A few weeks before Christmas, my good friend Connor Taylor texted me, inviting me on a road trip to visit some of our friends in Pennsylvania during the first week of January, 2022. The first week of January? I thought he was crazy. All I could picture was our car sliding off the side of a cliff in the icy mountains and falling hundreds of feet into a dark, snowy abyss. Perhaps I am crazy myself, for after being informed that the Reading & Northern Railroad was on the list of places to visit, I agreed to come along without any further hesitation.

Visiting the R&N, nicknamed “The Road of Anthracite,” had been on my to-do list for years, and I was not going to let anything stop me from taking this opportunity to experience it—snow, ice and dark mountain abysses be damned. I packed my suitcase and got my camera gear ready. Connor picked me up and we started heading east.

The trip was a gathering of eight of our railfan buddies from all over the country. Most were situated in the northeast, and it was decided to meet up in Pennsylvania, where our friend Brock generously allowed us all to stay at his home. One friend took the Empire Builder into Chicago from Oregon and joined Connor and I for the remaining few hundred miles eastward.

When we entered Pennsylvania from Ohio, I was relieved to find that there was no ice, very little snow, and no dark mountain abysses in sight. The scenery was beautiful. The Appalachians towered over us as we cruised down I-80. They were perfect for railroad photography. Having grown up in Illinois and Indiana with limited travel abilities, I had never been through a mountain range before. I was eager to get them on camera with a train.

We got to Brock’s house late in the evening on January 5. A nice long sleep followed, then over breakfast the next morning we made plans for our adventure. Our first stop was to be Minersville along the R&N, where apparently a freight train was due to pass. Minersville is also home to Central Railroad of New Jersey steam locomotive No. 113 and a beautifully restored depot.

Upon arrival at Minersville, everyone flocked over to the steam engine while I walked across the tracks to get my depot fix. After I had good photo documentation of the depot, I wandered over to the engine. The first thing that captured my attention was the size of it. The massive 0-6-0 was just as big as a small Consolidation type. Museums back home in Illinois had 0-6-0s, but I had never seen one this big. It was hard to believe that it was designed to be a switcher. After looking over the engine and discovering the expected Reading & Northern train was not coming after all, we got in the car and headed to Steamtown, but that’s another story.

We caught back up with the Reading & Northern the next day in Pottsville. Brock informed us that R&N local WCPV (West Cressona-Pottsville) was going to make an appearance in town to switch out a brewery. We stopped for lunch at a trackside pizza restaurant and patiently waited for the train. While everyone else ate, my eyes were glued to the window, watching for approaching headlights.

Right as I took my first bite of pizza, headlights came into view. “Train!” I called out. I quickly got up and bolted across the street to the tracks while everyone else continued eating. I heard someone laugh and say, “Bye Tom!” I like pizza, but the Reading & Northern is more important. Abandoning the hot, cheesy goodness was worth it. I got to a good photo spot just in time as a lone SD40-2 led a cut of hopper cars into a small transloading facility in Pottsville.

I could see the engineer chuckle and wave as he went by.

The locomotive was RBMN 3069, which had just arrived on the property from Norfolk Southern, who had sold it a couple months prior. The NS markings were gone, though the locomotive had not yet been repainted into R&N corporate colors. I snapped some photos and exchanged a friendly wave with the crew while they made setouts and pickups.

Eventually, the group finished eating and came outside before the train left for the brewery. We all walked up the street a few hundred feet to an ancient Reading signal bridge and hung over the railing on the side of the road with cameras snapping as the train trundled past. I could see the engineer chuckle and wave as he went by. These were the first indications to me that the R&N was a railfan’s railroad—friendly crews, classic power, and old signal equipment still in use. My suspicions were confirmed later that day.

After spending a few minutes watching No. 3069 switch out the brewery, we ventured to Schuylkill Haven to catch the train there. Schuylkill Haven is home to an immaculately restored Reading depot from 1901. When we arrived, I left the group to go walk around the depot. Everyone else went to a general store up the street, but I didn’t want to risk missing the train.

It was really cold. The temperature was around 25 degrees, but the added chill from wind and blowing snow made it through my wool trench coat with ease. That and the subsequent shivering did not stop me from getting good photo documentation at Schuylkill Haven. Two R&N passenger cars were parked on a spur near the depot. They had just been acquired from the infamous Iowa Pacific Holdings. One of them was open air car Lookout Mountain, of Southern Railway steam excursion fame. It was really interesting to see, as I had 35mm slides of the car on Southern trains back at home.

A few minutes later, the group returned. Brock casually walked over to the depot and opened the door. It would’ve been nice to know that the depot, which had a working heater, was open about twenty minutes earlier! We all stepped inside and received a cheerful welcome from two Reading & Northern employees who were in charge of watching over the depot. They stopped their busy office work to talk with us and wait for the train to come.

The Schuylkill Haven depot is home to several exhibits of R&N photographs, large steam locomotive models, and historic railroad memorabilia displays. The building also serves as an office for R&N staff, but they clearly did not mind us interrupting their work to look around. They were very excited to learn that most of us were from out of state, and graciously allowed this curious depot fan to rearrange furniture in one of the offices to take pictures. After realizing WCPV was not coming anytime soon and with a desire to visit the R&N’s shops in Port Clinton, we thanked the depot staff, took a group photo, and left, but not before the staff gave us each a chunk of anthracite coal to take home as a souvenir.

It took me a moment to process what had just occurred. A group of railfans, most of whom had never visited this area before, walked up to an active railroad office building and were welcomed to come inside and sit there for at least an hour waiting for a train. I had never seen or heard of anything like it. The last time I approached a railroad office was on the Canadian National in Schoolcraft, Michigan. The people working there yelled at me to get off of the property and threatened legal action before I even had a chance to say hello. This was different, and it was very special.

