Reading & Northern looking at passenger excursions from W-B to Jim Thorpe

William O'Boyle, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·2 min read

May 10—WILKES-BARRE — It may take a few years, but passenger rail service between Wilkes-Barre and Jim Thorpe is definitely on the horizon.

According to Matt Fisher, general manager/passenger department with Reading & Northern Railroad, owner Andy Muller plans to spend $4 million to $5 million to upgrade the 19.5-mile line he is purchasing from Carbon County, with the goal of raising track speed from the current 25 mph limit to 40 mph.

The Lehighton Times-News reports that Muller told the county's board of commissioners that crews will install 70,000 feet of rail and will also improve pedestrian crossings in the town of Jim Thorpe.

Key to the project is that Muller is also looking to begin weekend passenger excursions from Wilkes-Barre to Jim Thorpe — using cars he recently purchased from a bankruptcy sale for former Iowa Pacific equipment in Colorado, Fisher confirmed.

Fisher said the railroad's long-term plan involves plans to build something in the Pittston/Wilkes-Barre area, through White Haven to Jim Thorpe.

"This will take a few years," Fisher said. "But we want to establish that service."

Fisher said Muller recently purchased five passenger cars cars from a bankruptcy sale for former Iowa Pacific equipment in Colorado.

"We will probably purchase several more," Fisher said. "We are looking to expand our business into the Wyoming Valley area. Many people from up there do make the drive down to Jim Thorpe to take our excursions."

Reading & Northern Railroad, with its corporate headquarters in Port Clinton, is a privately held railroad company serving more than 70 customers in nine eastern Pennsylvania counties (Berks, Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Northumberland, Schuylkill and Wyoming).

It has expanded its operations over the last 30-plus years and now handles well over 34,000 carloads of freight and 91,000 excursion train riders over 400 miles of track.

Reading and Northern operates both freight services and steam and diesel-powered excursion passenger services, owns almost 1,300 freight cars, and employs nearly 300 dedicated employees.

Reading & Northern has repeatedly been honored as one of the premier railroads in the nation, including being named Regional Railroad of the Year in 2020 by Railway Age Magazine.