RDG Hill Track

This stretch of railroad was a block from my house in Temple. The history is covered in the video. Working for Conrail in the Reading area, I was involved in the events surrounding the quarry collapse and its aftermath. Sad to see it go, but the memories live on........

[@mikeggg5671]

It would have been the very early 90s, but I lived in a little white house on the west side of the 5th Street Highway by the huge natural; gas tower in North Temple - I watched the crew train with the white bunk trailers go by, and the ripping up of the track after. Thankfully, there was a much more active line on the other side of my house. Nothing sadder than seeing RDG items removed and lost, but thankfully we have the memories. Thank you fmnut!!!

[@2011Maynard]

Great historical video. For those of us that lived this painful generation of railroading, the equally depressing music works.... Thanks for posting.

[@fmnut]

Sorry you felt the music was depressing. My intention was for a bit of a somber mood reflecting my feelings on losing this bit of my past. I find that in sideshows with really upbeat music, the soundtrack sometimes detracts from the visual experience.

[@2011Maynard]

@@fmnut Not a criticism - you did well... Somber would have been a better choice of terms... Nice compilation

[@rdgk1se3019]

Most impressive, thank you for this video history lesson on the old Reading Co. "Hill Line".

[@douglasshreve9851]

I have never been to the Hill Line but I can tell you for a fact that if I was to go there on a quiet evening I could hear the trains are going through the hills just as I can hear the trains going through the hills on many abandon lines all through the Northeast, they are still there and will remain so as long as I believe in the iron horse.

[@jeffreymcfadden9403]

At 15:43 CR U23B 2776. 2776 was the last U23B delivered to PC. It was set up long hood forward. From order of PC 2750-2776. These locos spent a lot of time running trains from Columbus,Oh to Cincinnati and beyond. They were to be used in Southern interchange,,hence the long hood forward. Columbus was the only yard built new by PC. Columbus(Buckeye)was sold by NS 15 years ago. To visit Buckeye now, it is almost unrecognizable.

[@DaddysPoor65453]

Thanks for putting this together! Definitely a neat tidbit of history.

[@thepartyexpressdjs]

Thank you. I grew up in Temple and always hoped to see a train on the line but 1986 was too late. I remember my school bus in 1988 stopping at hay rd. I used to always look down the right of way!

[@suzannewilde6733]

I was born in 1952. At the time, my parents lived in the 700 block of Tuckerton Road in one of the "Cherokee Ranchers". My grandfather worked for the Reading Railroad and my father drove the trolley starting in 1946. He continued after they switched to buses. I am so glad some of the history has been preserved. Thank you so much. We later moved to Gibraltar and I could listen to the trains on the mainline going 24 hours a day. It was a busy line from Reading to Philly for freight and passenger.

[@djavidianmx1832]

Great history, photos and clips. Well chosen music too.

[@iusetano]

I enjoyed this history lesson. Excellent video.

[@TheWaveanalyst]

Awesome video! The music is a celebration of the sounds of the railroad -- great choice.

[@railbaron9]

Quite an effort, great presentation. Worthy of more thumbs than I can give. Thank you.

[@peterzacharias39]

"Wann es glee Haus verbei geht, iss die Train all." Danki fer die Gedechtnisse.

[@dschlegel75]

I saw the remnants of the line there, but never knew what it was. Excellent video as always!

[@suzannewilde6733]

The picture of the person in the car waiting at the crossing was me. My car got sideswiped by a drunk driver, We were living in Pricetown at the time. Wow! I was so lucky not to have been injured.

[@suzannewilde6733]

That picture is at 15:32. An orange car. If I caught the train at that crossing in Blandon, I would catch it again in Tuckerton.

[@tylersebring8045]

​@@suzannewilde6733that's very awesome your in video but I'm very sorry about the car I'm glad your alright tho I hope this photo brought back good memories of the railroad activity on this line

[@dschlegel75]

Great video as always! We were railfanning Temple yesterday, and were checking out some of the remains of the right of way thanks to this video. History in motion!

[@xfiles-thetruthisoutthere8038]

This video was put together very well. Enjoyed it very much. Nice work ! 👽

[@johnjablonski8483]

my aunt and uncle lived along the line,, i remember going to the edge of their yard during the summer cookouts to watch the freights rumble past, its been so long since i was out that way, i didnt know the line was gone :(

[@Hanksabutt]

This was really interesting to watch, I never knew about this route till this video was uploaded. The combination of the music and pictures/videos really makes you feel sad that its gone. Awesome stuff!

[@MrBsHiawathalandRails]

Lots of good history there. Loved it. Mr. B.

[@richgreene7043]

Very interesting. Thanks Rich

[@bobainsworth5057]

Great history.very well put together.

[@daniellaubsch1605]

Interesting history of the Hill Line from the Reading days operations thru Conrail.

