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[8] The Port Kennedy Railroad, a short branch to quarries at Port Kennedy, was leased in 1870. He thanked Muller for working with the county. In 2009, Berkshire Hathaway bought full control of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, giving it ownership of North America's largest railroad. [18], To the north, the New York Short Line was completed in 1906, and was a cut-off for New York City-bound trains through freights and the Baltimore and Ohio's Royal Blue. The RBMN provides freight service on 300 miles (480 km) of track. [2][5] The Reading was relegated to being a regional railroad for the rest of its history. RBMN interchanges with these railroads: The Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway (LGSR) is a tourist railroad that operates passenger excursions along RBMN trackage from the former Central Railroad of New Jersey station in Jim Thorpe to Old Penn Haven, following the Lehigh River through Lehigh Gorge State Park. The Railway fought the tax bill in court, where the judge sided with the borough; the railway appealed the decision, arguing that the tourist railroad was "not an amusement". Other trains in the fleet included the Harrisburg Special (between Jersey City and Harrisburg), King Coal (between Philadelphia and Shamokin, Pennsylvania), North Penn (between Philadelphia and Bethlehem), Queen of the Valley (between Jersey City and Harrisburg), Schuylkill (between Philadelphia and Pottsville), and Wall Street (between Philadelphia and Jersey City). Raffa began his career in 1989 as a trackman with RBMN predecessor Blue Mountain & Reading Railroad. This is the third time we have won the award which recognized our rapid establishment of our railroad operated transload and storage warehouse in Old Forge PA. It expanded in 1990 to a cluster of coal lines in the heart of Anthracite (and also Reading Company) country. Welcome to the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum! The BM&R also began operating three more state-owned lines, including the Allentown branch and Colebrookdale branch. The first major task was to convert all track to standard gauge, which was completed on October 5, 1884. Warren Buffett has made bets on railroads before, but now he's all in. At the New York end it used the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Jersey City Terminal from which passengers could board ferries to Liberty Street Ferry Terminal, Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal, and West 23rd Street in lower Manhattan.[14]. That's our philosophy and it is all done through people. $39.99. It also owns 92% of BH Energy, with $4.3 billion in earnings. As Conrail continued their program of spinning off rail lines that did not fit into its core network, the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern expanded again. [12][13], On May 6, 2021, railroad officials announced their purchase of the 19.5-mile (31.4km) Panther Valley line from Carbon County for $4.7 million. The Reading built or bought numerous smaller 4-4-0s, 2-8-0s and switchers for its fleet.[19]. They still stand today in non-RR use.[2]. But now that he owns a share of the shortline, it guarantees that his cars, which carry commodities including coal, bird feed and plastic, can cross. [16] However, in 1906, with the support of the Roosevelt Administration, the Hepburn Act was passed. The cabooses are still there at Pocopson, but the Reading FP-7s are on loan to the RR Museum of Pennsylvania. Starting in 1985, the BM&R began operating passenger excursions over the line using two steam locomotives: ex-Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad 4-6-2 No. Reading Northern Railroad PD is a Fully Sworn Police Agency operating out of 9 Counties in NEPA. Developed greenfield site for a sand distribution terminal in Tunkhannock, PA. April Invested $2 million dollars to purchase from Kovach 10 acres containing nine buildings for company expansion efforts. The G1 class 4-6-2 were passenger locomotives. Dozens of people were killed and more than 80 injured when a passen.Read More. It had formerly been operated by the Philadelphia, Germantown and Norristown Railroad. Between 1907 and 1914 the old double track and street level route was replaced by an elevated quadruple-track route that offered greater capacity and safety. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Atlas 20005850 HO Northern Pacific Savings Bonds 50' SD Postwar Box Car #31309 at the best online prices at eBay! This gave the Reading a route from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, for the first time competing directly with the Pennsylvania Railroad, which became its major rival. As of 1999, most former Reading lines are now part of Norfolk Southern Railway (NS), as a result of the Conrail split between NS and CSX Transportation. In late 1995 these offices were combined into a new corporate headquarters at Port Clinton. Its headquarters is in Port Clinton. These men, names like James Hill, Jay and George Gould, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Edward Harriman, and Collis P. Huntington are largely responsible for building much of the country's network. Combined, these two carriers use the Lehigh Line to move over eighty thousand carloads a year. Job Status*: Full Time *Schedule*: Varies. 