North GA Rails's video: Reading and Northern 425 10 11 15: Fall Steam on the Road of Anthracite

This is the best steam railroading show I have ever witnessed. I was going to start out this description like I do most, by telling a story, but I felt that I could not do the scenes captured in this video justice without getting that off of my chest. From before I even left home to the time I finished this chase, the Reading & Northern has been nothing but a class act, and making the trip to Pennsylvania for my fall break was justified solely by the experiences I had on this day alone, although the rest of the trip was still more than icing on the cake. I woke up at my friend Cody's house near Philadelphia at 7:45am on Sunday, October 11, 2015. Upon realization that it was about an hour and a half drive to Port Clinton, I did the bare minimum to get ready, threw on some new clothes, packed up the few things I'd taken out, and did what railfans do best. Upon our arrival in Port Clinton, PA at 9:15am, we were greeted by a giant plume of smoke coming from the north side of town, and from then on, the day went as planned. Our first location was Rauschs, PA, where the valley was filled with the deafening sound of stack talk and Reading & Northern 425's whistle. In this scene, you'll get a taste of the wheelslip that was to be expected on this chilly fall morning that's achieved by running a medium-weight, high-drivered Pacific at full bore with an SD50 and heavy passenger train in tow. We were greeted at Zehners by a wall of perfect fall foliage and perfect sunshine, where you can see 425's new paint scheme in great detail as she fights gravity to drag her heavy train up the former Reading. The last upgrade location on the chase from Port Clinton to Jim Thorpe was a surprisingly-desolate East Mahanoy Junction, where the train diverts to the former Central of New Jersey for the remainder of the trip through Hometown, Nesquehoning, and the Lehigh Gorge to Jim Thorpe. Despite having diesel assistance, the best wheelslip audio of the day was recorded here, as the 1928 Baldwin clawed its way around the sharp curves and through this heavily-wooded portion of ex-Reading trackage. After working through East Mahanoy Junction, it's all downgrade for 425 on the way to Jim Thorpe. We caught the train at three locations on this section of ex-CNJ trackage, first at Marian Avenue west of Hometown, second at the Hauto Dam, where the whistle hauntingly echoed off of the mountains across the lake, and third at Ametek, where the steam train met one of the day's Hometown Highbridge trains out of Jim Thorpe. A four-hour layover ensued in Jim Thorpe, formerly known as Mauch Chunk, that was occupied by bad pizza, worse service, horrendous traffic, and introductions to friends for the first time. The town, known to tourists as the "Gateway to the Poconos" and to locals as a tourist trap, is absolutely gorgeous, and it was ripe with activity during this weekend's fall festival (held every weekend in October). With a steam excursion, multiple Hometown Highbdige trains, and multiple Lehigh Gorge trains, there's no doubt that this place was going to be packed. I had to park across the Lehigh River in what was once known as East Mauch Chunk. After getting a cool cab tour, my late departure from Jim Thorpe was interrupted by deafening stack talk and a screaming whistle as I began to drive west. So I turned around and got two more shots before calling an end to my chase of 425. First was on the west end of Nesquehoning, where the fireman stoked the fire very well in preparation from the grueling battle against Hometown Hill, which can be heard at the end of the clip. I got one parting shot just east of Hometown with the whistle echoing through an astoundingly colorful tree tunnel. I don't think the video camera could have died at a better time. I know I've said it once, but I'll say it again. This is the best steam railroading show I've ever seen, and the whole experience was nothing short of amazing. Thanks to the Reading and Northern, Jim Thorpe, and my friends for all of their hard work to make this a success. I can't wait to go back.