[@timothyrearden3178]

Loved it. Tim

[@LeonardFShanerJR]

Ex. Reading engineer, the late John Funk was the engineer of the ill-fated quarry train. He told me the story about that, many years ago at RCT&HS than located at Leesport along the Blue Mountain and Reading (PRR) tracks.

[@fmnut]

John Funk was a Yardmaster, not an engineer. He was working the yard the morning it happened, not running the train.

[@LeonardFShanerJR]

@@fmnut, I'm only going on what John told me. If anyone should know is he should.

[@fmnut]

@@LeonardFShanerJR Well, I worked with John for over 30 years, and I just had lunch with him last week. Next time I see him I'll ask him about it. I'm sure you have your facts confused.

[@cheekymonkey444]

There was an Allentown crew on board. Francis Mulholland ( RIP) was the engineer.

[@emeraldsoundproductions]

Fantastic video but yet sad at the same time. I did see some then and now shots at the end. It would be great to do more of them now.

[@hartmutlorentzen9659]

Great video, Thanks from Germany

[@leodavis7524]

Great video 😊

[@timothyrearden3178]

Very nice to see the territory especially when Temple was profiled in the Reading Eagle. The extensive track diagram in the paper was nearly beyond comprehension. Certainly a different Era.

[@Darthsimpletext]

I feel sad for not being along the log grade since February 2020

[@davidvanschaick5565]

Good Stuff

[@elirosen1391]

Was the Hill Track considered the main line at the time before Conrail rerouted all trains via Temple?

[@fmnut]

It was not a "main line" in the sense of being a primary route since Reading days after the Blandon Low Grade was built. The clearance and speed restrictions in Reading city made it more efficient to route trains via the Low Grade, even if it meant holding opposing traffic on the double tracks of the East Penn and Reading Belt instead of using the Hill Track as a separate main. That's why conditions were allowed to deteriorate to the point that it was taken out of service. If the quarry collapse had not happened, it would have, like an old soldier, just faded away.

[@thetoycannon9813]

What exactly was the Readings "Hill Line" I've been through the Reading area but am not from the area..... where was its origin and end point?

[@fmnut]

As explained in the video, the "Hill Track" or "Old East Penn" ran from PIKE interlocking in the northeast section of Reading adjacent to Reading Yard, to Blandon, approximately 6.4 miles, passing through Northmont, Laureldale and Temple on the east side of Kutztown Road. It was the original main line from Reading to Allentown until the opening of the Blandon Low Grade in 1956.

[@Dorpmuller]

Very nice! Where can I download the music? Railfanned the E. Penn in the 80's but didn't know any of this history. Thanks a lot! 👍

[@fmnut]

Battlestar Galactica soundtracks seasons 1 thru 4.

[@fmnut]

Available on Amazon

[@tylersebring8045]

When the quarry collaspes did they manage to remove everything out?

[@fmnut]

All rolling stock was recovered. The rail and ties remain in the rubble.

[@johnjablonski553]

i didnt know that they had D&H trains run that line??? i did notice dirty PC units that barely made the run

[@fmnut]

Read the information panels, they explain everything.

[@trainnut2012]

I knew the Reading had 4-8-4's, big 2-8-0, and 2-10-2 but not mallets shame one was not saved

[@fakecumberland]

Kind of makes the case for having some redundancy in your network, I’d say.

[@fmnut]

Yes, that argument was used to try and keep the line in service after the Low grade was restored to no avail. Despite the fact that it was in fine condition, they tore it up. Conrail's doctrine at the time was to cut facilities down to bare minimum. They would rue that decision in later years when traffic doubled.

[@johnjablonski553]

when ever NS takes over a line the tracks get yanked up,, and not that im a NS hater but the truth hurts ... NS worst railroad ever!!!!

[@fmnut]

If you read the explanation paragraphs, you will find that this line was abandoned and torn up more than a decade before NS took over in this area. While I'm not the biggest NS fan, don't bash them for something that they had no part in. So your "truth" is untrue in this case. Also, you might want to be sure of your facts before you start typing.

[@daniellaubsch1605]

When Conrail was formed up here in central Pa conrail tore out repetitive rail lines such as the reading branch out of bloomsburg that crossed rt.42 just outside town north-eastward along fishing creek towards berwick way before the Agnes flood.

[@daniellaubsch1605]

Another rail line that was almost torn up was the Erie Lackawanna Bloomsburg branch but a regional rail operation bought the line from Northumberland to Berwick to save for the industry's who relied on service to major markets & railcars for them to pull supplies from then refill with finished products.

[@charlesdell2864]

Could of done without the hidious music, instead a narration would of done wonders for this video.

[@fmnut]

To each his own. For each person that dislikes the music there's another that thinks it's great. I don't do narrating because my voice isn't suitable.

[@fmnut]

And by the way, it's "could have" not "could of".

[@markdonato874]

@@fmnut The music was fine, went well with the video. Really enjoyed the video, great job!