On July 9, 2022, Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern 425 operated a special excursion from Mountain Top (Penobscot) to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania and return, a distance of approximately 32 miles (51 kilometers) one-way. This trip was operated for the benefit of the Mountain Top Rotary Club.

We were advised regarding the operation of this special train by Oren B. Helbok (Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania), a respected photographer, enthusiast and friend. Upon the conclusion of the crew's work preparing the locomotive for the trip, Oren borrowed the crew's ladder, allowing half a dozen enthusiasts to achieve a nice high-level view of the locomotive and train.

The second image depicts RBM&N 425 approaching the tiny community of Glen Summit, Pennsylvania.

• Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern 425, 4-6-2 (BLW 60339 / 1928), ex-Gulf, Mobile, and Northern Railroad 425, GM&N class G-1

Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern: https://www.rbmnrr-passenger.com/our-trains

Thank you for the trip report.

Same spot, years past.

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/pennobscot2.jpg

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/cnj79a.jpg

A bittersweet spot for me. The road that crosses the railroad just ahead of where 425 is in the first picture is the east end of Gracedale Ave. My great grandparents bought a home on the western end of that road in the 1940's. After my great grandfather and grandfather died, my grandmother lived there until she was 99. My mother attended the now demolished Fairview High School on that road. When we were both much younger my grandmother would walk the length of that road with me pointing out the various decaying structures that once served a bustling yard. Later I would walk or ride my bike there on my own.

I am also acutely aware that a great uncle perished in that yard in January of 1927. He was a young brakeman and was killed shortly before quitting time. My grandfather (who died sixty years ago today. I never knew him) was told "John go home, get some sheets, something happened to George". He fell underneath a car. Enough said. I searched for some kind of account of the accident to no avail.

Needless to say the SOFA (Switching Operations Fatality Analysis) program was near and dear to me and easy to take seriously.

Still to see steam on those tracks is something I never thought I would see, especially in the bad years after the CNJ vacated the Wyoming Valley, with the Lehigh Valley taking over for a couple years until big blue took over. To have ridden behind both 425 and 759 there, wow.

Maybe some day 2102?

Thanks to the Mr. Muller and the R&N for making it happen.

I did a quick newspaper archive search and located a couple of articles about the incident involving your great uncle. If you send me an email (should be in my profile) I'd be happy to share them with you.

PM Sent.


Thank you.

Jake, thank you.

I did actually learn something from that. I knew he was young, and pretty green

He was 20, and only on the job six months.

Exactly the sort of employee SOFA is designed to protect with mentoring.

Happy to help!