Steven Saine Railfan Productions | CNJ #113: Minersville Santa Trains 12-9-2023 @stevensainerailfanproductions | Uploaded December 2023 | Updated October 2024, 5 hours ago.
CNJ #113: Minersville Santa Trains 12-9-2023.
We're back in the state of Pennsylvania to cross another locomotive off our bucket list. We are once again on the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern, although not in the town of Reading or Jim Thorpe. We venture up to the town of Minersville for the R&N's Santa Trains. While the other Santa Trains are most of the time powered by one of the railroad's many diesel locomotives, Minersville is always an exception. For the Minersville trips, the railroad operates privately owned 0-6-0 CNJ steam locomotive #113. While we have seen R&N's #425 and #2102, we've never seen 113.
113 was built in 1923 by the American Locomotive Company as one of five B-7 0-6-0 type steam locomotives for the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ). One interesting fact about the 113 is it and her four sisters were built with a "Wootten" firebox which meant they were specifically designed to burn "anthracite" coal instead of the commonly used "bituminous" coal. For three decades, 113 would operate solely as a yard switcher for the CNJ across many of the railroad's yards. 113 also holds the distinction of being the last steam locomotive operated by the CNJ. It was sold to the Philidelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co. in 1953 and ran there until 1960. 113 sat in storage for many years at Locust Summit until the P&R donated the locomotive to the Historic Red Clay Valley Inc. in 1980. In 1986 the locomotive was purchased by Robert E. Kimmel Sr. and was moved to Minersville Pennsylvania. Restoration work finally began in 1999. After countless volunteer hours, $600,000, no heavy machinery, and very little protection from the elements, the locomotive was finished in 2012. Today, 113 runs on the Reading & Northern out of Minersville for special events. We decided to visit during the R&N's Santa Trains.
*2023 marks the 113's 100th Anniversary, so we definitely wanted to see her.
*While 113 normally wears a step-top 3 chime whistle, we caught her with a guest whistle. She wore a Southern Pacific 6 chime whistle. It sounded beautiful.
Enjoy the sights and sounds of the 113 on the R&N's only steam powered Santa Trains for 2023.
CNJ #113: Minersville Santa Trains 12-9-2023.
We're back in the state of Pennsylvania to cross another locomotive off our bucket list. We are once again on the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern, although not in the town of Reading or Jim Thorpe. We venture up to the town of Minersville for the R&N's Santa Trains. While the other Santa Trains are most of the time powered by one of the railroad's many diesel locomotives, Minersville is always an exception. For the Minersville trips, the railroad operates privately owned 0-6-0 CNJ steam locomotive #113. While we have seen R&N's #425 and #2102, we've never seen 113.
113 was built in 1923 by the American Locomotive Company as one of five B-7 0-6-0 type steam locomotives for the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ). One interesting fact about the 113 is it and her four sisters were built with a "Wootten" firebox which meant they were specifically designed to burn "anthracite" coal instead of the commonly used "bituminous" coal. For three decades, 113 would operate solely as a yard switcher for the CNJ across many of the railroad's yards. 113 also holds the distinction of being the last steam locomotive operated by the CNJ. It was sold to the Philidelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co. in 1953 and ran there until 1960. 113 sat in storage for many years at Locust Summit until the P&R donated the locomotive to the Historic Red Clay Valley Inc. in 1980. In 1986 the locomotive was purchased by Robert E. Kimmel Sr. and was moved to Minersville Pennsylvania. Restoration work finally began in 1999. After countless volunteer hours, $600,000, no heavy machinery, and very little protection from the elements, the locomotive was finished in 2012. Today, 113 runs on the Reading & Northern out of Minersville for special events. We decided to visit during the R&N's Santa Trains.
*2023 marks the 113's 100th Anniversary, so we definitely wanted to see her.
*While 113 normally wears a step-top 3 chime whistle, we caught her with a guest whistle. She wore a Southern Pacific 6 chime whistle. It sounded beautiful.
Enjoy the sights and sounds of the 113 on the R&N's only steam powered Santa Trains for 2023.
