RDG Co. Bethlehem Branch

I know the recent destruction of the railroad went through Coopersburg. How far south toward Shelly did they pull the rails?

great shot of a bethlehem ore train! neat find.........

delvyrails wrote:People in this region seem to have a peculiar blend of Quaker conservatism and Germanic non-questioning of authority. That may explain Pacobell's puzzlement.

It could be, delvyrails. I grew up in the Hightstown area, and remember Princeton Junction very well when the Penn Central GG1s came through. I also spent many a summer with my grandfolk in Queens and Long Island, NY. When I moved to the Philly area in the mid-1995s, something seemed off about SEPTA. I always remember DVARP saying how SEPTA inherited a railroad system they never wanted, something unusual for the commuter lines in the northeast.

The lack of diesels --- and the lack the government authority to step in, strip SEPTA of its railroad division and create a new entity whose sole purpose is to operate the railroad division --- is quite surreal.

delvyrails, I am more sad than angered because this region will always be the region that "could have" had something great. I am just happy that the local towns are taking matters into their own hands and are trying to bring back traditional commuter rail after having been deprived of it since 1981.

glennk419 wrote:I know the recent destruction of the railroad went through Coopersburg. How far south toward Shelly did they pull the rails?

It starts just south of Coopersburg at Springfield Street (Bridge).

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&F ... &encType=1

Here is a picture north;

And here is facing south;

Wow, what a painful constrast


1977

RRPicturesarchives.net; contributed by Jack Smith.

2008

Courtesy of Bigpistol.

Pacobell73 wrote:Wow, what a painful constrast

I too thought of the painful contrast when I noticed that the one picture that BP posted was in the same location of the picture that I had just posted....

Here are some awesome new (well old) pictures from Mitch Kennedy over on the wonderful Reading Modeler website:

Here's a black and white shot from May 72, with a pair of RDCs laying over in Bethlehem after Mitch took a trip up from Reading Terminal (before the zebra stripes and rotary beacons were added to the RDC's a year or so later).
http://www.readingmodeler.com/modules.p ... temId=1414

While, not from the Bethlehem Branch, this is still another awesome Mitch Kennedy photo. It's a color shot taken June 75 from the vestibule of the RDCs on S/B train 86, meeting Train 7 (the N/B push pull job near Birdsboro, PA). Train 7 was running behind the loaded ore train from Joanna-and still on time! That ore train moved!
http://www.readingmodeler.com/modules.p ... ewsIndex=1

<<Edited to give credit to Mitch and include his text descriptions>>

I vote this "The most depressing thread on the internet"

PLEASE NOTE____ these photos show credit to the photographer on the Reading Modeller site...-something lacking on their posting here!!!! "Mitch-from-Maine" (Mitch Kennedy-ME!)is not happy about that! ... 2 YEARS AGO I HAD SOME PRSL IMAGES LIFTED FROM THE PRSL FORUM. End of posting shots for me when I found them as prints for sale on ebay as "unknown location/photographer". PLEASE remember to do this as a courtesy. I love sharing these shots but it has to be on the honor system! The black and white shot is from May 72, the pair laying over from my trip up from Rdg Terminal, before the zebra stripes and rotary beacons were added to the RDC's a year or so later. The color shot is June 75 from the vestibule of the RDC's on S/B train 86 meeting Train 7, the N/B push pull job near Birdsboro. Train 7 was running behind the loaded ore train from Joanna-and still on time! That ore train moved!!!!!

jrevans wrote:

Pacobell73 wrote:Wow, what a painful constrast

I too thought of the painful contrast when I noticed that the one picture that BP posted was in the same location of the picture that I had just posted....

Here's a new picture of RDCs at Bethlehem Union Station over on the terrific Reading Modeler site:
http://www.readingmodeler.com/modules.p ... temId=1414

This shot may also have been taken somewhere on the Bethlehem Branch, but I'm not sure. The picture mentions Northbound and Southbound, which sort of fits the BB: (it would definitely be North of Lansdale)
http://www.readingmodeler.com/modules.p ... ewsIndex=1

mitch kennedy wrote:PLEASE NOTE____ these photos show credit to the photographer on the Reading Modeller site...-something lacking on their posting here!!!! "Mitch-from-Maine" (Mitch Kennedy-ME!)is not happy about that! ... 2 YEARS AGO I HAD SOME PRSL IMAGES LIFTED FROM THE PRSL FORUM. End of posting shots for me when I found them as prints for sale on ebay as "unknown location/photographer". PLEASE remember to do this as a courtesy. I love sharing these shots but it has to be on the honor system!

Folks, I want you to give credit where credit is due when posting photos to this forum if they aren't yours. If the original photographer's info is known, list it accordingly. It only takes a few seconds while composing your post and such courtesy goes a LONG way towards avoiding needless ill-will. I don't wish to have our actions cause folks to cease sharing their vintage photos of the Reading with the world.

Sorry all. I have added photo credit for the "before" and "after"s. Hope I did not offend anyone.

theWatusi wrote:I vote this "The most depressing thread on the internet"

Without question, yes. I think this is the most significant railway destruction in the east in quite some time. A double-track main line, completely left intact and connecting two relatively large cities, lifted for a trail. I cannot think of another line that has had this happen to it in recent memory. I expect these kind of crimes to occur on branch lines, which are sadly, disrespected in thier own right (Newtown, anyone?).

Pacobell73 wrote:Sorry all. I have added photo credit for the "before" and "after"s. Hope I did not offend anyone.

Same here. Sorry Mitch! I edited my message to give direct credit to you! I had linked to the Reading Modeler site, but didn't notice that the page which I linked to did not contain the photographer information. Odd, since I couldn't directly link to the image in the first place, so I ASSumed that the info would have been on the RM page.

Pacobell73 wrote:Without question, yes. I think this is the most significant railway destruction in the east in quite some time. A double-track main line, completely left intact and connecting two relatively large cities, lifted for a trail. I cannot think of another line that has had this happen to it in recent memory. I expect these kind of crimes to occur on branch lines, which are sadly, disrespected in thier own right (Newtown, anyone?).

It shows how crappy SEPTA is and how poor we are at organizing the revival of the line....

It would be great to for SEPTA to spin off their rail divisions to a separate transportation entity like was being discussed over in the SEPTA forum.

Again, at least I contacted the STB about this, but nothing could be done, since the line isn't being abandoned (just removed....) and there were no active customers to protest.

jrevans wrote:...at least I contacted the STB about this, but nothing could be done, since the line isn't being abandoned (just removed....) and there were no active customers to protest.

See? Exactly. That is the kind of loophole SEPTA thrives on.

"No customers to protest, no active passenger service, not abandoning it. Clearing the ROW is a good idea for now."

They got away with it. With no competition from other transit agencies, and politicians hiding under their bed (except when their pockets are lined with cash), SEPTA is essentially above the law.

With a casino opening up, I imagine the big money in the project will want to bring trains back into Bethlehem from both Phila. and Reading as did NJT from Phila & NY to Atlantic City. It would be nice and revenue generating.

Don't hold your breath. Bethlehem isn't Atlantic City and the town has already converted the ROW into a trail anyway. Amtrak will be running bullet trains before trains come back on the Bethlehem Branch.

jfrey40535 wrote:Don't hold your breath. Bethlehem isn't Atlantic City and the town has already converted the ROW into a trail anyway. Amtrak will be running bullet trains before trains come back on the Bethlehem Branch.

Well at least the ROW has now been cleared for the relaying of new track.