Coming off the wye at Pittston Yard, the Reading & Northern's "Blue Pacific" #425 climbs the hill with the NRHS "Lehigh Rambler" consist in tow on a special excursion from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area to Jim Thorpe. As I shot this sequence, I had my first opportunity to enjoy the sound of this beautiful locomotive as she worked to accelerate the heavy train up the grade. Rather than describe it as "stack talk", I'd prefer to call it "stack blast" as each exhaust stroke was a loud, crisp report that echoed across the neighborhood near the yard. Although the train was just creeping in this photo, it would only take her long to get this heavy train up to track speed.
Images from charters and regular operations depicting the Reading & Northern's two steam locomotives, the 4-8-4 Northern #2102 and the 4-6-2 Pacific #425.
