Nostalgia & History > Reading Train Masters

Did the Reading ever own any FM Train Masters?

Below is a 1955 FM advertisement showing Train Masters in Reading paint. Were these just demonstrator units in Reading paint?

JMW
http://www.waidephoto.com

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I should have checked the 'Fallen Flag and Other Railroad Photos" website first.

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/

Here are some Reading Train Master photos from the Fallen Flag site.

JMW
http://www.waidephoto.com

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The Reading used them on passenger service. fyi

Winks Wrote:
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> The Reading used them on passenger service. fyi


The Reading used them for everything. I have seen photos of "The Star" with a brand new GP30 leading one of the 800 series trainmasters. The RDG liked to run one six axle unit with a 4 axle unit on alot of the East Penn branch trains.

Reading owned the third largest fleet of Trainmasters with 17 units. Only the Virginian with 25 and Canadian Pacific with 21 rostered more. Southern Pacific owned 16.

Z

Yes, you are correct,

The Reading did use them on everything except local freight operations.
When I was 14 back in 64, I had the pleasure of riding on a GP_30/Trainmaster lash up on the AH-9 out of Allentown to Rutherford. This was one of the HOT cross Line Alphabet route trains that Started in Jersey City and went all the way to ST Louis. Wow what a Ride! The engineer, Harry S. Guistwite Put it in notch 8 and kept it there for almost the entire trip The only time he slowed down was for the Movement off the east penn branch over on to the Lebanon Valley branch while moving through Reading Yard.Yes, Those were the good old days!

The Reading actually tested Trainmaster demonstrator units TM-1 and TM-2 in June - July of 1953. The Reading bought numbers 800- 808 for freight service and numbers 860-867 for passenger service. Nine of the units were renumbered in 1967 and two actually received the green & yellow paint sheme used on the Reading's second generation diesels.
My fondest memory of them was a cab ride on #803 from Gordon to Locust Summit. The one-week old unit was used as a pusher behind a coal train led by an A-B-A set of F7's. What a thrill for an 11 year-old boy.