RDG CNJ B&O Route of the Queen of the Valley

This clip fest follows the route of the RDG/CNJ "Queen of the Valley" train from Jersey City to central Pennsylvania. Beginning with scenes from the busy corridor between JC and Bound Brook with its huge variety of Reading, CNJ and B&O trains, we then move to the Allentown/Bethlehem area and onward to Reading. There are a few scenes from a side trip on the RDG Perkiomen Branch, as well as Tamaqua and the Main Line north of Reading. These were included despite being off-topic simply because they were too good to omit.

[@wabisabi6875]

There's some real nice footage of Rahway Valley buried in here among all the bigger roadnames. Thanks for sharing.

[@mattsmocs3281]

This is the kind of content we need more off

[@seven8n235]

What a glorious film! I was born in Jersey just a few years too late to see for real. Thanks for posting

[@lennyhendricks4628]

same here, born on the RDG Bethlehem branch just a few years too late.

[@bobjohnston8316]

I’ve wondered for years which train carried a CNJ RPO. Somebody bought one, no doubt for scrap price, and it sat for years on an industrial siding near Valley Forge National Park. That was in the 1960’s. It’s gone and the siding is long gone, too. You have to love those CNJ Pacifics with the big Elesco feedwater heaters. And the Reading 3000’s. THEY were the heavy duty haulers before the T1’s came along.

[@nonewherelistens1906]

Amazing film. Caught the end of one era and the beginning of another.

[@scoobycarr5558]

Those camelback engines looked small but capable of hauling ass on fast passenger trains ...

[@fmnut]

For a few years in the 1890s camelbacks on the Atlantic City RR were the fastest engines in the world.

[@lennyhendricks4628]

that's a fact.

[@bakergym]

Hearing the EMD geeps in notch 8 certainly showcases the power of the camelbacks.

[@howiesmith1504]

@ Scooby Carr. If you mean the CNJ 750-789 group seen in this vid, some of which lasted in passenger service till the end of the road's steam in 1954, they weren't small at all. At 225,000 lbs. without tender, I believe they were the world's second biggest 4-6-0, topped only by the Pennsy and Long Island G5s class at 237,000 lbs. Southern Pacific had a single 4-6-0 which weighed a little more, at about 240,000 lbs., IIRC, but the extra weight was added by an experimental feedwater heater that was never duplicated. The other members of its class weighed about 218,000 lbs.

[@williamh.jarvis6795]

I was reading somewhere that the Camelback steam locomotives were ruled unsafe and later taken out of service, being the fact that the Engineer's cab was on the side of the boiler as well as being located over the engine's running gear.

[@mikeggg5671]

Amazing video! I am a subscriber and a devoted RDG fan. Your videos are stunning - please keep up the good work! 1:18 is the CRUSADER!!!! 1:38 RDG T1 RDG G3 pacifics! CNJ Camelbacks! CNJ Trainmasters! There's something for everyone!

[@SuperFoxyRailwayProduction6702]

I notices of that T-1 at 1:38 is 2124

[@tombell108]

WOW!!!! That's about ALL I can say about this absolutely amazing VIDEO! Great job! Of a bygone era that's sadly come and gone!

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

The Crusader was a Jersey City to Philadelphia train. It was RDG's flagship train.

[@anthonynigri8585]

Whats PRRs flagship train

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

@@anthonynigri8585 - The Broadway Limited.

[@mister_fjk1972]

great jersey railroad footage, including obscure Rahway Valley Railroad

[@markwilliams5811]

Great to see the rail history of years gone by. Nice job and Great show!!

[@grenzer45]

Wonderful video of great railroading! We’ll never see anything this cool again in real life but at least we have films like this to watch and dream over.

[@billlazenby9808]

Brought back good memories. Worked for the CNJ (1968-74) as Signal Maintainer. Steam engines were long gone by then but towers and Newark Draw Bridge were still in operation .

[@biskit84]

All that's left of that bridge is a few pilings. :-(

[@redbarnz]

Man, those steam engines were fast as hell!

[@raritanriverrailroadfan4418]

Great shots of Rahway Valley #15! Always nice to see her in Steamtown.

[@nhyardlimit]

Excellent, thanks for this film!

