up catching it around the area north of the Oxbow Curve.  Onto the photos.

1.  The excursion train heading toward Jim Thorpe  (The rain really made it hard to hear the train coming down the mountain)
2.  A going away photo of the engine  
3. By the time we got back to our vehcile, dried off a bit and biked toward Jim Thorpe, the steamer was off the turntable.  In this photo, the engine is taking on water near the new Route 209 
bridge.

A few more to follow...  

 

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Continuing the photos...

4.  The steam engine always attracts a crowd, including a few with no respect for others trying to get their photos as well
5.  Patiently waited for my turn
6.  The outbound excursion train at MP126 in the Lehigh Gorge.  The diesel engine is tacked onto the last car, but the steam engine was doing all the work

Two videos to follow..
 

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And now the videos...

The first video is my son's and is from the morning trip as the train heads to Jim Thorpe in a downpour.  He opted for video to keep his camera as dry as possible.

The second video is of the return trip at MP126 in the Lehigh Gorge.  I just love how the steam engine sounds whenever it is running through the Lehigh Gorge.  

Despite the morning soaking and a lot of humidity after, we really enjoyed ourselves and the R&N does a great job with their excursions overall and running these ones for local charitable groups.  Plus, we did 17 miles on the bicycles, so not a bad day at all.  Hope you enjoy the photos and videos.  

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Why do people need to get so close to the loco to get photos? And then take ages to do it.   Especially when they see others set up at a more normal distance. 

Your first two photos taken in the rain look like painted works of art.
Bob

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> Why do people need to get so close to the loco to
> get photos? And then take ages to do it. 
>  Especially when they see others set up at a more
> normal distance. 

Becasue not everyone taking a photograph is a railfan or really cares about yet another "perfect photo" that the railfan is trying to capture. 

That is definitely a sound experience in your second video, as you pointed out.

Very nicely done. I really like the "in the rain" shots. Your sound video gave me goose bumps. Many thanks. d

I agree with the comment by refarkas, photos 1&2 are very dramatic.
John

Thanks for the compliments everyone, they are appreciated.