BM&R Heritage, F-Units in Transit and Snow Squalls - Winter on the Reading & Northern

On the brutally cold and windy morning of Sunday January 15th, 2024, my pal Sheldon and I took a drive north, arriving in the town of Tamaqua, Pennsylvania at dawn. On a sleepy Winter morning like this, the only movement in town would be that of the Reading & Northern Railroad. R&N QASD, which signed up at 6 AM, was just beginning its day's work with an interesting set of locomotives. RBMN SD40-2 3055, operating long hood forward, SD40-2 1983, the new Blue Mountain & Reading heritage unit and SD50M 5014 would make a pull through town as they put their train together in the yard. After this move, the 3055 would be tied down, leaving BM&R 1983 to lead the way. The QASD would reverse out to the Zehners switch to work Maurer & Scott Inc before returning to the yard and heading north for the M&S Branch to Gilberton to work Blaschak Anthracite.

After QASD departed, word of a Port Clinton Extra, R&N PNEX, had surfaced. This very interesting move would turn out to be an F-Unit shuttle move, bringing RBMN F9A 270 and F7B 275 to Jim Thorpe, where they would ride out the winter on display, while heading to the Penobscot Storage Line would be RBMN F7A duo 251 and 250. This pair of former B&LE F Units were purchased from the Southern Railroad of New Jersey at Winslow Junction back in 2017 and spent years sitting behind the shops in Port Clinton. Bracketing the quad pack of F Units, RBMN SD38 2003 would lead the way with RBMN SW1500 1546 on the rear, very cool. Well, between the time QASD departed and the PNEX arrived, a strong snow squall moved into the area, bringing a quick couple inches of snow, some harsh winds and some very, VERY cold air. After catching the train in the thick of it and warming up, we would catch the move again in Nesquehoning, in much clearer conditions.

After grabbing PNEX, we would hop west to Gilberton to catch up with QASD, which was departing Blaschak lite for Reading Anthracite, where the engineer would change ends to SD50M 5014 and begin work here. With the higher elevations, some fast moving clouds and some low lighting, watching this three person crew make quick work of the job was quite the spectacle to watch. With the weather becoming unbearable, w'd catch the train depart and move on from here.

Enjoy!

R&N QASD
RBMN SD40-2 3055 (Dropped in Tamaqua)
RBMN SD40-2 1983
RBMN SD50M 5014

R&N NREX
RBMN SD38 2003
RBMN F9A 270
RBMN F7B 275
RBMN F7A 251
RBMN F7A 250
RBMN SW1500 1546

00:00 - Intro
00:12 - QASD over Spruce Street - Tamaqua, PA
05:03 - QASD works Maurer & Scott - Tamaqua, PA
09:30 - QASD at Zehners - Tamaqua, PA
10:26 - QASD departs Tamaqua for the M&S Branch
12:17 - PNEX - Tamaqua, PA
13:11 - PNEX - Nesquehoning, PA
14:38 - QASD - Quality Hill Road - Gilberton,PA
15:19 - QASD - Rapp Road - Girardville,PA
17:09 - QASD works Reading Anthracite - Girardville, PA

Thanks for watching!