Visiting Railfest Weekend at Steamtown

Former Baldwin Eddystone Plant switcher No. 26 ran around pulling short excursions through the yard.

A big event here in the New Jersey/Eastern Pennsylvania area is the annual Railfest at Steamtown National Historic Site over Labor Day Weekend. It is a two-day event, featuring displays, train rides and a night photo session. This day was sunny on Saturday morning but turned to overcast skies as the day went on. Here are some highlights.

Photographs by Jack Norris

Original Lackawanna No. 426, a model SC switcher built by EMC, which predates the change to EMD.

The New York, Ontario & Western entered the diesel age in 1941 with the purchase of five GE 44 tonners. This is one of the original five.

Grand Trunk Western 4-8-2 No. 6039.

Nickel Plate Road No. 759 needs no introduction.

Lackawanna painted F-3 #663 pulled caboose rides through the yard.

Reading F-7s 902 & 903 are not owned by Steamtown but reside their when not pulling excursions for the two groups that own them.

Reading T-1 No. 2124 is one of the four T-1s that the Reading preserved for their Iron Horse Rambles. The 2124 was basically a reserve engine for the 2100, 2101 & 2102.

Steamtown Sets Railfest Activities

Steamtown National Historic Site will be holding a Railfest weekend on Sept. 2 and 3 featuring the theme of the transition from steam to diesel.

Diesel-powered excursions to Moscow, Pennsylvania, will run both days, departing Steamtown at 12:30 p.m. and returning around 3 p.m.

Other excursions will include shorter train rides on the Scranton Limited and an expanded schedule at the Lackawanna County’s Electric City Trolley Museum.

There will also be hand car rides, blacksmithing demonstrations, locomotive shop tours, presentations from railroad publishers, preservation groups, and entertainment by local musicians and other performers.

The Erie-Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society will an evening dinner and entertainment activity during after-hours events on Friday and Saturday.

A 7,500-pound 1925-built Whitcomb gasoline-powered locomotive will be on display. It is on loan from the National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The Railfest activities and programs are included in the park’s $7 daily entrance fee.