Reading & Northern head: Wilkes-Barre lot would house passenger platform train station if rail purchase proceeds

A downtown Wilkes-Barre lot Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad Co. recently purchased will become a passenger platform station for train excursions if the company succeeds in acquiring Luzerne County’s rail line, said company Chairman and CEO Andy M. Muller Jr.

Muller said his company would invest at least $2 million of its private funds to upgrade the 8-mile rail line between Pittston and Hazleton to accommodate 30-mile-per-hour passenger trips.

This would allow those boarding at Wilkes-Barre to travel to Reading & Northern’s Pittston station and then to historic Jim Thorpe, he said.

Eventually, trips could go both ways, with residents of Jim Thorpe and other southern points traveling to Wilkes-Barre for events and other packaged tourist options, Muller said.

Reading & Northern already runs excursions from the Jim Thorpe area to Pittston’s annual Tomato Festival, which brings 600 to 800 additional visitors to the Pittston event, Muller said.

Muller said he is confident the project, paid solely with private funds, would be a major boost for Wilkes-Barre.

“There’s just no downside to it,” he said earlier this week while visiting the passenger station Reading & Northern constructed for excursions at 718 N. Main St. in Pittston.

Sale potential

For an acquisition to occur, the rail line must be publicly bid to ensure any interested companies have an opportunity to submit offers.

That has not occurred because the current owner — the county redevelopment authority — has advocated keeping the railroad under public ownership.

However, the county has a claim on the railroad because the authority still owes the county $3.28 million for the original acquisition of the line. Prior commissioners had loaned the authority funds in 2001 so the authority would not default on its mortgage and risk losing infrastructure that services businesses.

Letters show the county wants the authority to turn over the railroad so it can be sold to recoup the $3.28 million. While a delinquent loan was stated as a reason, it appears to be part of a broader push to put the track into private ownership, with the hope that it would add passenger rail service while retaining and building commercial use.

A council majority had voted in May to proceed with legal action against the redevelopment authority over the outstanding debt and oversight of the rail property, and the resulting civil suit was filed last month in the county Court of Common Pleas.

If the county ends up assuming ownership of the line, Luzerne County Council would have to approve any sale following a public bidding process.

While passenger excursions are of interest to many, Muller said Reading & Northern has proven success maintaining and building commercial use of its railroad and would do the same for the county line.

“We’re hoping that the Wilkes-Barre railroad comes up for a bid, that they would take numerous offers and that Reading & Northern would be successful in acquiring it,” Muller said.

City advocates

Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown said he supports the excursion concept proposed by Reading & Northern.

“The possibilities are endless for how the city of Wilkes-Barre could benefit from this,” Brown said.

He believes many Wilkes-Barre area residents would take advantage of the opportunity to ride the train to Jim Thorpe, which he described as a “wonderful place to go, especially in the holiday season.”

Brown also envisions Jim Thorpe area residents coming to Wilkes-Barre for annual parades, the Fine Arts Fiesta and other events.

One example of a future draw would be the city’s free summer concert on Public Square, the mayor said. John Oates, of Hall & Oates, is this year’s performer on Aug. 23, and the prior acts were Guess Who in 2023 and Starship featuring Mickey Thomas in 2024.

With another downtown hotel in the works and “so many great restaurants,” Brown believes the city will someday have the potential to attract train visitors for overnight stays.

Brown said he is also close friends with Pittston Mayor Michael Lombardo, and they “embrace each other’s activities” and are “always looking for ways to do things between the two cities.”

“Who knows what could happen?” Brown said.

Muller said he was “pleasantly surprised” when he visited Wilkes-Barre.

The vacant 0.68-acre Wilkes-Barre lot his company purchased is along the county rail line and across from the historic former train station that houses the county tourism office. The Reading & Northern parcel is between the Market Street Business Center commercial strip center and a Starbucks currently under construction in the complex, which is framed by Wilkes-Barre Boulevard and Northampton and Market streets.

Although passenger excursions would initially only be leaving Wilkes-Barre, Muller said the plan would also be to make the city a destination for incoming train arrivals.

Coordinated tourist activities would be necessary to ensure visitors from Jim Thorpe and even the Reading leg of Reading & Northern’s line had something to do when they got off trains in Wilkes-Barre, he said.

“That will take time,” Muller said. “We believe we can really help with that.”

Muller said it is “hard to compete” with Jim Thorpe because its draw as a tourist destination has skyrocketed, but he noted its popularity came after decades of work to build tourism there — a strategy that could be replicated here.

Pittston Mayor Michael Lombardo said Muller has “been a great partner already” in providing excursions from Pittston to Jim Thorpe and bringing southern passengers to the Tomato Festival.

“When Andy tells you he’s going to do something, he does it — and then some,” Lombardo said. “It’s been a great opportunity for us. I have nothing but positive things to say about the Reading & Northern operation.”

In addition to constructing the Wilkes-Barre passenger platform station, Reading & Northern would build one in Pittston’s downtown as part of the proposal to acquire the line, Muller said. Currently, Lombardo arranged for buses to bring arriving passengers from the station in the city outskirts to the Tomato Festival.

Lombardo said he and Brown have been brainstorming ideas if a Reading & Northern purchase becomes a reality, such as Christmas excursions with Santa Clause between Wilkes-Barre and Pittston. Increased recreational use of the Susquehanna River, such as river boat cruises popular in Williamsport, could also bring visitors from outside the area, he said.

He believes private ownership of the rail line would be best.

“I’m not telling the county what to do or overstep my bounds, but if it were me, I would not want a government to be in the railroad business,” Lombardo said.

Train lover

Muller’s passion with trains started when his mother bought him wooden toy ones as a child.

“I eat, sleep and breathe trains. This is what I do,” he said. “I love seeing the passengers getting off the train. They’re happy. It’s just so much fun.”

Matt Fisher, senior vice president and general manager of Reading & Northern’s passenger department, said the passenger excursions are appealing to all ages.

“It’s a great family-friendly thing to do,” he said.

Headquartered in Port Clinton, Reading & Northern is a privately held railroad company serving more than 80 customers in nine eastern Pennsylvania counties — Berks, Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Northumberland, Schuylkill and Wyoming.

Reading & Northern expanded its operations over the last 40 years and now handles nearly 40,000 carloads of freight, while its passenger department handles more than 300,000 riders annually, its releases say.