Uploaded October 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Virginian Heritage Unit makes a couple appearances on the Norfolk Southern Harrisburg Line in October 2014. First, the NS 1069 leads 24Z eastbound through Lebanon. The following day, the power was spun to lead 21M west. I had not originally planned to chase this train, but because it kept stopping I was able to catch it three times, including meeting another train at one of the locations.
10/09/14
0:00 - 24Z heads east through downtown Lebanon as church bells sound in the distance, while the K5LLA horn blasting through the crossings quickly overtakes their melody. (Sorry for the wind blowing the camera around in the opening shot).
10/10/14
3:15 - 21M heads west through DORF interlocking, seen from atop slag and waste piles where the North American Refractories Brick Plant once stood in Newmanstown. These piles offer a great vantage point over a mile and a half to the east. NS 1069 approaches the Brick Plant Road crossing, with the horn echoing through the valley and off of the nearby hills.
5:30 - 21M gets going after a pause at PRESCOTT, passing the mill and chemical plant at Avon while a heavy 10N manifest train heads east on the other track.
9:30 - 21M once again gets held up because of excessive traffic ahead. It is rare for 21M to make one stop, let alone a couple, but since it was already late in the day it kept encountering delays. Finally, back on the move, 21M passes through Hershey. As the end of train moves away from the camera, the sad sight of the remnants of where the original Hershey Chocolate factory once stood become visible. The camera focuses on the generator house and remaining smoke stacks, which have towered over the "sweetest place on earth" for over 100 years. This too, will probably be gutted and left as a shell, but will thankfully be left standing.
The Virginian Heritage Unit makes a couple appearances on the Norfolk Southern Harrisburg Line in October 2014. First, the NS 1069 leads 24Z eastbound through Lebanon. The following day, the power was spun to lead 21M west. I had not originally planned to chase this train, but because it kept stopping I was able to catch it three times, including meeting another train at one of the locations.
10/09/14
0:00 - 24Z heads east through downtown Lebanon as church bells sound in the distance, while the K5LLA horn blasting through the crossings quickly overtakes their melody. (Sorry for the wind blowing the camera around in the opening shot).
10/10/14
3:15 - 21M heads west through DORF interlocking, seen from atop slag and waste piles where the North American Refractories Brick Plant once stood in Newmanstown. These piles offer a great vantage point over a mile and a half to the east. NS 1069 approaches the Brick Plant Road crossing, with the horn echoing through the valley and off of the nearby hills.
5:30 - 21M gets going after a pause at PRESCOTT, passing the mill and chemical plant at Avon while a heavy 10N manifest train heads east on the other track.
9:30 - 21M once again gets held up because of excessive traffic ahead. It is rare for 21M to make one stop, let alone a couple, but since it was already late in the day it kept encountering delays. Finally, back on the move, 21M passes through Hershey. As the end of train moves away from the camera, the sad sight of the remnants of where the original Hershey Chocolate factory once stood become visible. The camera focuses on the generator house and remaining smoke stacks, which have towered over the "sweetest place on earth" for over 100 years. This too, will probably be gutted and left as a shell, but will thankfully be left standing.
![Reading & Northern Freight Extra South [4K]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gX_TnjQiSG8/mqdefault.jpg "Reading & Northern Freight Extra South [4K]
On October 14, 2018 after the 425 excursion, Reading & Northern train JTEX departs Jim Thorpe with red GP39RNs 2534 & 2535 and 5 Cyro-Trans box cars. The red GPs are primarily used as power for the Lehigh Scenic Railway, but with the weekend coming to a close, the locomotives were swiped for this extra move to North Reading. Train and location information and video timestamps are listed below.
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0:00 - Starting at Quakake, MP15DC 1543 idles away, to be picked up en route.
1:15 - While JTEX picked up the switcher, I relocated down the road to East Mahanoy Junction (EMX) to catch the train rounding the curve with the M&S branch in the foreground (Mahanoy & Shamokin).
1:50 - After making a pickup in Tamaqua, JTEX proceeds south at Millers Crossing in Molino, passing a field of soybeans at track speed.
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