Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad

Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad

Reporting mark	RBMN
Locale	Pennsylvania
Dates of operation	1983–
Predecessor	Conrail
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	300 miles (480 km)
Headquarters	Port Clinton, Pennsylvania
Website	Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad

The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad (reporting mark RBMN) (a.k.a. Reading and Northern Railroad) is a regional railroad operating in eastern Pennsylvania.

History

Originally known as the Blue Mountain and Reading Railroad, the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad was founded in 1983 to provide freight service on the former Pennsylvania Railroad Schuylkill Division between Hamburg and Temple, PA. Starting in 1985, the BM&R began operating passenger excursions over the line, and two steam locomotives, ex Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad 4-6-2 425, and Ex Reading Company T-1 4-8-4 2102. The BM&R also began operating 3 additional state owned lines.^[1] Additionally, the BM&R entered into a partnership with the Reading Company Technical and Historical Society who leased track space in Leesport, PA and in return leased two diesel locomotives and assorted passenger cars for use on the line.

In 1990, The Blue Mountain and Reading took ownership of 150 miles of track located in the Coal Region north of Reading. Shortly thereafter, the company was renamed Reading Blue Mountain and Northern and relocated its headquarters from Hamburg to Port Clinton, PA.^[2] Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the RBMN acquired more lines in northeastern PA, primarily of Reading, Central Railroad of New Jersey, and Lehigh Valley heritage.

In the mid 1990s, the RBMN discontinued the regularly scheduled passenger operations between Hamburg and Temple and instead focused on occasional excursions throughout the rest of its system. The partnership between the RBMN and Reading Company Technical and Historical Society had more or less ended by this point, but the group still leased track space in Leesport until 2008 when they moved to the Hamburg yard and opened the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum.^[3]

Despite the discontinuation of the Hamburg to Temple excursions, steam operations continued. In 1995, both of the RBMN's steam locomotives were present at the grand opening of Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, PA, though only 425 was operational. The two would remain at Steamtown until 1997. Between 1998 and 2009, all steam operations were suspended.

In 2005, regularly scheduled passenger excursions resumed with the introduction of the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway in Jim Thorpe, PA.^[4]

Divisions

RBMN operates the following two divisions on 300 miles (483 km) of track:

• Reading Division: Reading-Carbon County, Pennsylvania in Packerton/Lehighton along the Lehigh River.
  • The line runs from Reading north and east to Packerton along former Reading Company and Central Railroad of New Jersey lines. At its south end, it connects to the Norfolk Southern Railway's Reading Line; its east end is at the R&N's Lehigh Division and the Norfolk Southern's Lehigh Line.

 

• Lehigh Division: Packerton-Mehoopany.
  • This line forms a fork from Jim Thorpe one branch running easterly through Nesquehoning and connecting via a junction to Mahanoy City or Hazleton and the second branch runs northerly via the Lehigh River Gorge, climbs to Mountain Top, PA with a double track running from there most of the way to the Duryea Yard (or Coxton Yard, or Muller Yard) at Duryea, PA, and Taylor Yard in Taylor outside Scranton.

Connections

Reading and Northern (RBMN) hopper cars loaded with Anthracite in the trainyard of Blaschak Coal Company, Mahanoy City, PA. Owned and operated by the RBMN it is a remnant of a combined yard that containted 20 miles (32 km) of trackage when the nearby Old St. Nicholas coal breaker—the world's largest—was in operation.

RBMN operated occasional passenger excursions utilizing restored steam locomotive #425. In addition, RBMN operates the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway, a heritage railway based in Jim Thorpe. RBMN interchanges with the following railroads:

• Norfolk Southern Railway – Reading, North Reading, Temple, Lehighton, the historic Mountain Top Yard at Penobscot Knob, and Taylor, where it connects to former Delaware and Hudson Railway trackage in New Jersey, New York, and New England. The northern spur connects the yard in Binghamton, NY and thence to lower eastern New York State
• Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad – Pittston
  • Connects to New York State railways via Sayre, PA reaching Rochester, Buffalo, and Erie, PA
• Lehigh Railway – Mehoopany, Towanda
• Luzerne & Susquehanna Railroad – Pittston
• Shamokin Valley Railroad – Locust Summit

Marcellus Shale

Between 2009 and 2010, RBMN expanded operations due to the emergence of Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling in northeastern Pennsylvania. The railroad spent $100,000 to transform an outdated and lightly used Pittston Yard near Wilkes-Barre. RBMN also purchased two new locomotives, 101 rail cars and 6 miles (9.7 km) of track between Monroeton and Towanda where much of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale economic activity is focused.^[5]

References

1. http://www.rbmnrr.com/history/
2. http://www.rbmnrr.com/history/
3. http://www.readingrailroadmuseum.org/rcthshistory.shtml
4. http://www.lgsry.com/history/
5. Times Leader

External links

• Official website
• Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway railway operating on RBMN trackage
• RBMN Passenger Excursion Photos