209 talking about this. 425 is leaving a Water Tower in "All About Trains" Which the footage also used in The Blue Mountain & Reading . Led by Samuel Richards, an officer of the C&A for 24 years, they established the Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railway (P&AC) on March 24, 1876. In November of 2001, RBMN reached an agreement to take over the ownership of the track within the Crestwood Industrial Park. [20] The train runs from Reading and Port Clinton to Jim Thorpe in the morning, allowing passengers time to explore Jim Thorpe. On January 1, 1851, the Belmont Plane on the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, just west of the Reading's connection, was abandoned in favor of a new bypass, and the portion of the line east of it was sold to the Reading, the only company that continued using the old route. This facility was set up and running in record time to meet our customer's stringent requirements. To simplify corporate structure, the P&R ceased operation in 1924 and the Reading Company took over operating the railroad. [5], The Reading invested in the construction of new cut-offs, bypasses, and connections, much like the Pennsylvania Railroad's low-grade lines and the Lackawanna Cut-off. We own and manage some of Britain's biggest and busiest railway stations. Class II railroad in eastern Pennsylvania, Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad, Gulf, Mobile and Northern Railroad 4-6-2 No. Joe Biden received a briefing on Friday on the multi-agency response to the derailment in Ohio of a freight train carrying toxic chemicals, as his . This included triple and quadruple tracking many of its major routes, improving signaling and track quality, as well as expanding system capacity and station facilities. BNSF, as the railroad is called, operates more than. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The Blue Mountain and Reading Railroad was founded in 1983 to provide freight service on the former Pennsylvania Railroad Schuylkill Division between Hamburg and Temple. 425 is hauling the Ashland Special. Andy Muller, owner of Reading and Northern, offered to purchase the line, which he currently manages for the county, in 2016. At that time, Carbon County became the first county in Pennsylvania to own a railroad. The Reading and Northern 425 passes along the Panther Valley rail line in the Hauto Valley Estates portion of Nesquehoning during a fall excursion in 2017. We could soon find out, A windy, cloudy Saturday for the Lehigh Valley, but the sun will come out tomorrow, Six years after hazing death, Penn State plans to drop the Greek life oversight it championed, As Adderall shortage continues, DEA plans to limit some telemedicine prescriptions, House where JonBenet Ramsey was found dead listed for sale for almost $7M, Columbia University permanently drops SAT, ACT admissions requirement, The Waterbed Doctor: California retailer lays claim to retro bed with nearly 40 years of service, sales, Felonious Florida podcast: Missing teenage girl leads to several cases of child sex trafficking, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad (reporting mark RBMN) (a.k.a. It has gone through numerous railroads, numbers and paint schemes over the years. In addition, RBMN operates the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway, a heritage railway based in Jim Thorpe. Free shipping for many products! Opened in February, the new bridge connects R&N's Reading and Lehigh divisions, expediting . Mary Weston, left, and her son Guy Weston visit a historic Timbuctoo graveyard in Westampton Township, Burlington County, in early February. [9], In 2019, an audit by the borough of Jim Thorpe revealed the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway owed the borough $90,000 in amusement tax. RBMN had begun restoring the yard at Penobscot in 2000, which resulted in an agreement made in May of 2003 to have NS deliver inbound interchange cars there, allowing greatly improved car cycle time. The Reading Company did not operate extensive long-distance passenger train service, but it did field a number of named trains, most famous of which was the streamlined Crusader, which connected Philadelphia and Jersey City. BUSINESS CAR; BUDD RDCs; AMTK 2456 Willow Grove - (ex-2685, nee-SP 9005) Budd 10 Rmt - 6 DBR. Close to Highway 180 & 64 this land is perfect for . Until the decline in anthracite