RDG Marine & Facilities Remastered

This is an update of a video I posted a few years back. It includes many new photos, added labeling of the piers, some film clips of switching at Port Richmond, and extended coverage of the facilities at Port Reading, including the original gravity coal dock and the rebuilt McMyler dumper. I did my best to enhance the quality of the added video, as it came from older VHS tape. Enjoy!

[@edwardtomczak6061]

I was lucky enough to see all these things in action in the early 1960’s. My father was a brakeman on the Reading and we were always down by the river. I can even remember the car floats at Allegheny Avenue. Hard to believe it’s all gone.

[@johannmckraken9399]

Just amazing how busy Port Richmond was back in the day. Reading handled so much traffic to and from the Port it’s hard to believe it’s all gone.

[@eugeeropel5572]

Another Excellent Excellent Excellent video by fmnut, I can really appreciate this one as I grew up in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia in the 60’s and after I married moved to Northeast Philadelphia where I would drive down I 95 south in 80’s and 90’s to go to work into the city and see the remains of what was left of the Reading. I just can’t understand that if all of this once helped build this country, why destroy it. Thank you for resurrecting it in a video so at least we have it to look back on to see what some of us are modeling our home railroads after. An A+++++

[@RHJ3]

This is one awesome video! I have always wondered what the overgrown docks and piers looked like in this area. I knew it had to be big but wow! This was one impressive set-up, really amazing. From the grain pier, conveyor and elevator, to the rollercoaster style coal unloader, the ore pier, the bridges into the second stories of the warehouses, the thawing sheds, the car ferry operations and all the things that support an operation like this. And the sips and tugboats, so many kinds of vessels pulling up to the coal pier from huge ocean ships to lo-slung river barges, some even made from wood! At 6:20 it looks like there is even a sailing ship taking on a load and at 6:51 it looks like a gun on the front of the freighter, must be from WWII, merchant marine I'm guessing. But the guy riding the car down the coal pier manually adjusting the brakes from the wheel itself is priceless. A real window into a time gone past, sadly gone past. Thank You FMNUT, I love your videos and have watched many they are all great! Greetings from Rochester NY.

[@rrbone]

Been a fan of this railroad since Monopoly.

[@terryboyer1342]

Take a ride on the Reading. If you pass go collect $200.

[@robertdipaola3447]

@@terryboyer1342 I remember that ,choo, choo!!!-- take a ride on the reading, thanks for posting!!!

[@toddw6716]

Thanks for the video. What history has been captured here.

[@jurgenihlau4052]

When I see this video, I always wonder how big was the Reading Company? Insanity!

[@BaltimoreAndOhioRR]

Neat old footage! Thanks for uploading! 👍👍

[@douglasmaddox7808]

Truly massive operation. Thank you.

[@steamgent4592]

Great to finally see these places in operation and not abandoned. Also great to see REAL railroading before all the restrictive cant do anything rules from OSHA , FRA, and H&S!

[@30yrsengr41]

Thanks for the remaster ,awesome stuff ,hard to believe all that activity is gone

[@oscardelatorre]

great video! some of those jobs seemed very dangerous! those guys knew what they were doing.

[@jonnybeck6723]

Whoa Nellie, that wuz a good one... t'inspired me to play some way-cool blues lix in 'G' (thank you very much) Where do you find this amazing stuff ? (rhetorical) Cheers kids

[@fmnut]

Lots of research and photos from ebay. Thanks for watching.

[@brianfalzon6739]

How interesting!

[@BruceBoschek]

Wonderful presentation. Thanks!

[@edmctug8800]

Too Bad the Tug Brandywine was scrapped in East Boston last year

[@edmctug8800]

Was lucky enough to work with Capt Doug Delapoter of Eastern Towboat,, Was deck hand a few times of the Brandywine and owner of small tugs in the port of boston !

[@Alphaskeptic]

Great to see the oldstyle coal dumper in operation

[@billyrayvalentine309]

Thank you for all your effort to create this fascinating video.

[@travelingman484]

We were something else once upon a time. Sad to see all this and so much more gone for ever.

[@georgetompkins5438]

excellent video. you da man, man

[@christopherlovelock9104]

Seems sad to me all of it is now gone. Even though I'm not from the US, - (I live in the UK), even here things change so fast. I just thank GOD there were/are people who pointed cameras at almost anything, at least when it's gone, (which a lot is nowadays), the young can see what it was like - however 'blurred' the film is.

[@DynamicDuo795]

You added Halo 3 soundtrack?

[@kddaniels5965]

great video, thanks much.

[@gmills5763]

Outstanding! That coal dumper must have been impressive to see in person. Like the music too, what song / soundtrack is that starting around @1:43 ?

[@fmnut]

The track is from the Halo 3 soundtrack. It is titled "Sierra 117 infiltrate and Move On" All of the music on this video is from that one title, even though it sounds like several different ones.

[@gmills5763]

@@fmnut thanks! Seeing all that infrastucture that's probably gone seems to work well with apocalyptic music.

[@coolruehle]

Good stuff here!!

[@JimboMorris11]

Ok, pure sarcasm here but how on earth did anyone survive this era without safety harnesses and reflective vests??? Lol! Love all the videos of the past when people were able, willing and not hampered by OSHA to actually work!

[@fmnut]

The same way we survived cap guns, riding bikes without helmets, etc. There was no nanny state to "protect" us.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

The death/injury rate amongst railroad employees was higher back then than it is today (early 1900s nearly three RR workers were killed on U.S. railroads each day). Reflective safety vests do make for a safer work environment for railroad employees as well as being able to immediately identify any trespassers on company property.

[@fmnut]

@@WAL_DC-6B doesn't mean we have to like it

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@fmnut You're right, much like I didn't like wearing steel or composite toed, non-slip, puncture resistant boots, but I also appreciated their safety value.

[@beeble2003]

"how on earth did anyone survive this era without safety harnesses and reflective vests???" Many didn't. That's the point. It just really blows my mind when people complain about safety. How on Earth is safety a _bad_ thing? Could somebody explain that to me? If everybody does their job perfectly, nobody needs safety equipment. The safety equipment is there to give you some margin for error. Because you will f*** up, and your co-workers will f*** up. This is absolutely guaranteed. Safety means that people who f*** up are less likely to put people in the hospital or the morgue. How on Earth is that a _bad_ thing?

[@vettebecker1]

Very cool

[@bradandonian626]

Excellent, it a sad commentary on how America has declined and does not produce many basic goods..

[@stevenmetzger3385]

Hello from Arizona

[@jamielacourse7578]

How they recycle copper?