Port Clinton, Pa.-Based Railroad Powers Up Its Locomotive Fleet

Reading Eagle (PA), 04/21/2002
By Tony Lucia

Apr. 21--To say the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad is operating under a full head of steam would be an understatement.
(Note: Also see their Press Release on their Website)

The Port Clinton-based railroad has since June purchased 20 locomotives from two larger companies, doubling its number of engines in the process.

"We got a great deal," said Daren Geschwindt, manager of operating rules for the Schuylkill County firm. "We took advantage of the market at the time to supplement our fleet and get ourselves ready for any new business that comes along."

Geschwindt said that in June, the firm bought four locomotives at an auction conducted by Norfolk Southern at its Altoona, Blair County, facility.

Then, between August and March, it bought 16 more from Union Pacific Railroad.

The timing was opportune to be in the market for used engines, Geschwindt said, noting that Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern were selling large numbers of locomotives as they modernized their fleets, while the fallow economy depressed prices for the secondhand trains.

Geschwindt said engines that normally sell for $500,000 to $700,000 were bought by Reading Blue Mountain & Northern for less than $100,000 apiece.

That enabled the company to buy many more engines than it had budgeted, he said, even if some of them require parts or servicing.

Models purchased included General Electric C30-7 and C36-7 engines, and SD40-2 and SD50 engines made by EMD, a division of General Motors. All are newer and more efficient that many of the firm's other engines, offering improved speed and efficiency.

"For a regional railroad our size, these are very good locomotives," he said. "Larger railroads, like Conrail or Union Pacific, were traditionally the only ones that had these. For us to get these high-horsepower locomotives is a great opportunity."

The railroad has sold two older engines and now has ample replacements if any others need to be retired.

The Reading Blue Mountain & Northern owns about 300 miles of track running from Reading to Port Clinton and other Schuylkill County sites, north through Luzerne and Lackawanna counties into the Scranton area.

Part of its track in Leesport is leased to the Reading Co. Technical and Historical Society, which keeps several dozen cars and pieces of equipment from the defunct railroad on the site.

With more than 600 open-top cars to transport it, coal is a large portion of its business, and Geschwindt said several of the new locomotives will be used in that service. The firm also moves plastics, lumber, pet feed and some perishables, and also services the Yuengling breweries in Pottsville and near Port Carbon in Schuylkill County.

Geschwindt said that as a regional provider of rail transport, the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern can provide better customer service than larger, national lines.

"That goes along with why we're buying these additional locomotives: We can raise the bar a little bit," he said.

To see more of the Reading Eagle, or to subscribe, go to http://www.readingeagle.com

(c) 2002, Reading Eagle, Pa. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune