Took this shot while railfanning with my dad back in April of 1978 in Bethelehem, PA on the then still active platforms of Union Station (could still take a passenger train to Philadelphia at that time).
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=257666
All the black ex Penn Central was sort of disappointing at the time. Looks pretty neat today.
Charles
Good photo, thanks! Got one of the passenger train?
Hey neat - nice photo of a GP-30 ! Probably as good as can be obtained of something with that much black paint . . .
This photo is ConRail Day + 2 years, and by then most of the locomotives were probably running “pooled” - no longer tied to their former home rails. So that it is a PC loco here is probably of no significance. If this was from pre-ConRail, then I’d speculate it was heading back to its home rails at Phillipsburg, NJ with the coal train, about 15 miles away.
Here, this train is probably on the Lehigh Valley RR’s main line, judging from the track configuration and background - note the “Lehigh Valley RR” sign on the brick building above the rear of the leading locomotive. Track visible in background through opening in trainshed is most likely the Reading’s Bethlehem Branch.
Probable reason you didn’t hear it on the radio is that it came east on the ex-LV main on the south side of the Lehigh River here - note that this train in the background fades away to the left, not to the right as it would if it had come through the Allentown Yard and crossed the river. Instead, it came only through the former and not-too-active Calypso Yard, so there wouldn’t have been much reason to use the radio. In contrast, through Allentown Yard would have necessitated a lot of radio usage to negotiate that, I believe.
Paul,
Your explination for the reason for no radio chatter makes a lot of sense. Thanks for that. I’ve always remembered that day that everyone was chattering away that day but this one train. Now, I think you’ve hit the nail on the head as to why. 30 year old mystery solved (I believe).
I think you may have the tracks switched, however, I think the track in the background is the LV main (which the train is coming off of) and the track it is on is the Bethlehem Branch. My guess is that it was coming from out west to deliver coal to the steel plant (really just guessing here though). But it’s on the platform track, which means it’s pointed towards Philly here, I’m 99% sure. I think that the rest of the train is still on the LV Main at this point.
Charles
Charles -
Yep, right you are on the train being on the Bethlehem Branch. I got faked out by the tower - I thought it was an appendage off to the west of the main station building, but it wasn’t - instead, it was across the track from the station, to the south - the tip of the station’s eave just barely edges into the middle right border of the photo.
The real giveaway for me is the 2-headed signal - I believe it’s still there ! (or at least it was, up until a year or two ago). Other photos of it as a “ghost signal” have appeared on other forums under “Bethlehem Branch” or similar threads.
Plus, the photo shows a ramp up on the Hill-to-Hill bridge that is leading off to the right, that used to go down to the station’s plaza, I believe. I know that ramp has been long gone, but if that’s where that ramp led, then the track that the train is on can’t be the LV main - otherwise, the ramp would end in the Lehigh River . . . .
In conclusion, I suppose that background track is nothing more than an industrial spur. I’ll see if I can find an aerial or other photo or plan of this area from back around then that would confirm some of this.
Again, thanks for sharing these neat photos !
I didnt realize that was the track you were talking about. I think that was a layover track for the Philadelphia commuter train.
I recognize the locale. I’ve been past there on trips to Allentown. Never knew what it looked like with a train going past though.
Probably so. I took a quick look at a 1971 aerial from the Pennsylvania Geological Survey’s “Penn Pilot - Historical Aerial Photo Library” archive/ database, and - although grainy - it looks like there was a train there then. It also confirms and clarifies our conclusions about the configuration of tracks and buildings there then. I’ll try to post a link to the home page and some specifics below. The site is pretty easy to use, but the “High-Quality” photo files can be pretty large - the one I looked at was about 5.5 MB !
“Home Page”: http://www.pennpilot.psu.edu/
“Select County” for 1967 - 1971 photos page:
http://www.pennpilot.psu.edu/selectcounty60.html
For selecting “Northampton County” & then clicking on “Bethlehem”:
http://www.pennpilot.psu.edu/mcd/60/42095/06088.html
One more thing on the “no-radio” train - there’re still like that on that line today. Although I don’t use a scanner any more, they didn’t use to announce themselves much - all that would be heard is blowing for the grade crossing that is just out of sight in the background, and another about 1-1/2 miles to the west at Calypso Yard. Otherwise, the trains are usually moving at track speed (40 MPH ?) - esp. intermodals, multi-levels, RoadRailers, etc. The 1st clue you have that they’re approaching - esp. at the west end, in south Alllentown - is when you either hear the locos’ engines or the flanges squealing.