Reading & Northern 425: The Blue Bullet Finale-December 18, 2022

On a partly cloudy Sunday, we ventured out to the Reading & Northern to witness G-1 4-6-2 no. 425 haul its final trains for the 2022 season. After December 18, 425's fire was dropped for the last time as the locomotive is due for its FRA-mandated 1472 inspection, which is expected to be completed between one and two years. 425 was equipped with a replica Reading 6-chime whistle.

On the other end of the "Santa Claus Special" trains was EMD GP38-2 no. 2011, which would lead the trains southbound from Port Clinton back to Reading Outer Station.

History of RBMN 425:
425 was built in January 1928 at the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA. 425 was originally built for the Gulf, Mobile & Northern Railroad. 425 was then renumbered to 580 when she was acquired by the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad.

After being passed through various owners, including Paulson Spence and his ill-fated Louisiana Eastern fleet, 425 was purchased by Brian Woodcock and a few others in the 1970s. Following the purchase, 425 was stored at the Wilmington & Western Railroad (Historic Red Clay Valley, Inc) in Marshallton, Delaware. Although the locomotive was not permitted to operate excursions on the line due to its weight, it was fired up numerous times for heating passenger cars.

In 1983, 425 was sold to Andrew Muller to haul excursions on the newly formed Blue Mountain & Reading Railroad (later renamed to Reading Blue Mountain & Reading Railroad in 1990). Since 1983, 425 has remained one of the main operable steam locomotives on the Reading & Northern Railroad. Despite being out of service between 1997 and 2007, 425 returned to steam in 2008 and continued to be the flagship steam locomotive until it was taken out of service in December 2022 for its FRA-mandated 1472 inspection.

Timestamps:
0:00 Reading Outer Station
1:04 NRFF Northbound (Leesport)
2:20 Cross Keys Road [NB]
3:25 Leesport
4:56 Shoemakersville
6:46 West Hamburg [SB]
7:28 Dauberville

Check out the people we chased with today:
‪@TrainChamber‬
‪@ArkansasLocomotiveWorks‬
‪@TheBigBananaRailfan‬
‪@businesscar10productions57‬
‪@MrNJT‬
‪@DynamoProductions-trains‬

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