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Trudging determinedly through the rugged wilderness of the Buck Mountain profile, we see EMD FP7 passenger units 902 and 903 exiting the west portal of the 926-foot long Tamaqua tunnel, which was completed in 1854. On that Sunday of May 21, 1972, this Catawissa Branch Rail Ramble was 2.1 miles west of Tamaqua as she fought up the 1.4 percent grade on her 13-mile climb to Lofty. This doubtless marked the final chapter in a long list of such Catawissa excursions that had begun 36 years earlier. The engines and equipment, at this late date, were the push-pull commuter train that ran between Reading and Philadelphia on week-days and was Reading's last such equipment, everything else being RDC and electric m.u. cars.

Held on Sunday, October 18 of 1936, the first Autumn Leaf Rail Ramble over the Catawissa Branch was so popular that it became an annual event, scheduled for the third weekend of October to view the upstate colorful Fall foliage. That first excursion was hauled by a very special engine, G2sa Pacific 178 that had just received her eye catching semi-streamlined configuration in September, 1936. Beyond Tamaqua, the mountainous topography required a helper, which was I8sb Camelback 2-8-0 1555 for the first trip. The big railfan feature of Catawissa trips during steam times was a photo stop at Gordon to see the giant Mallets stationed there. In later years, the revived Iron Horse Rambles were operated over the Catawissa route, but diesels had to be used over the Branch itself because a T1 was unable to meet clearance restrictions. (Richard Taylor)

Photograph from Reading Company In Color Volume 2 by Bert Pennypacker..

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