Whistle Stop ...

“There’s something about the sound of a train that’s very romantic and nostalgic and hopeful.”

       ~ Paul Simon

       ~ American musician

         ~ born 1941

The recently restored Dragon Cement Co. Inc. No. 1 railroad car located along the Ironton Rail Trail ~ which which loops more than nine miles through Whitehall Township, the Borough of Coplay and North Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania ~ is depicted in this painterly, HDR image I captured on a late March afternoon in early spring.

A Whistle Sign can be seen in front of the car with the description: “This whistle sign once stood to the west of the Center Street Stiles Crossing on the Ironton Railroad. It was saved on March 1990 by John and Jim Rowland just prior to the scrapping of the railroad.”

In rail transport, a whistle sign ~ or whistle post or whistle board ~ is a sign marking a location where a train driver is required to sound the horn or whistle.

The Ironton Railroad was a shortline railroad in Lehigh County. Originally built in 1861 to haul iron ore and limestone to blast furnaces along the Lehigh River, traffic later shifted to carrying Portland Cement when local iron mining declined in the early 20^th century. Much of the railroad had already been abandoned when it became part of Conrail in 1976, and the last of its trackage was removed in 1984.

 

In 1996, Whitehall Township purchased 9.2 miles of the right-of-way from Conrail, transforming it into the Ironton Rail Trail.

 

Dragon Cement Co. is a cement supplier in Thomaston, Maine.

 

Christmas Caboose ...

"The bell still rings for me,

as it does for all who truly believe."

                             ~ Chris Van Allsburg

                                                    ~ born 1949

                                 ~"The Polar Express"

                                            ~ published 1985

A red caboose festooned in its Christmas finery

greets train goers on their way to boarding 

The Christmas Train on the Hawk Mountain Line

in early December at WK&S (Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern, Inc.)

Railroad, Kempton, Pennsylvania.

The Hawk Mountain Line is a scenic ride of six-and-a-half

miles on track of the old Reading Railroad, running along

the Ontelaunee Creek, through the farms and woods of

Berks and Lehigh Counties.

The Christmas Wish ...

"For it is good to be children sometimes,

and never better than at Christmas,

when its mighty Founder was a child Himself."

                                            ~ Charles Dickens

                                                                 ~ 1812-1870

                                                                     ~"A Christmas Carol"

                                                          ~published December 19, 1843

Remember thinking about your Christmas wish list for Santa Claus?

This little girl's expression in this candid shot suggests she's doing just that as she rides

the Christmas Train - not to the North Pole, but through the rolling

Pennsylvania countryside.

Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves also

boarded the festive train in early December on the 

WK&S (Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern, Inc.) Railroad, Kempton, Pennsylvania.

The Hawk Mountain Line takes a scenic ride of six-and-a-half miles, on track

of the old Reading  Railroad, running along the Ontelaunee Creek, through

the farms and woods of Berks and Lehigh Counties.