[@donaldjudy9887]

Loved, loved, loved this video! I grew up on the Reading main line. You had both my favorite all time Engine, The Crusader and my favorite engines in general, the camelbacks!

[@lazyrrr2411]

An eclectic selection of Time & Types

[@105C09]

Matt's Mocs is right. Thank you for sharing these treasures of a more gentile time gone by.

[@danielboone3770]

What an awesome video of this train action galore! I love it!

[@lennyhendricks4628]

Being a BIG RDG (and CNJ fan) who just missed steam (but did ride the RDG Iron Horse Rambles) what's not to love? ALL those gorgeous shots of the RDG G-3 4-6-2's. Hard to believe there were only 10 of them with all the shots of them shown here. And those magnificent RDG T-1 4-8-4's. All the great CNJ camelbacks. That passenger traffic into and out of Communipaw (Jersey City, now Liberty Sate Park) must have been something to see. For someone who was never able to see it, esp in the mostly still steam transition era, this HAS to be the next best thing!!! Only thing that left me a little perplexed was that there weren't more CNJ semaphores, weren't they mostly semaphores between at least Bound Brook and Jersey City at this point in time? Also love seeing at least a few of the old RDG banjo signals, thought these all would have been gone by then.

[@williamkurzenberger4607]

Great historic footage! As you promised, there is quite a variety of motive power. This is worth repeat viewing, as there is always something different to notice. I'm glad that you included the Rahway Valley footage. My grandfather built some of the forms for their poured concrete bridge supports, but I'm not sure when that was.

[@vcsaturn214]

Thank you fmnut for uploading this wonderful video! You ROCK! :D

[@victordubowski1276]

Thank you for sharing, I didn't know such footage existed.

[@ickyzachattack]

Your video is a complete cinematic success! Good job!

[@richcook2007]

Huge Reading fan here. This is fantastic!!!

[@robertdipaola3447]

Outstanding!!! Great steam highballing!!!-- thank you very much!!!

[@MrClay1983]

This footage is real gem to find, these three railroads are among some of my favorites and to see so many unique and famous locomotive types in some of these clips are a real treat to see, thanks a lot for posting this! Also I don't know if it's just me, but the CNJ locomotive at 2:04 appears to have the number "831", and if that's the case, then that's one of the three G-3 pacific locomotives that pulled "The Blue Comet". Due to the video quality, I could be wrong and it could be a different engine entirely, but if not then I find it neat to see footage of that engine in here while it was in a normal CNJ paint scheme. I think there's another one at 16:44 as well, but I can't read the numbers there so I don't know if it's one of those three engines or not.

[@fmnut]

The G3's were common on the Queen of the Valley after the demise of the Blue Comet.

[@iusetano]

That was fantastic. Thank you.

[@chuckstewart9102]

That was absolutely fantastic! Just imagine if it could’ve been recorded in 4K!!

[@fmnut]

The dilemma of the aging railfan. As the toys get better (cameras, scanners, digital maps, Internet info) the interesting features of the rail scene disappear.

[@ocsrc]

The Perkiomen branch is a really great find To see the tunnel under what was then Route 9, now I-476, and the rural areas where now there are so many houses, makes me long for my youth

[@rutheliz75]

Couldn't help notice how clean the rail yards and right of ways were .Would be great if passenger service could return to some of these lines. Thanks for posting.

[@redbarnz]

Love those Camelbacks and Babyface Baldwins! And, who says steam engines can't go fast?

[@hartmutlorentzen9659]

Great video, Thanks from Germany

[@rebel6910]

wow this is wonderful

[@charlesmorschauser5258]

I never appreciated how much action there was in Jersey back then

[@lennyhendricks4628]

Oh one small thing I've often wondered and now have the answer. Turns out the Reading did NOT replace the stainless steel streamlined G1sa's on the Crusader with the brand new (1948) G-3 4-6-2's. The streamlined Crusader G-1sa engines were built in 1918 and streamlined in 1937. EMD FP-7's took over the Crusader in 1950 and served up til the advent of RDC's in the Crusader's and Wall Street's dying days. As David P Morgan says of the G-3's in Steam's Finest Hour (Kalmbach 1959, he called them "America's Newest Pacifics"), they were bumped form their intended runs such as the Wall Street to the PRSL before their paint was barely dry.

