East Penn Railroad's GE B23-7 No. 3153 sits idle along the former Reading Company mainline in Quakertown, PA. Facing north, by the former Reading freight house, the tracks ahead once led to Allentown, PA, but today come to an abrupt end about 2 miles ahead. To the south, the East Penn runs freight trains as far as Telford, PA to interchange with New Hope's Pennsylvania Northeastern which in turn interchanges with CSX at Lansdale.
To the right is the former Reading Company's Quakertown Station cnstructed in 1902. The station served passengers for more than 80 years. In 1974 the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) assumed operation of all remaining Reading Co. passenger operations, including its tracks and stations. The station had passenger rail service along the Bethlehem Line to both Bethlehem and Philadelphia until July 27, 1981, when SEPTA ended service on all its intercity diesel-powered lines. Today, SEPTA still owns the line and leases it to the East Penn Railroad.
A continuously growing album of photos that IMHO reveal the awesome and seldom-seen beauty of the railroad world from the dimming of day to dawn's early light! From dusk to dawn, trains roll on! (I'm still finding gems of sunset-to-sunrise surprises!)
