Eastern Railroad Discussion > NARCOA speeder excursion on the Reading & Northern-Part 1

On Sunday North America Rail Car Owners Association (NARCOA) ran a fifty track car trip on the Reading & Northern RR. This trip started in Pottsville (PA) and ran the Pottsville Branch to Port Clinton. It was here that the speeders were turned at the R&N’s vehicle and Engine Shop crossings. Once that was accomplished all fifty speeders departed Port Clinton to Tamaqua via the mainline. Upon arriving in Tamaqua and having a lunch break they would head north to Haucks via the mainline. The return routing was back to Port Clinton where the speeders were turned for the northbound trip on the Pottsville Branch. It was quite a sight to see these colorful speeders of various railroads. The logos of the CNJ, CN, Chessie, UP and New Haven were only a few I could recall seeing. Saturday's trip started in Pottsville and ran to Good Spring, Schuylkill Haven, Reading Outer Station, Middleport Branch and return.There are a number of images to be shared within my threads.

An unidentified speeder is dwarfed by a Reading & Northern gondola as it passes by STONE Siding in the Reading & Northern yard in Port Clinton.

Where the “little guys” meet the “big boys” of railroading. The track cars are seen here at the Reading & Northern’s engine facilities in Port Clinton.

Passing through New Ringgold (PA) Hughes Street grade crossing and on their way to Tamaqua near Reading & Northern MP 88.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/18 04:19 by Pattenburg.

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NARCOA = North America Rail Car Operators Association

Dick Samuels

Car in the third photo is owned by a friend of mine. The "S" is the same as that used on the NYS&W but in this case it is the first initial of his last name.

Posted from Android

Turning a track car seemed to be a three step process to this novice. The first step would be to have the mechanism, don’t know what that mechanism is called, dropped so that the car can be elevated. Step two requires a little muscle to turn the car around one-hundred and eighty degrees. Note the silhouette of the springs below the track car when it is elevated. The last step would be to place it back down on the tracks for the trip.

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That mechanism is called a turntable

Steve

Great photos. This is one type of turntable. Usually a hydraulic piston the pushes a table or platform of some kind down against the ground and lifts the car off the rails enough to spin it.

Some use an automobile jack.

Some cars don't have a turntable so they need to turn the car at a crossing with the lift handles that pull out the end of the car. Turns like a wheel barrow.

Thanks for sharing the photos and video!

Posted from Android

A short video of some of the Track Cars passing through New Ringgold's Hughes Street grade crossing

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Looks like a lot of fun. I wonder how often the owners of the speeders get to do this?

There are a number of excursions on various railroads over the course of a year, some of them short, others hundreds of miles. More info at www.narcoa.org.

Great stuff.

I am still a working man so I take my speeder on 4-5 trips per year. Some of the retired folks can go nearly every weekend. Lots of trips each year.

Posted from Android

My question - what do the owners do with them to move them from their home base to where the excursion starts/ends?

JWL

That’s awesome, man the R&N seems like a good outfit. Thanks for posting, very neat stuff

Posted from iPhone

EMDSW-1 Wrote:
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> NARCOA = North America Rail Car Operators
> Association
>
> Dick Samuels


Made the correction and I say "Thanks!" for pointing out my error.

We trailer them from place to place. I used a two place motorcycle trailer for my M-19. Others use enclosed trailers used for automobiles.

The larger cars use much larger equipment trailers.

CV the civil E in NJ


tbdbitl Wrote:
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> My question - what do the owners do with them to
> move them from their home base to where the
> excursion starts/ends?
>
> JWL

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tbdbitl Wrote:
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> My question - what do the owners do with them to
> move them from their home base to where the
> excursion starts/ends?
>
> JWL

You put them on a trailer. Everyone has their own way / idea of how to trailer them. Some people buy specially made trailers, others just use a basic trailer and attach 2x4's to the deck to have the speeder sit on. I am a welder and metal fabricator so I took a used trailer frame that I picked up for a couple of hundred and custom made stainless steel rails for the speeder to sit on and removable ramps to load and unload the speeder. I just use a hand boat crank to load it and it rolls off on its own. I will upgrade to a power winch soon, but this has been working just fine for awhile.

Al Bayer

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Nice to see a trip on the R&N. A few years back I was a member of Narcoa . I had a M-19 then two Hi rail trucks over a period of about 15 years. Always wanted to run on the R&N but back then the closest I got was the rt 901 crossing near Mt Carmel Jct. Great way to see the railroad. --- Ken McCorry

WOW, what a way to spend a retirement and what a great way to see our country. Good luck guys and gals.

Jim
Hatboro, PA

Good to see a few "belt drives" still kicking- M-19's are the true classics!
SR

SN #M-51
1942 M-19

Real nice series of photos and congrats on video of the day!

Way cool