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| Bethlehem Union Station update https://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6140 |
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| Author: | Jim Evans [ Mon Jun 23, 2003 2:12 am ] |
| Post subject: | Bethlehem Union Station update |
I haven't been up to Bethlehem PA since last October, to check on the status of the old Union Station that they are restoring (as a business). Since I was in the area on Saturday, I dropped by and took some pictures. The building looks nice and there is supposed to be a railroad history part of the building somewhere. It sure would have been nice to catch a train from here again, but the City of Bethlehem plans to buy the tracks from NS and make a three mile walking trail, essentially killing the ability for passenger rail service to ever be restored on the Bethlehem Branch. Then again, with SEPTA at the helm, and owning the tracks from Hellertown to Philly, that will never happen anyways.... :-( Here's a link to the pictures that I took last October if you want to see the progress made: http://jrevans.fbody.com/beth_10052002/ The latest pics are in the main link. Bethlehem (PA) Union Staiton jrevans@accusort.com |
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| Author: | Bob Yarger [ Wed Jun 25, 2003 10:14 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bethlehem Union Station update |
Which RRs used the Bethlehem station? Also, which RR's used the Bethlehem roundhouse and engine terminal, which was torn down a few years ago? ryarger@rypn.org |
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| Author: | Howard P. [ Thu Jun 26, 2003 12:00 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bethlehem Union Station update |
> Which RRs used the Bethlehem station? Also, > which RR's used the Bethlehem roundhouse and > engine terminal, which was torn down a few > years ago? Beth Union Sta. was RDG and LV. CNJ had a separate station on the "other" (east) side of the river/canal. Beth Eng. Terminal users were CNJ, RDG, LHR, LV (not as much as the others). And don't forget all the fan-trip steam that visited the place during the 60s-70s.... BC&G/Q&E #4, CPR 972, RDG 2102, FEC 148, CPR 1238-1278-1286, NKP 759 (jes' passin' thru), probably some others I'm forgetting. The CNJ #4 steam wrecker now at Steamtown was based there; I have a shot of it on the ground in front of the coal dock in 1970. The place would have made a hell of a museum for Antracite Road stuff. hpincus@mindspring.com |
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| Author: | JimBoylan [ Thu Jun 26, 2003 3:54 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bethlehem Union Station update |
In later years (after 3/31/76), ConRail passenger trains operated for SEPTA stopped here. Since some of these trains continued to Allentown on the LV for a short time, CR trains served both sides of the building! SEPTA didn't take over passenger service from CR until after these trains stopped running. > CNJ had a > separate station on the "other" > (east) side of the river/canal. Earlier, CNJ trains from Syracuse via DL&W to Philadelphia via RDG stopped here. Or were these really Central Railroad Company of Pennsylvania trains? 104577.651@compuserve.com |
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| Author: | Phil Mulligan [ Thu Jun 26, 2003 4:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bethlehem Union Station update |
In steam days, RDG Reading Division used CNJ's Bethlehem EH. In diesel days, RDG set up a servicing facility at East Penn Jct. for Reading Div. power to and from the East Penn and Perkiomen branches. Philadelphia Div. Bethlehem Branch trains, freight and passenger, continued to use RDG's Saucon Creek EH in Hellertown. (RCT&HS has that 100' turntable) Before the CNJ withdrawal from Penna around 1972 the RDG at Bethlehem Union Station continued directly across the LV and the Lehigh River to the CNJ West of the CNJ Station. Thru RDG-CNJ passenger trains used the RDG/LV Station then straight across the river onto CNJ. They did not pass thru the CNJ Station. Thru RDG-LV cars were switched at the RDG/LV Union Station from RDG to LV and v.v. After LV inherited CNJ's PA assets, a Westward LV to Westward CNJ connection onto the bridge was built to give LV trains access to CNJ's Allentown yard and adjacent Bethlehem EH. CRP was an accounting gambit so CNJ could avoid NJ taxes on its PA assets. It failed in Court. Electric City Trolley Museum Association |
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| Author: | Howard P. [ Thu Jun 26, 2003 8:55 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bethlehem Union Station update |
> In steam days, RDG Reading Division used > CNJ's Bethlehem EH. In diesel days, RDG set > up a servicing facility at East Penn Jct. > for Reading Div. power to and from the East > Penn and Perkiomen branches. Philadelphia > Div. Bethlehem Branch trains, freight and > passenger, continued to use RDG's Saucon > Creek EH in Hellertown. (RCT&HS has that > 100' turntable) Phil: I remember seeing plenty of RDG diesel power at Beth Eng. Terminal... dark green GP7s poking out of the roundhouse, etc., and "new scheme" GP30s, etc. were also there. This was 1969-72 era. hpincus@mindspring.com |
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| Author: | Jim Evans [ Thu Jun 26, 2003 10:32 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bethlehem Union Station update |
Thanks for all of the info, guys! I'm a transplant to the Eastern Pennsylvania area, and being in my early 30's, I never had a chance to see the Reading when it was alive. I've adopted the Bethlehem Branch as one of my favorite railroads and am so very disappointed at how the City of Bethlehem wants to tear out the last three miles of track to make a walking trail "greenway". Until a few month ago, I didn't even know that there were roofs over the passenger platforms and a covered access to the hill-to-hill bridge. Question for you all, does anyone know when the switch from the Bethlehem Branch to the CNJ bridge was removed. It must not have been too long ago, since the Diamond is still in place. If anyone has any other info about the Bethlehem Branch that they can share with me, please drop me an email. JimE Bethlehem Union Station jrevans@accusort.com |
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| Author: | Rob Davis [ Fri Jun 27, 2003 2:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | A correction andRe: Bethlehem Union Station update |
> In steam days, RDG Reading Division used > CNJ's Bethlehem EH. In diesel days, RDG set > up a servicing facility at East Penn Jct. > for Reading Div. power to and from the East > Penn and Perkiomen branches. At some point, as Howard notes, the Reading began laying up power at the CNJ engine house in Bethlehem. I suspect this happened after the end of passenger service to Allentown (post 1967) and the loss of the mail contract. East Penn was convenient to both the Allentown Terminal passenger line and the East Penn yard. > After LV inherited CNJ's PA assets, a > Westward LV to Westward CNJ connection onto > the bridge was built to give LV trains > access to CNJ's Allentown yard and adjacent > Bethlehem EH. The Lehigh Valley did not assume the CNJ operations until 1972. The connection you refer to was built (with substantial bridge modifications) in 1966 at the same time the two railroads rationalized their routes with long segments of shared trackage between Allentown and Laurel Run. The major changes in the area that came about because of the 1972 take over were mostly yard rationalizations. As for the question about the diamond under the Hill to Hill bridge, it was removed within months of NS's acquisition of CR lines in the area. The reason was the closing of the Bethlehem Steel coke plant. Trains to and from the coke plant were the final users of that line, as the other remaining mill traffic and new intermodal traffic was already coming in via Florence. Lost in the notes about the rehab of the Union Station is that the adjacent Lehigh Valley frieght house was demolished this year. Rob Davis trains@robertjohndavis.com |
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