RDG Passenger Svc 1970's with Locations

I have had several requests for location info on this video, so I am uploading a version with location captions. All locations confirmed on Google Earth. Thanks again to Railroad Video (Walt Berko) and George Legler for the footage.

[@rutheliz75]

I rode both types of trains in the early 70s on both the Reading and Bethlehem branches . Very comfortable cars . They would have even been better on welded rail. Thanks for posting.

[@daverogers9386]

This brought back some good memories of riding the train to Reading and Philly. I loved riding the Push/Pull, ride it on the trips from Reading to Philly. In high school in the summer we’d head to Pottsville and take the train to Reading, usually just a passenger car. At 5th Street Station we’d get the train to Philly, that’s where we rode the Push/Pull. It was a real treat when that would pull up. I remember a few of the passenger cars had a different horn. I remember the 9164 and 9165 sounded different and depending on the engineer he could make the horn fade in at the start and fade out at the end. Those were fun times riding the rails.

[@victordubowski1276]

Thank you for the upload. Can't stop watching the video, because this is the Reading in its last days, and I remember seeing those trains and those places in philly, when I was child, especially 16th Street junction and I saw freight cars at that location too.

[@Engineerrick]

You did a great job with the audio. Dubbing is no easy task. The F units sound right and so do the RDCs. Keep up the good work.

[@charlesshivoder2887]

Greetings from Lebanon County Pennsylvania. What great old movies!! Thanks a lot. I used to occasionally commute to Bethlehem from Reading Terminal on the RDCs. And of course the giant freights grinding through the endless grade crossings in Lebanon off the old Alphabet Route, this same line is now the NS mainline between the NY City area to the west. And I almost forgot, I often rode the Wall Street or Crusader, the Reading Company’s fine trains from Jersey City to Reading Terminal, if I’d been to the NY City on business, always a nice change to the cattle cars on the Pennsy! Thanks again for the memories. CAS

[@allegheny48]

Some excellent footage and well composed. These two gentlemen had a knack for taking good railroad videos. Thanks for putting all this together.

[@alcopower5710]

allegheny48 ......agree 100 percent. My favorite was at 4:00......

[@joesiciliano5280]

Wow, this is an awesome video ! Really something to see those FP7s at work. Thanks for posting !

[@alcopower5710]

Joe Siciliano .....yes love those FP7s

[@myspaceworld5839]

Nice video on what use to run on this line and seeing them fine reading locomotive and reading equipment excellent job.

[@BaltimoreAndOhioRR]

Happy new week! ✔

[@emeraldsoundproductions]

Great video, so nice to see some footage from the Reading area. It's sad that passenger service declined over the years till it wasn't used anymore, now everyone is crying the blues that there should be passenger service between Reading and Philadelphia due to all the traffic congestion but Norfolk Southern now own the lines and they don't want to be bothered with passenger service.

[@dschlegel75]

Liked it the first time around, even better with locations! Sad to see so many areas where tracks are now long gone. I had no idea Birdsboro had a station under the 345 bridge. At @11:40 heading around Neversink Mountain, there are tracks in the foreground. Where did they serve?

[@fmnut]

11:40 tracks in foreground are the former S&L branch between Cumru Jct and south Reading. They were still used at the time of filming.

[@dschlegel75]

@@fmnut Thank you sir...might be a worthy area to explore! Always love your videos!

[@aeyb701]

Great video, authentic sound. The M5 horns’ sound are lacking a couple notes, so more like a Canadian M3H.

[@fmnut]

Yes, horn maintenance was not on the priority list in the Reading's final years. Especially the M series which were maintenance intensive.

[@mistersnapon]

Great vintage stuff!!!!!

[@kevinbrady2863]

Love this, even though some of the sound seemed dubbed, it was done well. Was that last shot (with the units running A - A back to back, as they always should have been) of the farewell to the Reading trip to Port Reading from 1976? I actually rode that trip, will never forget it. Rode the front vestibule from about Valley Forge out to Reading on the return trip, and can vividly recall those 567s winding up and that Nathan M-5 blowing for crossings.

[@fmnut]

All of the sound was dubbed. Yes, the final scenes are the Farewell trip in March 1976.

[@alcopower5710]

fmnut .....tremendous job of dubbing. Thanks for the time and effort

[@kevinhoward9593]

8:32 interesting to see that PRR line was de-electrified by this point.

