Hi friends,

While digital molehills became Internet mountains about events in Indiana, something happened in Pennsylvania that was relatively unremarked... unexpected... damaging... and... uplifiting! Rough weather buried the wonderful Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern under a dozen-plus downed trees in the vicinity of their picnic grove. Yet, during an intense 48 hour period, the dedicated team in Kempton cleared the tracks, opened their facilities for the public and gave shortened rides while the "loggers" cleared the debris. Word is normal operations will resume next weekend.

When you read the two-page spread in the new issue of TRAINS about the WK&S and think, "wow, that place is pretty special" also think about this story... and you might think that the WK&S rather awesome. I'd agree. It is a bite-sized railroad with a great, dedicated team... and they deliver as consistent an experience as a tourist railroad can, year in and year out. Steam or not. I've often thought they could be the prototype for the sustainable heritage railroad... never too big, but always putting on a good show.

Many other tourist lines within 50 miles of the WK&S have come and gone (some more than once). The spirit that cleared their tracks in 48 hours is the spirit that has driven them forward all these years. If you haven't been, there couldn't be a better time to stop in, buy a ticket and say "thanks."

Rob

PS: And at the same time, a word of thanks to the many volunteers in North Judson of multiple organizations... By all the accounts that matter, things were handled very well. I am looking forward to seeing all of you next month.

WK&S got the trees cleared already??? That is serious commitment to keeping one of PA's most hidden and least seen treasures open. Major props to the people at the WK&S for getting the line open before it even had a chance to close

The WK&S is a treasure that everyone should ride. I've been there dozens of times and never had a bad time.

I was there but once, and wasn't going to expect much from a road with a couple of little tank engines, but they changed my mind for me! A jewel, indeed.

The line saw close to 30 trees downed. While the official word from the NWS via an official at Lehigh County was that the results were not from a tornado, the swirl of the trees and so many uprooted and thrown onto the RR would say something else. The photos don't to the destruction justice. The entire stretch of RR near the Grove is forever changed. The hillside to the east has a path 30 feet wide where there were 50-75 foot tall hardwoods just last week. It was tough to cut 24" red oak that was straight as an arrow and over 30 feet long just thinking of all the pilot beams that could be made.......and yes, trains ran an abbreviated trip from Kempton to the platform at Fuhrmans on Sunday. Best part was that no one was hurt in either the storm or during the cleanup. Things can be fixed, people can't.

Rob

And now you know why it's called a branch line......

Seriously, 30 trees at once is a serious number, but there are lines like the Wilmington & Western where no train is without a chain saw, for good reason.......

Maybe they should borrow one of the beavers from my town... Might take care of dangerous innert trees ;)
Seriously, having beavers might help... Specifically getting them off my street, and taking care of any trees that WK&S needs to remove. It's genious!

Until the right-of-way is flooded from either the lake behind the beaver dam or the culvert they have ingeniously blocked as a "quick and easy" home dam.

Besides which, the dams I have seen built (including a majestic 6' x 100+' one on the Verde River upstream from the Verde Canyon Railroad) usually involve smaller trees and branches, not the stereotypes of big trees being felled at the right angle as seen in cartoons.

A HUGE part of what makes these tourist lines so scenic is the bucolic scenery, that often includes running through miles of tree tunnels....it's a gamble, but without them, they become just another railroad (ie: main line operations that cut back 40-60 feet from center of ROW) Look at Fuhrman's Grove now...it's lost part of its "middle of nowhere" charm....but eventually, over time, it will grow back, but it is a loss to the operation right now.

Places like WK&S and W&W have dealt with blows from mother nature, but it is that nature that keeps them in business. A hot day spent at Bayard Taylor/Mt Cuba Picnic Grove on the W&W is a treat from the City & Suburban Streets for most of their riders, same is it is for the WK&S.

WK&S has had its' ups and downs over the years, both in management and other, but they have indeed remained consistent with their "product" offered to the public, at what I might add, has always been top notch - offered at a lower priced than any other operation in the state, and that, in a very huge part, is indeed due to the dedicated volunteers who are there to keep things flowing.

Kudos to the WK&S.

I'm embarrassed to say that I live less than 30 miles from the WK&S, but have yet to visit them. I'm going to make an effort to change that this year.