Tag Archives: #coal country

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2023, King Coal and Co., at Bloom

The maze of trackage in the Scranton-Wilkes Barre area has always fascinated me.

No less than eight railroads once built into this anthracite rich region. While coal ceased to be a primary source of revenue decades ago, numerous lines remain as a legacy of this once intensive railroad traffic.

Kris and I followed Reading & Northern’s Pittston-Jim Thorpe excursion. Not far from Pittston, I pulled over at the location known as ‘Bloom’ where tracks remain on two levels, and here I exposed this series of photographs.

I can only wonder what this place may have looked like in decades gone by. I was delighted that only minutes passed from the moment of my ‘discovery’ until the passage of this train. ‘King Coal’ is Reading & Northern’s round-end observation car on the tail end of the excursion.

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Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Foray to Lykens, PA.

Early in the winter, we drove north into coal country.

I was curious to visit Lykens, a comparatively remote Pennsylvania town, that was once at the end of a Reading Company line which had included a switchback near Tower City.

Upon reaching Lykens, we found little evidence of the old Reading, now many decades gone. However, we located the old Pennsylvania Railroad station and yard.

The station is now a museum, although it was closed on the afternoon of our visit.

Market Street in Lykens, where a branch of the PRR once crossed.
The tracks were lifted a long time ago, but the old PRR station at Lykens survives.

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