Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern, Part 4

Conrail was again divesting themselves of trackage and operations in 1992. Much of this was in the coal regions through Conrail’s ongoing consolidation program. The Reading & Northern acquired trackage from Conrail near Hazleton to serve the Jeddo Coal Company and purchased trackage from East Mahanoy Junction to Oneida and the line to Delano from Schuylkill County. This would allow the bulk of remaining rail shipments of Anthracite coal to be funneled through Reading.

The Reading & Northern would handle the acquisition and blending of Anthracite coal from different companies in the coal regions and transfer it to Conrail in North Reading. Conrail would then deliver the blended coal to port in Baltimore for export.

During this time, the R&N also acquired GE U23B locomotives from Conrail to handle the increased traffic and replace a few of the aging locomotives on the roster. In Volume 4, we’ll see the qualifying run on the newly acquired line from East Mahanoy Junction to Delano and the acquisition of the freshly painted U23B locomotives from Conrail.