Let's set the scene. With temperatures in the mid-to-high 90's, on a late June day, Reading & Northern 4-8-4 #2102 was set to do something it had only done one other time in it's long and illustrious career - travel up through the Lehigh Gorge to points northward, on what is now the railroad's Lehigh Division. Ever since the Reading & Northern Railroad restored her to operation a few years, ago, for the most part, she's been kept to the railroad's Reading Division mainline, between Reading, PA and Jim Thorpe, PA. However, in early 2024, it was announced that would change - as she would pull two Rambles from the railroad's new Nesquehoning, PA station and campus there, up the Lehigh Division and through the Lehigh Gorge. This first trip, held Saturday, June 22, 2024, ran to the town of Tunkhannock, northwest of Wilkes-Barre, and their Founder's Day event. With a 17-car train, the trip ran essentially flawlessly - there was one planned segment where two of the railroad's diesel locomotives would couple on and lead over a steep downhill segment (to add dynamic braking and control the speed of the heavy train). #2102 sounded amazing on the uphill portions of the trip, and everyone seemed to have a great time. So enjoy this look at The Tunkhannock Ramble: Reading & Northern 2102 on the Lehigh Division! (fonts in the video courtesy of Benn Coifman and www.railfonts.com)
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