loadings in the Coal Region after World War II, it was one of the most prosperous corporations in the United States. These popular excursions became legendary and became a fondly remembered part of Reading's history. Its Philadelphia terminus was at the state-owned Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad (P&C) on the west side of the Schuylkill River from which it ran east on the P&C over the Columbia Bridge and onto the city-owned City Railroad to a depot at the southeast corner of Broad and Cherry Streets. It is a Spanish multinational clothing company that is . The railroad was growing in 2001 prompting RBMN to purchase a fleet of high horsepower six-axle locomotives and retired some of the older units that had begun to wear out. [2] The Reading participated in the joint operation of The Interstate Express with the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, with service between Philadelphia and Syracuse, New York. The railroad operates special trains over much of its 350-mile system throughout the year, using freight locomotives and its large collection of passenger cars. Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad 27 Reviews #1 of 2 Transportation in Reading Transportation, Railways 3501 Pottsville Pike, corner of Bellevue Avenue and Route 61, Reading, PA 19605-1717 Save TFopinion Pennsylvania 588 271 Almost Perfect Review of Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad Reviewed May 22, 2022 $80,000 - $120,000 a year. Full-time. [27] The bankruptcy was a result of dwindling coal shipping revenues, freight being diverted to highways by trucking companies, and strict government regulations that denied railroads the ability to set prices, imposed high taxes, and forced the railroads to continue to operate money-losing lines as a common carrier. None of the totals include Atlantic City RR or PRSL. This is the third time we have won this prestigious award and we are the only railroad ever to have achieved this recognition three times. Competition with the modern trucking industry that used the Interstate Highway System for short-distance transportation of goods, also known as short hauls, compounded the company's problems, forcing it into bankruptcy in 1971. In the process, we want to control costs (control, not necessarily cut) because we hope to make a buck at this, and we hope to have a little fun. The railroad runs about 400 miles from Reading PA to Mehoopany PA and it also operates the 7-mile rail line from Towanda to Monroeton in Bradford County. As of 2023, four examples have survived, and the 2102 is in active tourist service with the Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad. Corporate records, 1862-1962. The Reading and Northern Railroads commitment to protecting the environment has also led us to seek servicing opportunities such as the transportation of coal waste in Schuylkill and Luzerne counties to Co-Gen facilities in Carbon County. THE MISSISSIPPI SCHEME. Website: http://www.rbmnrr.com/ " onclick="window.open (this.href);return false; Board index This route became known as the Crossline, and the Reading started to pool locomotive power between its connecting railroads to provide a more seamless transfer of freight and passengers. Along with regular pay increases and profit-sharing checks, the Company decided to offer its employees the best health care plan in the region, and with no deductibles! On a $14 million bridge built by Reading & Northern, Train NRFF (North Reading Fast Freight) crosses the Lehigh River and former Lehigh Valley main line before merging onto the former Central of New Jersey on May 15. Our philosophy is really pretty simple. On May 17, 1842, a freight branch from West Falls to Port Richmond on the Delaware River north of downtown Philadelphia opened. Soon the P&R bought or leased many of the railroads in the Schuylkill River Valley and extended westward and north along the Susquehanna into the southern end of what became known as the Coal Region. On the passenger side, we eclipsed 250,000 riders for the first time in our history. Reading & Northern Railroad (RBMN), Pennsylvania's largest privately owned railroad, will begin operating regular weekend passenger excursion train service from the brand-new Wilkes Barre-Scranton Regional Railroad Station at Pittston, PA to Jim Thorpe, PA on Saturday, May 27, 2023. . 9 Museum in Lansford, after the train stops in Jim Thorpe. In 1995, No. We followed that up in 2004 when we were awarded a Marketing Award from the NS Agriculture Products Group for our outstanding business development. The 1925 "Reading" totals above include all the subsidiaries (C&F, G&H, P&CV etc.) [3] In 1901, the Reading gained a controlling interest in the Central Railroad of New Jersey, allowing the Reading to offer seamless, one-seat rides from Reading Terminal in Philadelphia to the Central New Jersey's Jersey City Communipaw Terminal by way of Bound Brook onto the Central New Jersey mainline. The Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road was chartered April 4, 1833, to build a line between Philadelphia and Reading, along the Schuylkill River. 