[@fmnut]

While your statement is partially correct in that G-3's did not immediately replace the 117/118 in 1948 for all runs, there was a period when the 178 and the G-3's were used on the Crusader prior to the arrival of the 900's, while the 117/118 were used on secondary runs with standard equipment. There is ample photo documentation of this. 117 and 18 were destreamlined in 1951.

[@lennyhendricks4628]

@@fmnut -- ok, thanks for the update!!

[@tombarnes7196]

Awesome!

[@fantailspringdale]

Thank you fmnut for sharing these vintage films of what REAL railroading will always be. Do you have additional video film to share????

[@fmnut]

Check out my old films Playlist at kzbin.info

[@fantailspringdale]

@@fmnut Thank you!

[@v8pilot]

13:30 shows Rahway Valley Railroad 2-8-0 #15. In 1982/3 I lived in NJ and became a fan of the RVRR. First time I've ever seen it in video. And at 14:00 .

[@blairterry9435]

At 18:35 it's Reading T-1 2100! That engine is being restored right now. Nice to see it in its orginal carrier.

[@CrossOfBayonne]

Don't forget also you can see B&O P7s in these clips too which the 5300 on display is first member of it's class especially at 15:30 at Bound Brook which was the junction where traffic went towards Philadelphia.

[@TheBerkshire759]

thanks!

[@mdlanor5414]

