Christina Muller Levan, Reading & Northern executive vice president-strategic planning, did the honors of cutting the ribbon for the inaugural Pittston to Jim Thorpe excursion on Saturday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
This open-air car was one of those used on Saturday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
This is the interior of a dining car.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
This parlor car also was used on Saturday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Andy Muller, owner of the Reading & Northern Railroad, stands over his wife Carol, right, and daughter Christina Muller-Levan in one of the parlor cars.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
State Rep. Aaron Kaufer, along with his wife Annie, traveled to Jim Thorpe from Pittston on the inaugural excursion.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
All aboard! Chuck Yarmey aids his wife, Melissa, up the steps to take their place in one of the Reading & Northern’s passenger cars.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Reading & Northern owner Andy Muller acknowledges his wife Carol to the crowd with U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright to his left.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Christina Muller Levan, Reading & Northern executive vice president-strategic planning, is shown donating a check for $10,000 to the Downtown Pittston Partnership on behalf of Reading & Northern to City of Pittston Mayor Michael Lombardo.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Matt Fisher, General Manager of the Reading & Northern’s passenger department, addresses passengers and dignitaries prior to the ribbon cutting ceremony. Christina Muller-Levan, Reading & Northern executive vice president-strategic planning and daughter of rail line owners Andy and Carol Muller, stands next to Fisher.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Nearly 800 people lined the platform for the inaugural ride from Pittston to Jim Thorpe on Saturday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
It was like one big Luzerne County party.
A veritable who’s who of local folks were among an estimated 800 travelers who took to the rails on Saturday for the historic debut of Reading & Northern Railroad passenger train excursions between Pittston and Jim Thorpe.
There were Mayors. Legislators. Business leaders. Public safety officials. Media. And, yes, throngs of curious tourists took in lush mountain scenery from gently rollicking train cars before enjoying a four-hour layover in the picturesque Carbon County borough known for its quaint shopping district.
Passengers departed from the railroad’s brand new station platform at its yard on North Main Street in Pittston after a ceremony that included a ribbon-cutting, speeches, and music by the Wyoming Area band.
The ceremony also saw the railroad donate a check for $10,000 to the Downtown Pittston Partnership, which was accepted by Mayor Mike Lombardo.
“We’re really excited to be able to see this come to fruition,” Lombardo said Saturday morning before boarding the first train. “You can see they really made a siginificant investment here in this section of the city, and it’s a great celebration of our past and a movement into the future.”
That first train was one for the ages in its own right: About 18 cars carried the happy travelers, including standard and “Crown Class” coaches, dining cars, a plush parlor car, and an open-air car from which many snapped photos along the route.
Also snapping photos were railfans up and down the line between Pittston and Jim Thorpe. Aside from the historic nature of the trip, many were eager to see the shiny black, white and red 1950s ‘F-Unit” diesels that led the train.
The 120-mile round-trip traverses two tunnels, numerous bridges, and the entire Lehigh Gorge State Park.
The Port Clinton-based Reading & Northern is a busy freight railroad that handles over 34,000 carloads of goods each year, but its passenger excursion business is substantial and growing, as the new Pittston trips show.
Already, 250,000 excursion riders are carried annually. Most of the railroad’s day trips have focused on their line between Reading, Port Clinton, Tamaqua and Jim Thorpe, although special excursions are occasionally run elsewhere along the railroad’s 400 miles of track, including Pottsville, Schuylkill Haven and Tunkhannock.
Regular weekend excursions from Pittston will continue through Sept. 24, though the railroad already is booked well into the summer. For tickets and more information, visit www.rbmnrr-passenger.com.
U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, was not aboard but did participate in the ceremonies prior to departure.
“This is a great day. I’m happy to have arranged for nice weather — you can thank the federal government for that,” Cartwright quipped.
“But seriously, 800 people lined up here to go on an historic excursion,” Cartwright said. “I credit the Muller family for putting it together. A lot of hard work went into this.”
Andy Muller, owner of the Reading & Northern Railroad, together with wife Carol and daughter Christina Muller-Levan were of course among those participating in the day’s events.
Hours later, as the sun had begun to sink in the sky and homeward-bound crowds reflected on the day, Andy Muller sat at the rear of the open-air car watching the rails recede behind the train as it rumbled northward.
“This is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” he said. “Once we announced we were doing this, Mayor Lombardo was on board immediately and was very supportive.”
Muller said that he enjoyed meeting so many people during the day, and that people recognized the hard work that went into the new excursions, and compared the quick sell-out of tickets for the inaugural day to “a rock concert.”
“It’s very exciting. There are so many happy people,” Muller said, looking around the car. “If you don’t like this, I don’t know what you like.”
