Rail Mileage between Reading, Pa to Jim Thorpe, PA

Hi all
I am planning on riding the READING 2102 this coming year, when the Reading & Northern start there trips to Jim Thorpe, Pa.
So I am wondering what is the rail mileage between those two points. According to the Reading & Northern website, it is a 3.5 hour ride to Jim Thorpe, with one photo run by. I am looking forward to the trip,and to get behind the Reading 2102. as always Thank you in Advance, Pat.

Riding July 2.

Pat Fahey wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 10:22 am Hi all
I am planning on riding the READING 2102 this coming year, when the Reading & Northern start there trips to Jim Thorpe, Pa.
So I am wondering what is the rail mileage between those two points. According to the Reading & Northern website, it is a 3.5 hour ride to Jim Thorpe, with one photo run by. I am looking forward to the trip,and to get behind the Reading 2102. as always Thank you in Advance, Pat.

Noice. I rode the Budds on that trip, it is a nice route. Don't know the exact mileage, it's not the most direct route. At Port Clinton it follows the Little Schuylkill (not to be confused w/ the Big Schuylkill) north to Hometown where it then cuts west for about 4 miles to Park Crest. At Park Crest it forks, you will go right and hook a 180 north and east where you connect with the 19 mile line (believe it is a former CNJ line, someone please fact check me) through Nesquehoning and on to Jim Thorpe. This line runs slightly northwest.

NotYou wrote:where you connect with the 19 mile line (believe it is a former CNJ line, someone please fact check me) through Nesquehoning and on to Jim Thorpe. This line runs slightly northwest.

Correct, line over Hometown Viaduct and thru Nesquehoning is former CNJ

I found some old timetables with Reading and CNJ mileages (Reading owned the CNJ).
http://cprr.org/Museum/Books/I_ACCEPT_t ... e_1910.pdf
Look on page number 331 (as printed on the pages, not pdf page number) for the Reading RR Catawissa Branch:
Reading Station: MP 58.8, Tamaqua MP 98.3, Haucks MP 105.3, for difference =46.5 miles, from Reading to Haucks, although it's probably more like 43.5 from the new Reading Outer Station (north of Reading) that the Reading & Northern uses.

For the CNJ (Haucks to Mauch Chunk (now JIm Thorpe) they didn't have passenger service , so its not in the Official Guide for the CNJ (just before the Reading in the Official Guide.) Using Google maps I measure 17 miles.

So the trip total from Reading Outer Station to Jim Thorpe is ~ 43.5 + 17 = 60.5 miles. So for a 3-1/2 trip, that's ~17 mph.

*** Extra detail:
If you look on the CNJ pages, the CNJ coming west from Jim Thorpe (Mauch Chunk originally), initially on its Nesquehoning branch (now R&N) had passenger through service all the way to Tamaqua. See page 316. Mauch Chunk to Tamaqua = 15.5 miles according to that. Reading Outer Station to Tamaqua on the Reading is 36.5 miles. So that route would have been about 36.5 + 15.5 = 52 miles. Why the difference?

This latter CNJ route this went via Lansford and Coaldale (as noted in the Official Guide), meaning it left the Nesquehoning branch and took the old Lehigh and New England (or a predecessor??) direct to Tamaqua. That shortcut avoids the westward jog north of Tamaqua to East Mahanoy Jct. that the Reading (and modern R&N) take that NotYou mentions a few posts ago. The tracks from Lansford to Tamaqua are mostly still there, some of it was used occasionally for coal as of a few years ago at least. The tunnel north from Lansford to the ex-CNJ Nesquehoning branch was filled in, at least in the city of Lansdale [EDIT: should say "Lansford"], a few years ago: https://www.tnonline.com/20180918/lansf ... el-filled/ , although no trains have gone through it in ~100 years or so I would guess.

Actually, I just found on the R&N map that the Lansford to Tamaqua section (ex LNE) is also owned by R&N now. https://www.rbmnrr.com/system-maps
J.S.

I think the tunnel you want to refer to is the L&NE Hauto Tunnel, which was in use till 1969, not the Lansford tunnel, which was a LC&N operation, not a common carrier.

mackdave

Mackdave,

[EDIT: Mackdave, I get what you are talking about -- the tunnel in Lansford at Spring Garden and Paterson in the linked article is clearly not the 1871 tunnel - I just now read the article more carefully. Thank you.
Below is what I typed earlier today:]

thanks for the input. I wasn't very precise, mostly out of ignorance. I did some digging

I'm referring to the 1871-2 tunnel which was a joint venture between the CNJ and LCN, and LCN owned the Panther Creek RR from Lansford to Tamaqua (according to Wikipedia, which isn't always right). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panther_Creek_Railroad

Around when the tunnel was built, LC&N leased all its RR operations (as the LEhigh & Susquehanna) to the CNJ. So that is probably why CNJ had in its 1910 timetable a through train to Tamaqua (via the tunnel and the Panther Creek RR).
The L&NE got into the act a few years after 1910 reaching Tamaqua on its own route, coming east and then up from the south. By then the L&NE was controlled by the LCN (back in the RR business), and the L&NE got control of the Panther Creek RR, but maybe or maybe not formally the tunnel.

But I think we are talking about the same tunnel. See the Wikipedia link I gave - although Wikipedia isn't always right. I was clearly wrong about "no trains in 100 years" - it was in service until ~1969.
JS