This is a historic video. It would be really nice if it was colorized and cleaned up to high definition. I do like that this video is in black and white though. The Crusader and all the Camel Back Steam Locomotives are some of my favorite Steam Locomotives. All Steam Locomotives are my favorites. The GG-1 is my all time favorite electric locomotive. The F-40’s were my favorite diesel electric locomotive’s to operate. The GG-1 is my favorite electric locomotive and I enjoyed operating them. The AEM-7 is the second favorite electric locomotive I operated. I wasn’t fortunate enough to have been living during Steam Locomotives. How humanity figured out that boiling water at high temperatures produced energy. That would be used in many applications. The most fascinating thing about water. The hotter you get it, the more energy it produces as steam. The Steam Locomotive used steam very efficiently. The steam pushed the piston in both directions at opposite intervals. I always wondered how the piston connecting rod didn’t bend or stretch and break. Pushing and pulling on the steam locomotives wheel drivers. The steel had to be an alloy of steel. When Diesel Electric Locomotives began to quickly replace Steam Powered Locomotives. ALCO,BALDWIN and the other USA based manufacturers of Steam Powered Locomotives. We’re in the process of perfecting the Steam Powered Locomotives. Where they wouldn’t have to be continuously maintained. If Nuclear Power wasn’t so dangerous and hazardous? A nuclear powered Steam Locomotive would be ideal. Getting many years of useful energy and only having to replace the nuclear power rods every 20 years or so. There would be no CO2 and minimal exhaust consisting of water. The best Steam Powered Locomotive manufacturers in the USA. We’re in the process of utilizing condensers. To turn the used Steam back to water. That could be reused. Reducing the tender’s need to be filled with water often. When I hired on Penn Central on 3/19/1974 as a Fireman/Assistant Locomotive Engineer. Union tower located in Rahway NJ. On number 2 and 3 track. Just East of Union Tower. There was still the water troughs for when a Steam Powered Locomotive’s Tender would lower its water scoop. Topping off the Tender’s water tank. I know I veered off the subject of this video. My Great Great Grandfather was a 1st generation Pennsylvania Railroad Locomotive Engineer.My Great Grandfather was a 2nd generation Pennsylvania Railroad Locomotive Engineer. My Grandfather and his Brothers were 3rd generation Pennsylvania Railroad Conductors. My Father and his brother were 4 generation Pennsylvania Railroad,,Penn Central railroad,Conrail Railroad and my father retired from NJTRO. Im a 5th generation Penn Central Railroad,Conrail Railroad,Amtrak Railroad and retired from NJTRO Locomotive Engineer. Both of my sons are 6th generation Railroaders working for NJTRO as Locomotive Engineers. My eldest Grandson is a 7th Generation NJTRO Railroader as a Conductor. Railroading is in my immediate family’s blood. All of my family’s Railroad history were and are know as excellent Railroaders. My eldest Grandson wanted to work on the Railroad since he was 10 years old. When he graduated high school. He was hired by NJTRO a few months after he turned 18 years old. He loves working on the Railroad. I’m extremely proud of my Grandson. His dad,my son has nothing but excellent reports of how good his son is doing on the Railroad. He has his plan that he is sticking too. He is saying the money to outright purchase a house when he is 30 years old. He isn’t getting seriously involved with a woman. Until he owns his house and has a decent amount of money in his savings account. When he turns 30 and reached his goal. Then he is going to find the woman to marry and have children with. He is 6’4” tall has a size 20 shoe,has to order his shoes. He keeps himself in great physical shape. I’m told he is a very handsome man by many women that meet him. He is a very strong and muscular gentle giant. He is very level headed and an all around good young actual MAN at 21 years old. My Grandson became a MAN, when he turned 18. He has the normal way for his age to view certain things. That they shouldn’t be that way and are wrong but accepts this is the way it is. The woman that he marries. Will live the life they both want. My family doesn’t believe in divorce. That you have to compromise with your spouse. Do the right thing to keep your marriage from falling apart. A woman being married to a Conductor or Locomotive Engineer has to be prepared to deal with their spouse. Working long hours and away from home at lot. My wife of over 49 years. Had an extremely hard time with me working 7 days a week. For the first year. The assignment I was on. Worked 14 hours a day Monday through Friday. 12 hours on Saturday and Sunday. Luckily we lived close to my wife’s mother. That helped tremendously making my wife understand. That if you want to be a stay at home mom. She has to accept the amount of hours I’m working weekly. So she can have within my wages,whatever she wanted. Believe me I took care of business with my wife daily. She basically raised our first 2 children. When our daughter turned 13. My wife wants to have another child so I can experience raising the child. I also finally had the Seniority to hold a 10 days a month assignment. From Either Sunny Side Yard in Queens NYC or Penn Station NYC to Union Station Washington DV. That paid more than the 7 day a week assignment. My wife gave birth to a boy. I did everything on my 20 days a month I didn’t work. My wife even purchased a breast pump. So I could feed my son. I did everything one has to do raising a baby. This is when my wife wanted to get the career she always wanted. She became a Licensed Nurse. I’m retired, my wife collects her Railroad Retirement Check every month and is still by her choice working as a nurse for Florida Department of Health. She loves her job and has premium healthcare from the State of Florida. She is now a school nurse. Her job is under 5 miles away from home. She also has a large private pension that the State of Florida matches up to 10% of what my wife contributes. Hopefully she will retire from her job within the next few years. We want to fill our bucket lists. We are slowly fulfilling some of our Bucket lists. We are getting to the ages in our lives. Where one of us could suddenly die. Luckily we are both still very physically active. Anyway I apologize for the extremely LONG comment. Please don’t leave negative comments. I never leave negative comments for other peoples comments

[@fmnut]

Congratulations. You just qualified for the longest comment ever on my channel!

[@anthonynigri8585]

5:14 Its Reading 2124 in Operation

[@johnstraley9057]

Great video of times gone by. Could have been better if more location sub-titles were included.

[@bruceweidner2571]

Boy I like when that engine comes across that bridge here in Allentown and you see the big huge gas tank in the background that Tank's gone and all them tracks are gone they made it a big huge Bridge the traffic goes under it because there was so many people getting killed at the intersection because they used to go around the gates they say at least 20 to 25 trains a day go through that same track

[@onesandzeros]

Great editing and sound. That small building shown at 24:20 and 25:00, is that the structure visible from the West Shore Bypass on its west side somewhat northwest of Buttonwood Street, up the embankment? Nearest local street intersection would be Elm and Olive, West Reading. What is that thing?

[@fmnut]

Yes, that's the former Lebanon Valley Jct. CTC tower, manned until 1985 or so.

[@timothyrearden3178]

So pretty and awe-inspiring. Hard to relate to some of the speeds. That was railroading.

