I attended yesterday because it was something I just couldn’t miss. I filled up a good bit of my bingo board but I didn’t get a bingo. Maybe it’s because I kind of avoided Jim Thorpe? But anyways, the crowd seemed really friendly except for maybe 1 or 2 guys, The photo line at Millers Crossing was incredible and I really didn’t see anybody put their life ‘at risk’ for a shot but maybe it’s because of where I decided to film. Overall, it was a pretty great experience and I absolutely loved it. Yeah there’s gonna be people bashing other railfans because it was a huge event with at least 300+ people chasing it and yes some of those guys decided to climb into a hopper car. But I was just absolutely blown away by the amount of courtesy each photographer had and the professionalism of the RBMN.

I think it was well worth the 10 hour drive from Michigan and I will be making a return to the RBMN hopefully in the near future. Almost everybody I talked to was very kind and helpful to one another and the RBMN was very laid back letting railfans take photos and watch.

That bingo card is fun but the pokes at autism kind of rub me the wrong way. That is a developmental disorder and even those who are highly functioning face a lot of challenges from it. It’s a known fact that A LOT of railfans are on the autistic spectrum. A lot of volunteers, donors and and ticket holders are also on the autistic spectrum. I’m sure I’m reading too much into it, but let’s not offend some of our most enthusiastic supporters.

Yeah, a lot of us work hard to keep the traits tamped down so they can function , and this Is how we let them out. not everyone on spectrum are train hating agoraphobic trolls who use it as an excuse to be an asset.
I give rbmn police credit, they are aware that railfans are their "eyes on the street", and know how to deal with the more enthusiastic ones.

That said, I'm surprised there weren't car accidents.

I find the autism references to be not funny.

Wesley

Here's the "way to early" question - will they do another doubleheader for the Sept. 3rd trip?

To be fair, I find most of what was referenced on that "Bingo board" "not funny" but still damned precisely on point. In an eye-rolling way. (At least no one mentioned a specific name or three.....)

I remember, among other things:
*The "last run weekend" of the old Sierra RR in 1979 being marred by two car accidents and one photographer struck by a car;
*A personal friend who was struck by a car and killed during a train chase (the driver was distracted by the train, and my friend was careless--and THAT is why I wear a hi-viz vest at these events, NOT as some attempt to blend in with railroaders like I see some young folks do);
*The two-mile-long queue of chasers trying to overtake 1361 on the Nittany & Bald Eagle in 1987 (and my beating them to Milesburg by finding a dirt road over a mountain ridge and zooming up the other valley and back up from Bellefonte!);
*The fact that every two weeks or so, I'm getting releases/announcements from major RR museums about "special events" for people with "heightened sensibilities" featuring reduced lighting, reduced noise, reduced visitation, and other lowered "stimulatory experiences," the announcements all deftly avoid any of the "offensive" terms that are the obvious audiences for these events;
*A video producer friend of mine that should have been in attendance this weekend, but told me "I can handle just about any other bunch of fans, but the Reading & Northern foamers are a special class of crazy and antisocial...."
*My recent experiences at "train shows" which I won't bore you with specific examples....

Having said all that, decades ago I was the one that benefited from older fans who gave me tips at the start of a day's chase, said stuff like "just stay on my bumper...." or "Skip the three overpasses and two crossings that look good, and just drive until you see a hundred cars on the shoulder of the Interstate, and join the mob!" And decades later, I got to "pass the torch" to younger fans the same way by being the designated driver for a carload of fans that didn't know the routes.....

Hit too close to home, eh

There are a lot of people obsessed with trains who are on the spectrum, myself included. I bet I drove my elementary teachers wild with it. I spent over a decade in the industry and had many pleasant and several not so pleasant interactions with various individuals on the spectrum

I rode the trip and spent most of the time in the second open window coach from the head end. The trip was very well organized and executed and the 425 & 2102 ran perfectly to the delight of the 1,000 or so passengers aboard the sold out 20 car train and the thousands along the line who stood trackside and cheered us on.

On the 1.5% grades in both directions the 2 engines put on a spectacular show well worth the price of admission.

The weather was perfect and from what I could observe from the train the chasers seemed to be behaving.

All in all a great steam show and again many thanks to Andy Muller & his R&N steam team for all they do to keep the steam flame burning brightly.

Ross Rowland

Here are two of the better YT-videos:

https://youtu.be/VjiLiBQumac
https://youtu.be/IaQ7Vjeh9aA

One great scene IMHO:

https://youtu.be/VjiLiBQumac?t=1452

From min 26.37 you can see Ross leaning out of the window giving instructions to the loco crews ;-)



Mike

That cellphone that kid has a tripod might just have a better camera/microphone/built in software handling of the light and sound than your favorite, expensive rig if it is more than a year old. :-)

No matter, the video on youtube taken with a cell phone on a tripod beats one not on a tripod!

When my 19-year old and I chased the break in run a few months ago we were unable to get up close the locomotives in Reading. This time the locomotives were available. I think he was more interested in 425 than 2102. Neither one of us could identify a regular "clicking" noise that was coming from 425. I asked him to observe the crowd.

As we drove across the PA countryside to our stake out locations, we chatted about what we had seen. We figured we saw people ages eight to 75. There were many young people. Both cabs had young guys in them. Nice crowds at the locations we stopped. We didn't see any conflicts, just people out having a great time.

Two mainline steamers, 900+ people on the train, open window cars, dome cars, perfect weather, beautiful countryside - an amazing bounty of corn, soybeans, wheat and diary - even a group of people on the last platform car that could be out of a John Prophet film from 1940.

Thank you Andy and all those hard workers at R&N.

And it was good to see former LV Black Diamond in service again. I had the chance to be in it on Amtrak when I was an LSA. Very nice car then, as I'm sure it is once again. The owner back in the '80s was really nice, especially to the Amtrak people, since he might occasionally need a bag of ice from the lounge or similar. I can't remember his name, but I certainly would recognize it. Charles Kuralt did an On The Road story about him and the car in the early '80s.

The R&N steam crews don't need any instructions from me as they're totally competent and know how to get all there is to get out of those 2 beautiful machines.

I too was delighted to see how many young people there were both on the train and track side. Looks like we'll have many willing to carry the torch into the future.

All in all it was a great show.

Ross Rowland

Keep cool, I was just kidding..;-)

Mike

I managed to grab a nice photo of Ross in the cab of 425, sadly I crawled back to the car for water before I was able to meet him.

I believe the reason they did the doubleheader this weekend was because it was Andy Muller's 75th birthday. So I wouldn't hold my breath for one on September 3rd. Not saying it couldn't happen, but don't be surprised if it wasn't.