More evidence that the Reading & Northern is a railfan-friendly company appeared in Port Clinton. We got to their yard and drove down a gravel access road to the office. This was it, I thought, we were going to be thrown off of the property and told to never come back. Much to my surprise, the exact opposite happened. We walked into the office, and the secretary smiled and welcomed us to the railroad. After signing in, we were given permission to walk around the yard and got a badge to show to anyone who questioned our presence.

Train crews walking to and from their locomotives smiled and waved as we snapped pictures of their green and yellow diesels. Giant SD50s, husky SD40-2s, venerable GP30s, and quaint EMD switchers were everywhere to be seen. Our time spent waiting for the WCPV in Schuylkill Haven caused us to miss the famous North Reading Fast Freight through Port Clinton, but we managed to see an SW1500 helpfully switching cars around, and eventually No. 3069 arriving engine-lite after completing its local duties to the north.

We started walking up the tracks to the railroad’s steam shop, where a fleet of historic equipment is maintained for use on excursion trains during warmer months. On the way, I paused briefly to look at F9A No. 270, which had been used on Norfolk Southern business trains until retirement and sale to the R&N in late 2019. Years ago, No. 270 visited my local railroad museum in Illinois, and I got to sit in the engineer seat. To me, seeing it again in Port Clinton was like being reunited with an old friend.

The Reading & Northern Steam Shop is an exciting place. The beautiful big red structure proudly towers over visitors as they approach. Behind its walls are two steam excursion stars, 4-8-4 No. 2102 and 4-6-2 No. 425, slumbering through the cold months and patiently waiting to be fired up in the spring. Brock opened the door and Connor presented our group’s badge. “Make it quick,” one of the employees said (you wouldn’t hear that if you tried walking into the Union Pacific’s steam shop, I’m sure).

There they were in all of their glory. No. 2102 was on the right in the finishing stages of a six year restoration to operating condition. On the left was a partially-disassembled No. 425, which was receiving a new smoke stack and other minor work to get it ready for its last operating season before its flue time expired. I gave the 2102 a quick glance, snapped a couple pictures, then turned my attention to the 425, which was much more special to me. During the late 1940s, No. 425 operated on the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio through my hometown in Illinois. It was fascinating to see a piece of my local railroad history all the way in Pennsylvania.

Not wanting to annoy the steam shop crew, we said thanks and left a couple minutes later. We returned our badge to the office and checked out. The secretary said, “Come back soon!” Again, it took me a while to realize how unusually friendly the railroad was to us. I was also in awe after seeing the 425. That hour or so we spent in Port Clinton was the highlight of the trip for me, and will be forever embedded in my memory.

When we got back to Brock’s that night, Connor and I started packing our things. We were planning to leave in the morning to head home, but that changed when we overheard the others discussing the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. Apparently, the LGSRY was running a series of excursions the next day, and that was something Connor and I did not want to miss. As we soon found out, it was a very good decision to stay.

When we got on board the train the next morning, we saw a familiar person get on board behind us. Why, it couldn’t be—wow, it is! It was Andy Muller, the owner of the Reading & Northern. Andy walked into the next car, and someone in our group said, “Woah, it’s Andy Muller!” About a minute later, Andy appeared in our car and asked, “Did someone say my name?” We were all starstruck. I forgot who initiated the conversation, but before I knew it, Andy was sitting with us in the coach talking about the 425, 2102, and freight train operations. How nice of him, a busy railroad executive, to take a few minutes out of his day to talk with some wide-eyed railfans.

. . . the GP30 triumphantly stormed past me with its turbocharged prime mover shaking the ground in a way reminiscent of a passing steam locomotive from decades ago.

After talking with Andy for a few minutes, we all took a group photo, and he got off the train. Two short horn blasts from an ex-Santa Fe GP30 up front marked the beginning of a memorable train ride through the Lehigh Gorge. I can attest to the fact that everything you may have heard about trains being the best way to see America is true. We passed the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen and would not have seen at all from a car or airplane. A dilapidated interlocking tower, a long and high bridge over the Lehigh River, and a secluded trackside waterfall added to the beauty.

Before long, our train switched directions, and a former Norfolk Southern GP38-2 led us back to Jim Thorpe. We walked through the other cars on the train to look around, then drove a few miles up the track to get photos of the next excursion passing through the mountains. Again, the wind chill was brutal, but I was still determined to capture good pictures of the Reading & Northern. Ignoring the weather, my camera fired away as the GP30 triumphantly stormed past me with its turbocharged prime mover shaking the ground in a way reminiscent of a passing steam locomotive from decades ago.

Back at Brock’s house, we discovered that the weather was about to turn for the worse. A nasty ice storm was on the way, and it would’ve prevented our return trip to Illinois for at least a couple days. Connor and I decided to leave that night and book it to western Pennsylvania where we would get a hotel room and avoid the worst of the storm. After a tearful goodbye with our friends, we started heading west, with Redbull and Pink Floyd at full volume keeping us awake.

During that long night time car ride through the Appalachians, I reflected on the trip, especially the adventures along the Reading & Northern. I thought about how friendly everyone was—the depot staff at Schuylkill Haven, the secretary, train crews, and steam shop mechanics at Port Clinton, and Andy Muller himself in Jim Thorpe. As soon as I got home, I immediately wrote a thank you letter to the R&N and purchased an R&N coffee table picture book.

While a future trip to Pennsylvania is not likely anytime soon, the Reading & Northern will be on the top of the list of places to visit if I do eventually return. In the meantime, I look forward to continuing to visit railroads around my home area, though I highly doubt any of them will be as railfan-friendly as The Road of Anthracite.

Thomas Dyrek – Photographs and text Copyright 2022