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.[4]. [2] The original P&R mainline extended south from the mining town of Pottsville to Reading and then onward to Philadelphia, following the gently graded banks of the Schuylkill River for nearly all of the 93-mile (150-km) journey. Grand Forks, ND 58201. C&S; Railroad gets new partner ** Reading & Northern is now guaranteed use of Carbon County line. These classes were an important break of tradition of the Reading's motive power fleet. "We are investing in our future and the future of the communities we serve," Reading & Northern founder and owner. The commission then hired Carbon and Schuylkill Railroad in 1990 to manage the lines operations. The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad (reporting mark RBMN), sometimes shortened to Reading and Northern Railroad, is a regional railroad in eastern Pennsylvania. [clarification needed] In 1890, Reading president Archibald A. McLeod saw that more riches could be earned by expanding its rail network and becoming a trunk railroad. [5] The regular excursion consists of a 16-mile (26km), 70-minute round-trip out of Jim Thorpe, following the Lehigh River to Lehigh Gorge State Park. In the spring of 2006, we proudly opened our new Penobscot Yard office building. Richard E. Forgay of Lansford, a charter member of the commission and former secretary of the Lansford Borough Council, was instrumental in the purchase by securing the federal grant through Lansford. [12] The Reading dubbed the line, along with some connecting track, its Philadelphia and Chester Branch;[13] southbound trains reached it via the Junction Railroad, jointly controlled by PW&B, Reading, and PRR, and continued on to the connecting Chester and Delaware River Railroad. Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad President Andrew M. Muller Jr. said Monday that he bought out former C&S; Railroad partner Betsy Ahner in November. MNHS Call Number: Digital Finding Aid. The Reading Terminal opened in Philadelphia in 1893. John Law; his birth and youthful careerDuel between Law and WilsonLaw's escape from the King's BenchThe "Land-bank"Law's gambling propensities on the continent, and acquaintance with the Duke of OrleansState of France after the reign of Louis XIV.Paper money instituted in that country by LawEnthusiasm of the French people at the . Wheat prices are expected to be down 50 cents . This connects our two Divisions, Reading and Lehigh under common private ownership. Energy-dense coal known as anthracite had been replacing increasingly scarce wood as fuel in businesses and homes since the 1810s, and P&R-delivered coal was one of the first alternatives to the near-monopoly held by Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company since the 1820s. Nati Harnik / AP. The railroad spent $100,000 to update an outdated and lightly used Pittston Yard between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. The Reading and Northern Railroad owns and operates three self-propelled Rail Diesel Cars #9166, #9167, and #9168. After its railroad operations were merged into Conrail in 1976, the remainder of the corporation was renamed Reading International. Reading & Northern Railroad, with its corporate headquarters in Port Clinton, is a privately held railroad company serving more than 70 customers in nine eastern Pennsylvania counties. Railroad tycoons were the early industrial pioneers amassing or overseeing construction of many large railroads through the early 20th century. This was a move to offset the fact that EMD FT diesel locomotives (first choice of Reading management) were very hard to obtain, and in order to have faster, up-to-date modern power. NS #1067, an EMD SD70ACe locomotive, was painted into the Bee Line Service paint scheme of the Reading. The return trip leaves Jim Thorpe in the late afternoon and returns to Port Clinton and Reading in the evening. The first few years saw massive amounts of work to repair the badly neglected trackage, and to develop a steady pattern of service for the many industries that relied on rail service. In 1859, the Reading leased the Chester Valley Railroad, providing a branch from Bridgeport west to Downingtown. In August of 2001, RBMN completed negotiations with NS and Procter & Gamble to take over exclusive service to P&Gs largest manufacturing facility, at Mehoopany, PA. We had built solid traffic bases on both our Lehigh and Reading Divisions, and we had put in place an excellent operation with upgraded track, locomotives, and freight cars. The railroad also had an extensive commuter operation centered