89 Minutes
425
Holiday Trains covers 2 days of Christmas trains on the Reading and
Northern with their loud 4-6-2 number 425. There were 3 trips per day
originating out of Tamaqua, PA. The first and third trip each day was
northbound upgrade to Haucks, then down to High Bridge. A diesel on the
rear then pulls it back to Tamaqua. The second trip runs south of
Tamaqua then returns, and the third trip is a repeat of the first one.
The engine is kept in Port Clinton, so we catch it running light to
Tamaqua each morning. We begin the December 2nd trip with a cab ride
from Tamaqua. This is a rainy morning, and mostly upgrade, so 425 has
to work pretty good. After the cab ride we see a few scenes of the
second trip, before shooting the afternoon trip trackside, again mostly
upgrade. Sunday December 3rd features great lighting and cool weather
as we chase the light engine to Tamaqua, including some pacing. The
first trip from Tamaqua features a camera mounted on the right side cab
roof, so you see the top of the boiler plus the right side of the line.
We mix these in with some nice trackside locations, making this a
memorable run. After shooting the second trip we again make the
afternoon run to High Bridge. This segment features trackside views,
plus some onboard footage from the open window coach. We splice in the
two types of scenes for fun viewing, like entering the Tamaqua Tunnel
from the train, then from trackside. We also have some nice morning
scenes at Port Clinton, as well as the history of the engine. The trips
in December of 2022 were the final trips for 425, as it is down for its
15 year form 4 boiler and rebuild work. Who knows when we may see it
again, but for now enjoy this show of great steam action.
