by Franklin Gowen
BuddCarToBethlehem wrote:Once in a blue moon, SEPTA does make decisions that make me smile. I remember some time ago, I want to say somewhere between '02 and '05, Upper Saucon Twp. wanted to build a new road to connect Passer Road with Rte. 309. I can't remember if it had anything to do with the Lutron facility or not. The new road would have crossed the rail line and SEPTA said that the new road couldn't cross "at grade." Since an overpass or underpass substantially raised the costs the road was never built. I got into a debate with coworker who railed (no pun intended) against SEPTA for blocking the project.It's not common that SEPTA was willing to take that firm of a stance concerning the integrity of the discontinued diesel lines' integrity. What happened at Preston Lane on the DeSales Univ. campus is almost the exact opposite of what you described here. Even at this late date I'm still surprised (and even somewhat impressed) that DeSales was able to get what it wanted from SEPTA.
BuddCarToBethlehem wrote:As for the pull/pull... It was either '78 or '79, my dad's friend was in town and he's a railfan. So we planned a trip for a Saturday, from Bethlehem to Reading Terminal to take the Market-Frankford so we could ride the Red Arrow. Originally the plan was to go Reading once we got to Philly, because he wanted to ride the pull/pull. My dad called someone at either Conrail or SEPTA (he worked for Bethlehem Steel and knew someone who had the right contact info) to see if it would be in service that weekend. The guy whom he spoke with said he'd put it on the Bethlehem run. Sure enough, were standing on the platform at Union Station when we look down towards 3rd St. and here comes this bohemeth rumbling towards us. When we got to Hatfield, a woman got on the train complaining that it was late. The conductor told her that it was the train's fault, (I guess the acceleration was less than stellar)... This train shouldn't be on this run... Why did they do that... My dad did all he could to not burst out in laughter. My brother & I didn't know what the joke was, and it was only later that he told us why he thought it was so funny.So just this once, you didn't live up to your forum username? [-chuckle-] Seriously, that is a very funny tale; thank you for sharing it!
Do you recall if the pull-pull train was still wearing its rather worn-down, two-tone green Reading Company paint on the outside when you took that trip, or had the locomotives and coaches been repainted into the SEPTA scheme? When paint was new-ish, the mostly bright-white train looked absolutely dazzling.
Franklin Gowen • • • • READING COMPANY forum moderator
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Click here for "America's Largest Anthracite Hauler"!
In 2024, the late, great RDG overlaps with RBM&N, SEPTA, NS, CSX, and several shortlines - that's life . . .