[@CrossOfBayonne]

15:30 There are two shots of B&O P7 or President 4-6-2s on their old route between Jersey City and Philadelphia as well another seen at 2:28 earlier, There is a surviving locomotive of the class no 5300 on my profile photo which was the first one built now on display in Baltimore. In the series Thomas & Friends Caitlin is a P7 locomotive

[@CrossOfBayonne]

Another fact she was assigned further west until retirement.

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

RDG 2124 also lives in 2020. She is at Steamtown.

[@fmnut]

That's if you call being "stuffed and mounted" a state of living.

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

@@fmnut - Not sure if she's merely lingering, or has been "stuffed & mounted." It was my understanding that she is restorable. However, with 2 other T-1s about to be restored, there is little interest in the 2124, unfortunately.

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

@@fmnut - In any case, better her current fate than razor blades!

[@fmnut]

@@OldsVistaCruiser Roger that!

[@fmnut]

@@OldsVistaCruiser Any engine is restorable, some are just more economical to fix than others. That's why 2124 went to Steamtown in the first place. The firebox was shot and RDG didn't want to foot the bill to fix it when it had 3 other serviceable engines available. It's still shot, probably worse after six decades in the weather. You definitely have a point that with 2 similar engines already in the works, funds for 2124 would be tough to come by. Suffice to say restoring 2124 would be a multimillion dollar affair.

[@aiforus]

WOW! Is this available on DVD or film or download?

[@fmnut]

Please email me at [e-mail]

[@biskit84]

Any idea where that tower in Elizabeth was located? Maybe some street names? Please and thanks!

[@fmnut]

Near the intersection of Veterans Memorial Drive and Trumbull St. GPS coordinates are 40.657800, -74.181815. If you look on Google Maps aerial view you can see the remnants of the southern connecting tracks where they cross over Trumbull St.

[@biskit84]

@@fmnut Thank you very much! I've gone by there hundreds of times...never knew! I'm from Michigan and I do business in NYC...stay in Elizabeth all the time flying in and out of EWR. First I was excited to find the remnants of the Newark Bay Bridge...now this!

[@Robbi496]

Those Baldwin diesels did not sound like anything else!

[@redthepost]

Really good footage of RDG and CNJ mailings. The world smelled from coal. You know, that lack stuff that made your hands dirty when you touched it.

[@Robbi496]

KEWL!

[@anthonynigri4058]

1:02 CNJ G1 whistle

[@AdmiralColdhead]

There’s a big possibility that the sounds were edited. That may not be the whistle of the G1, since many audio clips are clearly recycled. If this was real audio, then most of the crossing clips would give us examples of what the locomotives truly sounded like

[@kge420]

Some of the passenger trains look like they’re absolutely flying.

[@fmnut]

Part of that is frame rate issues between the original film and the video capture. Correcting it is possible but my current computer/software has problems getting it done without a jerky result. And the trains in reality were moving at or near 60 mph.

[@kge420]

@@fmnut It makes it look like we’ve always had high speed rail! I like it.

[@robertdavenport5457]

32:35 Tamaqua: I was expecting Harrisburg not a coal region town. Enjoyable trip all the same

[@fmnut]

Didn't have anything west of Lebanon. I had those extra scenes and just couldn't resist including them. Thanks

[@robertdavenport5457]

@@fmnut I am a former Reading (RDG) employee who worked in the Engineering Office after graduating from Lehigh University and beginning active military duty. Reading employees are generally known as "good people" which I observed and was also told later when I was involved in a Norfolk Southern project at Rutherford Yard when it was Conrail property. Thanks for bringing to mind the association of the Jersey Central (JC) and RDG; passenger routes were rapidly disappearing as I was becoming a teenager. I know the Lehigh Valley (LV) had connections to Philadelphia (until 1959) and now wonder if there were ever connections to Harrisburg.

[@fmnut]

@@robertdavenport5457 No LV thru cars to HBG, only Philadelphia. I worked for CR/NS out of Reading for 36 years in the Track Dept.

[@anthonynigri8585]

4:21 Listen for the Crusaders whistle

[@ttteshorts8860]

Jersey central is THE KING of camelbacks 👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑 I was looking for number 592 btw

[@fmnut]

I believe 592 was long retired when this film was taken.

[@carolcunfer9195]

You have