Colebrookdale Railroad
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| File:Colebrookdale Railroad dining car.jpg
Dining car
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| Locale | Boyertown to Pottstown, Pennsylvania |
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| Dates of operation | 2014– |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 8.6 miles |
| Headquarters | Boyertown, Pennsylvania |
| Website | http://www.colebrookdalerailroad.com/ |
The Colebrookdale Railroad, also known as the Secret Valley Line, is a tourist railroad located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The railroad operates between Boyertown in Berks County and Pottstown in Montgomery County.
Operations
The Colebrookdale Railroad operates a variety of excursions originating out of Boyertown. The trains operated include a fall foliage train, Haunted History train, Santa Claus train, Valentine's Day train, Easter Bunny Express, Wine Tasting and Cheese Train, and Mother's Day and Father's Day trains.[1] The railroad also allows groups to charter the entire train or to rent the caboose for birthday parties.[2]
History
The Colebrookdale Railroad started building the railroad line between Boyertown and Pottstown in 1865 and trains started running in 1869. The Colebrookdale Railroad was leased by the Reading Railroad who operated the line until 1976, when it became a part of Conrail. Conrail planned to abandon the line, but the state of Pennsylvania acquired the line and hired operators. In March 2001, Berks County acquired the line for $155,000 to keep it active.[3] The Colebrookdale Spur was abandoned by the East Penn Railroad in 2008.[4][5] The Berks County Redevelopment Authority reactivated the line,[6] with the Eastern Berks Gateway Railroad appointed to operate the line beginning in October 2010.[7] The company is working on developing freight traffic on the line. In 2011, a tourist railroad was proposed to operate on the line.[8] Tourist passenger operations began in early October 2014 with a series of "soft" trips, intended to work out any operational issues before the full and widely advertised grand opening on October 18. The Colebrookdale Railroad began regular tourist service on October 18, 2014.[9]
Project #5002
The railroad is currently restoring a USATC S100 class 0-6-0 tank engine #5002, built by H.K. Porter Company in Pittsburgh, PA. Unlike her brothers and sisters that were settled over seas, #5002 was used for the Naval Yards in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1948, she was bought by the EJ Lavino Corporation, and she was used until the company diezelized. #5002 was then briefly used on the Tombstone Junction Railroad with her sibling, #5003, and was the last time she ran. After the Tombstone Junction Railroad, #5002 was put on display at the Kentucky Railroad Museum. #5003's location right now is unknown. In 2014, a group was created to restore the little switcher, and in September of 2015, the veteran was back on her home rails, and will operate when the restoration is complete.
References
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
http://steamengineresource.weebly.com/locomotives-being-restored.html http://project-02.weebly.com/
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