[@rawvision6701]

Wow, what wonderful footage! Filthydelphia is evident at 0:28, but nevertheless a magnificent video. It's a shame that the renewal project to have a passenger service line between Reading and Philly fell through. With the horrible traffic that exists today, it would have been a welcomed rail line. Well, maybe it can be a reality someday.

[@frankstar3417]

Great video thanks.

[@lazyrrr2411]

'Guess ℹ'm Naive ... Never realized that vintage American passenger services used Double Ended motive power ... thanks for the eye opener

[@fmnut]

The Reading was the first in the USA to run MU cables through the train so both ends could be under power. Other railroads had control cabs (DVTs) but not this setup. If you look carefully at the overhead shots you can see the MU running down the center line of the coach roofs.

[@CPT113]

1:33 R142 sound came on right when the FP9 was bypassing

[@fmnut]

It's an FP7. Yes, that's a sound editing glitch I missed in post production. Sorry.

[@CPT113]

@@fmnut its fine and thanks for the correction

[@leslie0965]

I used to ride the budcars on the newtown line

[@ArcadiaJunctionHobbies]

are they electrical transmission towers above the line at the 15:00 mark?

[@fmnut]

Yes

[@trens_bahia]

Muito bom parabéns amigo pelo trabalho!!!

[@scoobycarr5558]

Just wondering - the former Reading is now part of Norfolk Southern?

[@fmnut]

Most of it is. The Trenton line is CSX, and the Philadelphia area trackage is split between SEPTA and Conrail Shared Assets.

[@scoobycarr5558]

@@fmnut Nice insight about railroads in this part of the United States

[@danielbeauregard6716]

bon souvenir

[@liamskopal7516]

Anyone know the horn at 13:30?

[@fmnut]

Leslie S25

[@TheRrxing]

Nice !

[@agrady7216]

Is that an M5 on the F7’s?

[@fmnut]

Yes. They sounded a bit off towards the end of their service life.

[@agrady7216]

fmnut where are the F7’s now? Are they scrapped, preserved, repainted into another railroad? I want to imagine a protest against scrapping locomotives.

[@fmnut]

@@agrady7216 First, they are FP7s not F7s. 900 is at Hamburg PA in the Reading RR Museum. 902/03 are at Steamtown in Scranton PA. Both are serviceable but need new wheels before they can move in interchange or run trips.

[@agrady7216]

fmnut I don’t really know the difference between F7’s and FP7’s, some different types of locomotives look the same, but do they still have M5’s? And are the numbers of locomotives supposed to be different identities. And what type of locomotive is the electric trains in this video?

[@fmnut]

@@agrady7216 FP7 was four feet longer than a standard F7. This gave space for a larger steam generator for train heat and more water capacity for steam generation. F9/FP9 had the same difference. Currently all 3 locomotives are in storage and have no horns to prevent theft. Not sure what you mean by locomotive numbers being different identities. The stainless electric MU cars in this video are Budd Silverliner II's based on the Budd Pioneer III coach. The painted steel MU's are unique to the Reading and were built for the suburban electrification in the 1930's. They were based on the then-standard Reading passenger coach.

[@quinnmattern2665]

👍👍👍👍👍

[@scoobycarr5558]

Reading had push pull units on their commuter services? Wow! Amtrak does it with their Hiawatha Service between Chicago and Milwaukee, but Reading had powered units on each end of their trains. Sorry Amtrak but your unpowered units don't work.

[@fmnut]

The Reading was the first railroad to have powered units on both ends. They needed both under power to make the schedule with only 1500 HP available per unit.

[@CaseysTrains]

Whoever did the sound dubbing for this, can we please stop throwing in Subway train sounds. Especially from trains that are clearly modern making loud AC propulsion noises. It really takes away from the old aesthetic that the video is trying to bring. I much rather a silent movie or swing music over the movie then modern-day subway train sounds from Post-2000s built trains. It's a GREAT video otherwise! (I love anything old Philadelphia)

[@fmnut]

There are NO subway sounds on this video. The MU sounds are from the appropriate model MUs. The Budd RDC sounds are from actual Reading/SEPTA RDC's. The Push Pull sounds are admittedly a blend of EMD diesel and passenger train passing sounds, but no subway/light rail sounds were used. I personally hate old films accompanied by 40's music, it just sounds hokey to me. I'd rather do my best to approximate a soundtrack instead. Sorry if you felt my efforts were inauthentic.