around Philadelphia, the hub of which was Reading Terminal. Reading & Northern entered into an agreement with CAN DO to purchase the rail assets of the Humboldt Industrial Park in Hazleton, the region's largest rail-served industrial park. On December 31, 2001, both Reading Entertainment and Craig Corporation merged into and with Citadel Holding Corporation, another Cotter company. The event began in 1959 when the railroad kept four of its powerful 4-8-4's (#2100, #2101, #2102, and #2124) to host excursions. When RBMN was formed in 1990, he transitioned to Coal Traffic Manager and Real Estate Manager. In 1879, the Reading gained control of the North Pennsylvania Railroad, which provided access to the burgeoning steel industry in the Lehigh Valley.[3]. At that time, he offered $1.3 million for both the rail line and the former Packerton Yards property. This excursion operates on select weekends and holidays from May to November.[21]. Posted 30+ days ago. On July 22, 1877, after the crushing of strikes and unions by the Philadelphia and Reading Company, and following in the path of the Great Railroad Strikes of 1877, vandalism of the Reading's financial interests in Reading, Pennsylvania began. [3] Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the RBMN acquired more lines in northeastern Pennsylvania, primarily of Reading Railroad, Central Railroad of New Jersey, and Lehigh Valley Railroad heritage. Reading and Northern takes over service within Humboldt Industrial Park and its 11 new customers on Jan 1, 2016. This would allow the bulk of all remaining rail shipments of Anthracite coal to be funneled through Reading. As our operation and business expanded, the need to upgrade facilities grew as well. On July 1, 1963, the post office let them out of the contracts, where were valued at $2,137,000, equal to $18,914,773 today, and the railroad switched to Budd RDC self-propelled cars, instead of locomotive hauled passenger trains, to save money. - Take a ride on the Reading", "Reading Outer Station, Port Clinton to Jim Thorpe RDC Train Schedule", Pittsburgh, Allegheny & McKees Rocks Railroad, List of United States railroads by political division, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reading_Blue_Mountain_and_Northern_Railroad&oldid=1134680203, Tourist attractions in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Tourist attractions in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Transportation in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, The line runs from Reading to Packerton along former, Lehigh Valley Rail Management: Bethlehem Division, This page was last edited on 20 January 2023, at 00:05. [18] Excursions run on weekends, holidays, and some weekdays between May and December. There are several special excursions that are operated by the LGSR. [7], Between 2009 and 2010, RBMN expanded operations due to the emergence of Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling in northeastern Pennsylvania. As the U.S. honors Black History Month, Florida Gov . Blue Mountain and Reading Railroad: BMS: Berlin Mills Railway (St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad) BMSX: Bemis: BMT: Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit: BMZ: Boston and Maine Railroad (Pan Am Railways) BN: Burlington Northern Railroad (BNSF Railway) BNAU: Burlington Northern Railroad (BNSF Railway) BNAZ: Burlington Northern Railroad (BNSF Railway) BNFE On April 1, 1976, the Reading Company sold its railroad assets to the newly formed Consolidated Railroad Corporation (Conrail), leaving it with 650 real estate assets, some coal properties, and 52 abandoned rights-of-way. The train tragedy that unfolded in Greece this week, claiming dozens of lives in the country's worst rail disaster, has exposed chronic failures by successive administrations, insiders say.This was a crash that was waiting to happen, they argue.A passenger train with over 350 people on board ran for several kilometres on the same track as an incoming freight train, reportedly after the station . The Reading almost achieved its goal of becoming a trunk road, but the deal was scuttled by J. P. Morgan and other rail barons, who did not want more competition in the northeastern railroad business. Andy Muller, owner of Reading and Northern, offered to purchase the line, which he currently manages for the county, in 2016. The line, which operates through both Carbon and Schuylkill, is part of an active freight and passenger line utilized by Reading and Northern and serves a number of customers along the line. 2102. Muller now is co-owner of C&S; with James Zurn, and the company remains independent. The project would culminate in the opening of the bridge in November of 2003. [2], The Ninth Street Branchthe main thoroughfare into Reading Terminalwas also improved. RBMN was now entirely an EMD powered railroad. The percentage increased to 80% in late-January 2023, effectively taking control of it. