Just after 7 a.m. Sunday, train buffs started to line up to see something that hadn’t occurred in Pottsville in more than 30 years.
Rail Diesel Cars, similar to the kind of passenger trains that provided service from Pottsville to Philadelphia back then, were running and ready to carry passengers once again. This time it was for a Mother’s Day excursion to Jim Thorpe.
“The last time these kinds of trains carried passengers out of here was June 30, 1981. And I never thought I’d see the RDC’s in Pottsville again,” Tony Rice, Orwigsburg, who was there Sunday with his camera, said.
Two RDCs provided the transportation for the excursion Sunday — Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad RDC No. 9168, which was built in 1955, and the railroad’s RDC No. 9166, which was built in 1958, according to Matt Fisher, general manager at Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway Inc., Jim Thorpe.
“They were made by the Budd Company in Philadelphia and they’re very modern looking even though they’re, like, 50 or 60 years old,” Rice said.
Fisher said the railroad was pleased with the number of tickets sold for Sunday’s trip.
“We have about between 105 and 110,” Fisher said.
“I was here about 7 o’clock,” Ron Androshick, Pottsville, who was the first person in line to board, said. “I was the first guy who bought a ticket for this trip. I’m an ex-railroader and I love it. I just love trains. And I used to ride on trains like these down in D.C., when they were with the B&O. The B&O used to use these cars,” he continued.
“It’s absolutely incredible that they’re still in existence,” Butch Koch, a Tamaqua native now of Philadelphia, said.
“That’s true,” Androschick said.
“And I came up here for a nostalgic trip. I used to ride these back when this was a whole station here and everything,” Koch said of Union Station in Pottsville.
Also near the front of the line was Robin Houser, Pottsville. She said her boyfriend, Joe Leashefski, Minersville, bought her the ticket.
“It was a Mother’s Day present. I always wanted to ride one. And we got here about 10 of 8,” Houser said.
She said she was glad it wasn’t raining.
“I ordered the sun,” Leashefski said.
“We prayed all the way over that it wouldn’t rain,” said Deb Harrison, Shenandoah Heights, who was there with her husband, Ron.
“It will be a nice memory. It was his idea, but I liked it because it was going to Jim Thorpe. I could shop and go to dinner for Mother’s Day,” she said.
Showers overnight gave way to bright blue skies Sunday morning with sunshine and collections of big white clouds. Blasts from the train’s stacks added a touch of gray and its horns sent good vibrations through the train aficionados standing by.
Janine Choplick, Friedensburg, the humane officer with Hillside SPCA, was there with her husband, Dan.
“I thought it would be pretty cool to see how the rail runs all the way up to Jim Thorpe,” Dan said.
“We like trains,” Janine said.
Phillis Tarantino, Lake Wynonah, was there with her husband, Michael, their daughter, Michele Long, Schuylkill Haven, and friends John and Sheila Kotch, Schuylkill Haven.
“We’re taking here. But this was my dad’s idea. I think dad took a train like this down to Philly one time years ago,” Michele said.
“That was probably in 1980,” her father said.
“I remember I rode a train like this out of Schuylkill Haven,” John Kotch said.
City council member Joseph J. Devine Jr. was on board Sunday. He recalled when he rode a Budd car into Pottsville back in 1973.
“I came back from basic training in 1973 on a train like this. I was in the Air Force. I was coming back for Christmas and it was snowing,” Devine said.
Doris Kauffman, Pottsville, was also eager to climb on board.
“My daughter from Idaho sent me a gift. She sent me some money. So this is my Mother’s Day gift. I decided to go on this trip. I love Jim Thorpe and I love riding the train. I remember when I was 6 years old my mother used to put me on the train to go to Philadelphia. I used to have white gloves on and I was all dressed up. And she’d say, ‘Don’t talk to anybody’ and she’d tell the conductor to take care of me. His name was Ira. I can’t remember his last name. But he used to watch out for me. It’s too bad they don’t have more train transportation these days,” Kauffman said.
“All aboard!” shouted Fisher, who served as one of the train’s conductors.
The two Budd cars pulled out from Union Station at 9 a.m.
Andrew M. Muller Jr., the owner of the railroad, was the engine driver Sunday, and he was very pleased with the weather.
“It’s perfect, and the sales were pretty good for this trip. We have over 100, and it only holds 136,” Muller said.
He said the trains have a cruising speed of 40 mph.
When the trains stopped at the Schuylkill Haven station at 9:10 a.m., a group of folks were waiting for it. It included Helen Liberato, Lake Wynonah, and her children, Sal Liberato, Bethel, and Lynne Wootten, Lake Wynonah.
“I read about this in the newspaper and said, ‘This looks good,’ ” Helen said.
“She ripped out the whole page of the paper and handed it to us,” Lynne said.
“I thought it would be a good idea. I grew up in Pottsville and I rode trains like this to Philly and Reading to shop,” Helen said.
Excursions from Union Station featuring these cars have also been scheduled on the following dates: May 28, June 18, July 10, Aug. 13 and Aug. 28.
These excursions will leave Union Station at 9 a.m. each day, travel to Jim Thorpe, depart Jim Thorpe Station at 3:30 p.m. and arrive back at Union Station at 6 p.m. Tickets for riders are $39 each, according to Fisher.
These excursions will make stops at Schuylkill Haven Station, departing from there at 9:15 a.m. and returning at 5:45 p.m. Tickets for riders leaving and returning to Schuylkill Haven Station will be $37 each, according to Fisher.
These excursions will also make stops at Tamaqua Station, departing from there at 10:15 a.m. and returning at 4:45 p.m. Tickets for riders leaving and returning to Tamaqua Station will be $24 each, according to Fisher.
Three other excursions have been scheduled featuring these RDC cars. They’re trips to the North Reading Yard and they will be held on June 11, July 30 and Sept. 10.
These excursions will leave Pottsville’s Union Station at 9 a.m. each day and return at 1:30 p.m. Tickets for riders will be $25 each, according to Fisher.
These excursions will make stops at Schuylkill Haven Station, departing from there at 9:15 a.m. and returning at 1 p.m. Tickets for riders leaving and returning to Schuylkill Haven Station will be $24 each, according to Fisher.
For more information and tickets, call the railroad at 610-562-2102.