Nostalgia & History > Legacy road number 2. Pennsylvania's self contained dynamo

Here comes the Reading, straight off the Monpoly board...couldn't resist it! Not too much verbage today, since I've written in detail about the Reading in past posts. I put the Reading behind the EL because of accessiblility. I had the bulk of the heaviest trafficed Reading Lines within a max of two hours from my front door. This easy reach gave me many opportunities for day trips. The one part of the railroad I missed however was the Port Clinton, Tamaqua areas. The traffic in those areas was not enough to give up a day for. Yes, I regret it now, but I couldn't stop the clock that was ticking away to April 1st 1976. So lets go green and yellow today!

Three shots from my favorite Reading hangout, Rutherford yard east of Harrisburg. For a small regional railroad, this was one massive facility. You can still see a good piece of it today, since it is a big intermodal center for NS.
top...westbound coming into the receiving yard

middle...The engine terminal was very busy and very user friendly. Not uncommon to see Chessie, B&O, and especially Western Maryland power here.

bottom...This you won't see now, all gone. The eastbound class yard.

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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top...over to Allentown/Bethlehem area. This train was always daylight, and a fan favorite. The Star was an eastbound coal train for the massive Bethlehem steel plant in the company's namesake city

middle...the mixing bowl that was the Bethlehem engine terminal. I ranked this as my second favorite facility, just behind Hagerstown.

bottom...Another whole facet to the Reading was its extensive commuter operations. Sunday was a great time to catch bunches of power in Philadelphia.

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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top...speaking of Hagerstown. This was a common shot at the Western Maryland facility.

middle...Another common sight were the RDCs between Philly and Reading or Allentown.

bottom...dumb luck got me this shot. Eastbound crossing the Susquehanna near Sunbury Pa. Train originated on the far flung edge of the railroad at Williamsport Pa. I was actully chasing a PC freight on the Buffalo line. This scene is also bye bye now.

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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top...the line between Rutherford and Reading was busy enough to work for an entire day. 

middle...In Reading itself, an SW1500 works the complex. I really liked the husky appearance of these units. Only saw them on the PC besides the Reading.

bottom...Almost missed this one. I was on the other side of a bridge on a busy road in Baltimore. Very common to see Reading power in the Baltimore area back then on freights to and from Potomac yard in Alexandria Va. Train is eastbound at Carroll tower.

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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Holy crap, what a terrific collection of RDG shots! Esp. lovin' the shots at Rutherford, the one of the Star, and the bridge crossing at Sunbury. I would love to see more shots from the extremeties of their territory. Not until I moved to the Northeast did I really get into them, only to research and find that they were once truly a powerhouse operation and even briefly the largest corporation in the US. Living for several years near the Crossline (in the CR era) sure helped. Great stuff...

JG



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/23 10:56 by jgilmore.

Terrific images of another Northeastern regional rail operation that faded away with the creation of Penn Central.  Glad you covered the Reading during your younger days.

Great set, thanks.

Wow.
JB

What an excellent look at the Reading!

Larry

Wonderful set of photos!  I lived and railfanned the same areas 1975-81: Late PC and early Conrail days.  
Your RDG shots are great!  

Bob I.
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Roadjob Wrote:
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> top...the line between Rutherford and Reading was busy enough to work for an entire day. 

All great photos Bill. My only photos of the RDG were with you. Who'd a thunk it that one day I would operate over that Rutherford to Reading line in the distant future with Conrail and NS. Still had the old RDG signals too. Was it you Perklocal that told me that line was called "The Dutch Wonderland" due to its many ups and downs mimicking an amusement park ?

Roger Durfee
Akron, OH

outstanding! 
MILW86A 

Thanks for sharing these. Wonderful coverage.

Some great images in that bunch! 
Thanks,
Gonut

Awesome pictues.  Especially the shot at Sunbury, I saw the bridge as a teenager , but never saw a train on it.
Thanks,
Doug Freas