As I explore Shamokin as a possible modeling location, one of the key structures to build will be the engine house at the East end of the Yard.
Back in May of 72 my brother Bobb was chasing an excursion in Shomokin. He sent me some scans of the engine house that he shot that day.
Here we see the North Side of the engine house with one track still going to the building.
Here in the view of the south side of the engine house with no tracks going in the building.
South Side Shamokking Engine House. Closer view of the engine house doors.
Shamokin Yard with Excursion train coming into town.
I remember Shamokin was in full swing until conrail in the early seventies. After ripping up the Herndon branch to Trevorton. (I don’t remember the breaker that the reading served there.) My old neighbor the late Bill Sell from Gordon was an engineer there.
I absolutely love the photos of the roundhouse in the Fifth Ward of Shamokin. Your brother, Bobb, was a smart man to take these photos in 1972. I was not born until 82, and did not become interested in photography, or collecting the Thomas Photos (old photos of the area from same-named studio) until closer to 2006.
Would love to talk more with you about these photos.
I live in Shamokin and spent a lot of time at the engine house in the latter years (1968 on) i had a very good friend who worked for the Reading as a car inspector and he would take me there even prior to 68 every Thursday to pick up his pay check. Inside the third door (closest to the offices) there was a pit in the floor and at the southern end at the ceiling were large smoke jacks. I remember being afraid of those things when I was very young. The engines were brought in from the northern end and I don’t believe they ran through very often because the Shamokin wreck train used to be stored on the tracks outside the southern end of the house. Inside was the locker room, Yardmasters office, Agents office, oil room and some other rooms. In the center of the locker room was a large round sink with a hoop you stepped on to run the water ,Of course I always had to step on it when I was there. The track that looks like new track in the image was the one leg of the wye. It ran across a steel bridge over Shamokin Creek and then ran back along the creek bank up past the coach yard and on up between the west side of the engine house and the creek. Another structure that was in Shamokin Yard was “D” office which was the Yardmasters office while the enginehouse was in full swing. That structure can be seen in the book Reading Company in Color. There were a few other structures in the yard too including a scale which was located along the rocky bank up near “SJ” bridge which is the bridge that is pictured above at the south end of the yard and also this was the southern yard limit. the northern yard limit was Herndon Branch Jct. at the extreme other end of town. All of the mine branches around Shamokin were in the Shamokin yard limit including the fifth st ( Carbon Run Branch) . And Yes when the Reading Company moved out Lewis Rail Corp. occupied the enginehouse for several years making ribbon rail.
You were luky since you were there.I never really studied the area untill I moved up here in 09.Pic of this area are scarce not a whole lot of detail shots around.Im origionly from the Lehigh Valley area and one can find a lot more detail of the LV area..The street running of the 5th st branch is also interesting
Steven,
I wasn’t traveling with my brother this day, so I didn’t see this first hand. I was nine then.
I wish I had been there.
George
Looks like track was being relaid back to the enginehouse.I remember reading that the RDG had a welded rail plant in the enginehouse