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for MTH 30-1602-1 Railking Imperial Union Pacific FEF Northern 4-8-4 #837 w/PS3 at the best online prices at eBay! The commissioners also approved the motion unanimously. In December 1990, Conrail was looking to sell off over 150 miles of branch lines in the Anthracite Coal Regions. PORT CLINTON, Pa. The Reading & Northern Railroad has purchased 11 passenger cars from the fleet formerly owned by the San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad, the Colorado operation of bankrupt Iowa Pacific Holdings. Get the inside scoop on jobs, salaries, top office locations, and CEO insights. But prices will likely remain elevated compared to historical levels. [22], The Reading operated an extensive commuter network out of Reading Terminal in Philadelphia. The evolution of the Reading & Northern has been a wonderful ride. Along with the Little Schuylkill, a horse-drawn railroad in the Schuylkill River Valley, it formed the earliest components of what became the Reading Company. Trump supporters who drove Hummer with guns and ammo to Philadelphia vote-counting site spared more jail time, Paul Muschick: Would money motivate Pennsylvania businesses to move to a four-day work week? No. The Reading and Columbia Railroad was chartered in 1857 to build from Reading southwest to Columbia on the Susquehanna River. The bridge connected the P&R main line on the west (south) bank of the river with the Manayunk/Norristown Line on the opposite side, allowing passenger service to Norristown and a bypass of the old main line, known as the West Side Freight line. Reading financed the construction of the Rutherford Yard to compete with the PRR's nearby Enola Yard. In 1985, both the owners of Zara founded Inditex de Diseno Textil, S.A. An extension northwest from Reading to Mount Carbon, also on the Schuylkill River, opened on January 13, 1842, allowing the railroad to compete with the Schuylkill Canal. The US has one of the highest rates of obesity in the advanced world, a rate that has increased from 15% in 1980 to 30.5% in 2000 to 41.9% in 2020. Electrification was to be completed through to Newtown in the 1970s, but government subsidies were not readily available, leaving the Fox Chase-Newtown section as the lone non-electrified suburban commuter route on the Reading system. 425 with diesel helpers. With Muller on board, some changes are coming to C&S; Railroad. . Located near the well known Grand Canyon Junction and easily accessible to Ash Fork, Williams and Flagstaff. The Reading Company (/rd/ RED-ing) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its acquisition by Conrail in 1976. [14], On April 21, 2022, railroad officials announced their purchase of the property of the former KME Fire Apparatus plant in Nesquehoning for $2 million.[15]. Through the mid to late 1990s, the Reading and Northern Railroad acquired more lines to service new customers and reestablish rail service relationships in Lackawanna and Wyoming counties. [21], Camden-Atlantic City speed: On July 20, 1904, regularly-scheduled train no. On July 1, 1873, the PW&B agreed to lease the freight rights to the P&R for "$350,000 payable at the time the lease was made and $1 a year The Reading and Northern Railroad, with corporate headquarters in Port Clinton, Pennsylvania, is a privately held railroad company servicing customers in eight counties in Eastern Pennsylvania. This vertical expansion gave the P&R almost full control of anthracite coal from mining through market, allowing it to compete successfully with like-organized competitors such as Lehigh Coal & Navigation and the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company. Reading & Northern Railroad, headquarted in Port Clinton, is a privately held railroad company serving over 70 customers in nine eastern Pennsylvania counties (Berks, Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Northumberland, Schuylkill and Wyoming). The steamers never ran long enough to pay back this major investment, and had some major problems, but it did keep men employed. 425 remained at Steamtown until 1997. 425 is crossing a Stone Bridge. Every weekend and holiday from May to Christmas, hundreds of visitors to Jim Thorpe board our passenger coaches for a ride into the Gorge. The early Philadelphia and Reading Railroad named all of its locomotives with names such as Winona or Jefferson, as did most American railroads following in the British precedent, but in December 1871 the P&R replaced all the names with numbers. Despite an off year for the North American railroad industry with traffic down, we enjoyed a 15% growth in business fueled by our new sand terminal and increased demand for Pennsylvania anthracite following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.