Chasing RBMN

Reading & Northern Railroad's third and final Iron Horse Ramble of 2024 took passengers from the new Nesquehoning Regional Railroad Station to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Regional Railroad Station in Pittston for the Tomato Festival on August 17, 2024.

The star of the show once again was the Reading T-1 4-8-4 Northern steam locomotive #2102. She pulled a consist of 19 cars on the northbound trip, and 16 cars on the southbound return. (The three private OCS cars were left in Pittston overnight.)

The train made a stop at the Penobscot Rail Yard to attach Fast Freight SD50-2's #5018 and #5019 for their dynamic breaking on the decent down Penobscot Mountain. #2102 ran unassisted for the rest of the excursion.

I chased this Ramble which was also my first time doing a full chase on the Lehigh Division. The theme for the spots was "quality over quantity" as this route presents more challenges than chasing on the Reading Division.

Also doing the chase was my good friend Collin from ‪@PANortheasternRailfan‬. We collaborated to film the entire wye move in Pittston, so I thank him for some of the clips during that part of the video. Be sure to check out Collin's chase video as well.

I saw so many friends, colleagues, and fans on this chase, and I wanted to say thank you to each and every one of you that stopped to chat with me. Yes, that even includes you Russ!

0:00 intro
0:58 my new home away from home
1:40 Nesquehoning departure
4:28 PIJT pulls into the Tannery siding
6:21 Tannery Road, White Haven
7:41 Church Road, Mountain Top
8:54 Why the diesels?
10:10 Solomon's Gap in Mountain Top
12:03 Pittston arrival
13:54 first leg of Pittston wye
17:44 second leg of Pittston wye
22:42 third leg of Pittston wye
26:41 bringing the consist to the rail yard
28:02 2102 heading for service
30:28 2102 cab tour
33:43 2102 leaves the service area
37:15 2102 pulls the consist into the station
40:32 Phoenix Street / cemetery in Duryea
42:16 pacing 2102 along the PA Turnpike?!
43:18 Bridgeport in White Haven
44:37 Nesquehoning return
47:06 outro
48:04 Nesquehoning departure
51:05 end screen

Chasing trains and building models is hard work! You can help me refuel and support my adventures at:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jamiemakin