5,302 Passengers
In. One. DAY!
Fall is usually an incredibly busy season for us at Jim Thorpe, PA. We (RBMN’s Passenger Department), the local businesses, and the borough, spend most of our time prepping throughout the year in eager anticipation of October to November.
And rightly so! Autumn, in our opinion, is just that perfect time of year. The weather is cooling down, the harvest flavors begin sneaking into our choice of comfort beverages, and the warmness of the impending Holiday seasons tend to emphasize the beauty of the final quarter of the year.
In an almost perfect reflection of the above statement, we have nature gifting us with a kaleidoscope of reds, oranges, and yellows that lushly encourage our Passenger trains’ journeys along the towering mountainsides of the Lehigh Gorge State Park.
- 2022 Fall Foliage Passengers & Rail Trail
It has been said by many previous riders that the landscape, vistas, the quaintness of Jim Thorpe, and the many talents of our LGSRY staff contribute to the positive experiences our patrons have annually. As a confirmation to their claims, the month of October has had four dates over 4,000 riders which, by all available data, is the highest total for October in railroad history.
Even at the time of this writing, November experienced a day with over 4,000 customers; a stunning number for even our most seasoned Reading Blue Mountain & Northern (RBMN) managers.
At this historic moment (which we are exceptionally grateful for), we inevitably had to reflect on the journey that led us here.
For brevity: Prior to RBMN’s CEO, Andy Muller Jr., acquiring the rail system you see today, “Rail tours” were provided by Carbon and Schuylkill. These excursions, which ran before the early 2000s, traveled around Jim Thorpe, but did not have the ability to traverse into the mountain passages of Lehigh Gorge State Park.
Andy and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DNCR), were able to secure a compact which enabled the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern to purchase the bridges and abandoned rail systems pointing into the heart of the Lehigh Valley.
In 2004, a chance meeting during a maiden voyage passenger excursion with RBMN (LGSRY) and a local railway resulted in a moment which would change the trajectory and path of our future operations. The same trail made from “iron and steel” that you ride today was captured during its inception by a local photographer and consequently immortalized by local, Schuylkill County, PA artist John Bond as seen below…
LGSRY Maiden Voyage in 2004 - John Bond
Now, almost two decades later, we can concretely say that if we did not have the ardent support of the local communities, townships, and ALL OF YOU who have ridden with us, none of this would have been possible.
Even our fledgling Passenger location (Reading Outer Station), ran six record excursions between our newly restored 2102 steam locomotive trips and Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) in the month of October!
In true RBMN spirit, we have plans to offer even more opportunities for patrons to experience our Passenger train trips. The future is looking exceptionally bright, and we couldn’t be more thankful to all of you who are part of the RBMN family.
The F-Unit and Steam Engine “Double Header” weekend - 2022 - c.o. Josh C.
TICKETS, INFORMATION, & HISTORY
For more information about the rich history of Jim Thorpe and our railroad visit: HISTORY
For tickets and info, please visit REGULAR SCHEDULE or call #570-325-8485
Want Steam? Visit our OUTER STATION website!
* Special “thank you” to all full and part time staff at the Reading and Northern Railroad that keep our trains moving on time and work extremely hard to make our guests happy!
