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  • Any long distance railfan excursions in PA/NJ 2011?

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in Pennsylvania
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in Pennsylvania

Moderator: bwparker1

 #952605  by rwk
 
I would like info on pricing, etc. and is it a one day trip (no overnight)? I would do it if the price per ticket was under $100 and if it would be a one day trip. I assume it will board at Union Station, but isn't the track in front of Union Station fenced off to prevent trespassing so where would the train access be? The former LV rails in front of the station haven't seen a passenger train in 50 years. The last stop for an LV train heading to Newark, NJ was in Feb 1961.
Last edited by Andyt293 on Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: Too much personal information that has no relevancy to the topic at hand.
 #956979  by OCtrainguy
 
I called Steamtown today and asked about the Bethlehem excursion and they said unfortunately, the proposed trip has not come to fruition. The woman I spoke to did not have any further information and I do not want to speculate what may have happened. The only excursions will be the trips each day to Moscow and back.

It's unfortunate as I would've really have liked to be able to take that trip.
 #957730  by rwk
 
What might have happened? Didn't Bennett get approval from all the railroads? NS especially? That would have been a rare chance to ride the line between Bethlehem and Lehighton. The part above Lehighton can be ridden anytime on the Lehigh Gorge or Reading and Northern, but then the part into Steamtown might have been the CP from Dupont to Scranton which is also rare mileage, the Sunbury excursion last year used that track. I was thinking of going on this trip since it would be the only chance to board a train in the Lehigh Valley and ride through the Allentown Yard and up NS toward Lehighton. Reading and Northern will never go south of Jim Thorpe with an excursion train because of NS restrictions, no friction bearings permitted on NS. Are you sure the Bennett Levin E8 excursion from Bethlehem is cancelled? Is there any way to contact Bennett?
 #962994  by nickrapak
 
It may be out of your traveling distance, but the [a href=http://www.bellefontetrain.org/]Bellefonte Historical Railroad[/a] is running two medium-distance (and one short-distance) excursions along the Nittany and Bald Eagle the weekend of October 22-23. Saturday has a short turn from Bellefonte to Pleasant Gap (about an hour r/t) and a longer trip to Tyrone (about 3 hrs r/t, with a stopover in Tyrone). On Sunday, we'll be running from Bellefonte to Lock Haven (3 hours r/t, without a stopover). All runs will use NBER GP8s and vintage PRR coaches owned by Mr. Jeff Pontius of Penn Valley Railroad. This is the first time in two years that we are running out on to the NBER main line, and the first time since 2008 that we are running to Tyrone.
 #963095  by NellieBly
 
Also, check the Reading & Northern Web site. They are running several diesel-hauled trips in October, including some from Port Clinton on the former Reading to Jim Thorpe on the former CNJ, via the former Reading main, the CNJ Panther Valley Branch, and Nesquehoning Junction. These should be nice trips, and they are scheduled for a three-hour layover in Jim Thorpe, which is a great place to spend some time. Coach tickets are, I think, $39.
 #963602  by JimBoylan
 
I suspect that they will use the Reading's Little Schuylkill and Catawissa branches to the junction with the CNJ at Haucks. The connections from the Main Line to Tamaqua or St. Nicholas have been broken some distance beyond Pottsville, even though that is the way the last Reading passenger trains to Shamokin ran. Direct passenger service between Port Clinton and Tamaqua via New Ringgold was discontinued earlier and the trains combined with Pottsville trains that backed out to Pottsville Jct., then ran via New Philadelphia to Tamaqua and the old route.
 #968985  by rwk
 
Yes, I've been on Reading and Northern before a few times, even the old BM&R at Temple and South Hamburg in the late 80's (1986 diesel switcher/RDC Temple, June 1987 425 Temple, April 1988 2102 S Hamburg) and behind 2102 a second time from Emmaus to Pennsburg Sept 1991. I rode the R&N twice, both with 425, from Leesport to Jim Thorpe June 1992 and Tunkhannock to Jim Thorpe May 2009. This Saturday, I might be riding the Dutch Treat Train from Jim Thorpe to White Haven and back, 50 mile trip. There isn't much opportunities for long distance train excursions in eastern PA other than the Reading and Northern and Steamtown, New Hope when they do Warminster diesel runs and steam specials to Ivyland (I rode it a few years ago-photo freight to Ivyland) and whenever Bennett Levin's PRR JT E8's make a trip on Amtrak or NS. Most other tourist operations are restricted to what track they own. Strasburg did doubleheaded steam to Harrisburg on Conrail and Amtrak in June 1985 and to Philly in 1986, but the two PRR locos stopped running in 1990 and were returned to the museum, the steel coaches used in the off line excursions were sold and it's harder to run fan trips on class 1 railroads nowadays, Norfolk Southern might become the exception with steam coming back. BM&R did similar trips on Conrail to Philly, Harrisburg, etc. in Sept 1985, fall 1987, and 1988 mostly with Reading 2102.
 #978746  by rwk
 
All the train excursions in October to Jim Thorpe are sold out! Also, I missed the PRR E8 excursions that happened on Oct 1 and 2 from Harrisburg, PA! I just found about them now. I would have loved to ride on one of those. Maybe they'll do them again next year. The one went all the way past Horseshoe Curve, turned around, headed to Lock Haven, then back to Harrisburg on NS freight only trackage a real rare mileage excursion at least the return trip part. The other one on Oct 2 went to Pittsburgh and traveled on rare mileage there. The excursions were pricey at $195 a ticket, but not nearly as expensive as some of the multi day trips with the same train like the one in August from Hoboken that cost about $3,000-4,000 a person! I can't wait until NS does some public steam excursions in Virginia or even Pennsylvania. The steam train is supposed to tour NS through 22 states over four years starting next year. I hope public excursions will be a part of that. Like, they stay in a certain city for a weekend, and do public excursions on Sat and Sun then move on. I would love to ride a medium to long distance excursion behind steam on an eastern class 1 railroad, which will be Norfolk Southern because CSX currently has a hatred for steam. So now, it seems that Norfolk Southern is going to be just like Union Pacific with it's new steam program, a system wide tour, excursions, public displays, etc. But, they did say that it won't be excursions every weekend like the old program, most of the steam outings will be for NS employees, shippers, with a few excursions for the public.
 #986785  by NellieBly
 
It's not in Pennsylvania, but the first NS "21st Century Steam" trip will be from Knoxville to Chattanooga one-way next Monday. TIckets are $65 from the Tennessee Valley RR Museum.

Look for more trips next year. Since 630 (and later 4501) are based at, and will be maintained by, TVRM, you can expect the first season of trips will be in Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia. Maybe we'll see some trips in VA, NC, MD, and PA later.

I don't mean to torment you, but back in the late 1970s I was living in Washington, DC. Between the NS steam schedule and the Chessie Steam Special/Chessie Safety Express, between 1975 and about 1982 I could have spent myself into bankruptcy riding steam excursions behind multiple locomotives all over the eastern US just about every weekend. Some NS trips even ran out of Buffalo and Erie, and Chessie ran a number of trips out of Grant Street, Pittsburgh. I rode as many as I could afford, and have therefore covered nearly every mile of track in MD, VA, and NC at one time or another.

Lesson: ride 'em while you can. Don't know how you missed the E8 trips out of Altoona. The Railroaders' Museum started advertising those in June or July. And the R&N trips were also advertised as early as August. See it, jump on it.
 #997839  by rwk
 
I wish Reading and Northern would bring back #425, perhaps next year, and that Norfolk Southern would operate at least a few public long distance excursions with #630 next year. They did mention on their a while ago "look for us up north next year"
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