Has it occurred to you guys that unless the business offered comes as 90 car unit trains, the railroads don't want it? All those onesie-twosie movements just clog up the system. 'Loose car' railroading requires yards to classify those cars, the same yards the major railroads are doing their darnedest to close.

As a Berks County resident, who lives ten minutes from the railroad, I guess that I have a little skin in the game here.

The line itself is owned by the county, and I believe managed by the Berks County Redevelopment Authority (BCRA).
https://www.co.berks.pa.us/Dept/BerksRA/Pages/default.aspx

Mr. Guest does a terrific job with grant writing and is personally responsible for making the railroad what it is today. But, since the county owns the line, it is my understanding that he can't directly apply for the grants for this project. I bet he could help the county write some grant applications though.

Speaking of grants, the feds just announced $1 billion in BUILD grant funding:
https://www.progressiverailroading.com/federal_legislation_regulation/news/USDOT-1-billion-in-BUILD-grant-funding-is-available--59771

As for freight traffic, there is a detailed plan from 2018 on the BCRA website here:
https://www.co.berks.pa.us/Dept/BerksRA/Documents/Ash%20Rail%20Study%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf
about their attempt to get dedicated incinerator landfill rail traffic. The numbers didn't look too good....

It is also known that they were courting Martin Quarry in Bechtelsville, but to get tracks to the quarry would require extending tracks where they aren't today, and crossing the Walmart entrance.

As for the $25M, I wonder if they have something else up their sleeve? I was doing a little research, and it looks like the county is buying up lots of properties surrounding the railroad in downtown Boyertown, through the development arm of "Berks County Redevelopment Authority"

https://www.readingeagle.com/living/home/berks-county-real-estate-transactions-for-january/article_a1f1767e-2dae-11ea-9a72-3f5b68dd55d7.html



If you look at all of those parcels on a map, you will see that they are all located adjacent to the railroad in downtown Boyertown.

It sort of looks as they are planning for some sort of major expansion....

Posted to Facebook today: https://www.facebook.com/colebrookdaler ... tn-str=k*F

Colebrookdale Railroad - The Secret Valley Line
1 hr ·

Many folks have asked about our winter schedule. We've not had any excursions since January due to an A.J. Blosenski Inc. truck hitting the Farmington Avenue bridge with such force that it dislodged the bridge from its foundation. A.J. Blosenski Inc.'s insurance company, National Interstate, still has not resolved the claim from the last time they hit the bridge NEARLY 8 MONTHS AGO and, though yesterday that insurance company promised to pay the claim from January, today they called to say they would not. We have reached out to A.J. Blosenski Inc. again directly in hopes of resolving this and getting the trains rolling again.

https://www.wfmz.com/video/trash-truck- ... 0b178.html

Your bridge reminds me of the Gregson St. Bridge in Durham NC, owned by the North Carolina RR and used by NS and Amtrak. It had been 11' 8" and had its own website (11foot8.com) showing trucks hitting it. Most were aluminum box trucks and it peeled the roofs off the trucks. NS raised the bridge 8 inches to 12' 4" and trucks still hit it.

Amtrak has a couple of similar bridges in Radnor Township PA on the former PRR Main Line. These have protection beams so the trucks hit the beam, not the bridge. Most of the trucks are aluminum and the protection beams peel the roofs off but a cement truck hit one and turned over. Those steel Blosenski trash compactors might be more like the cement truck.


Phil Mulligan

https://www.facebook.com/colebrookdaler ... 7045561774

"Update: We are now working with A.J. Blosenski Inc. and their insurance company, National Interstate Insurance Company to try to resolve both the June 2019 and January 2020 impacts to our Farmington Avenue bridge. Thank you to A.J. Blosenski Inc. for taking the lead on this matter. As promised, we will keep everyone updated on the repairs and the return of passenger service."

The power of social media! But someone commented "We'll see." which received a like from the railroad.

The bridge owner (Berks County?) should install protection beams to take the hits instead of the bridge itself. They should be set somewhat away from the bridge, like Gregson St. in Durham NC, to keep any impact away from the RR bridge.

Phil Mulligan

I hope the guys get their $$$, losing two potential customers over 286k cars hurts. $25mil really isn't that far off, a bridge can soak up money like a sponge soaks up water, and they've got plenty of bridges. I was involved with a truck vs bridge repair project recently and that was an expensive venture.

Sam

Nice to see that they know the bridge timbers need to be dapped. Ned

I’m curious to know if they got the $25 mil they had asked for, as it seems like a ton of projects are underway right now with RR improvements, ANOTHER new coach, etc on the railroad. Did anyone find out or hear whether they got the money?

Big Jim,
No, all of the improvements sought were for freight, as the original article from several months ago indicated. All of the improvements that you've been noticing were funded from purpose-designated grant monies and donations raised over the past few years that are finally being engaged. We are lucky to have raised those funds when we did as they are helping to keep people employed at a time when revenues from operations are insufficient to do so. Hope that helps and thank you for your interest.
Sincerely,
Nathaniel

I think it's important to state that Nathaniel Guest deserves a LOT of kudos for what he has done in 5 short years to turn an out of service, derelict branch into a thriving tourist short line with one of the most picturesque rides in the northeast.

He has also gotten the total buy-in of the two communities at each end of the 8 mile long line ( Pottstown and Boyerstown, Pa.) , obtained numerous grants that have funded equipment restorations, a new station building in Pottstown and other improvements.

A former practicing attorney he has devoted himself full time to this task with impressive results.

We need more Nathaniel Guests in railway preservation.

Ross Rowland

Yes we do ...