RBMN Inks $4.7MM Deal for 19-Mile Pa. Line

Class II Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad (RBMN) has acquired a 19-mile line from Carbon County, Pa., for $4.7 million.

The four-time Railway Age Regional Railroad of the Year (2002, 2011, 2015, 2020) previously had trackage rights over the line, which connects its Reading and Lehigh divisions (see map below).

As part of the deal with the County, RBMN has agreed to keep in place a lease with current freight operator C&S Railroad, which serves three local customers. RBMN will continue to use the line for overhead freight traffic as well as its steam and diesel-powered passenger excursion service.

The move fulfills RBMN Owner and CEO Andy Muller, Jr.’s 30-plus-year dream of having a continuous main line railroad between Reading and Scranton, Pa., “a route never before owned by any railroad,” according to RBMN.

The regional reported that Muller “made many purchase offers over the years, but he had been unable to reach an agreement with the County.”

In 2020, he completed construction of a $14 million railroad bridge over the Lehigh River, providing a more efficient, direct route between Reading and Scranton. While the RBMN main line was capable of handling 30-mph trains, the 19-mile Carbon County line had “poor quality rail,” according to the regional. Muller again set out to purchase the line, which would enable him to “make the multi-million dollar investment to upgrade the track so it was consistent with the rest of his main line,” RBMN said.

For the past 18 months, Muller and RBMN President Wayne Michel have negotiated directly with the Carbon County Commissioners. An agreement in principle was reached last fall, and the deal was finalized June 24.

“I am very grateful for the cooperation of all of the County Commissioners,” Muller said. “We have been fortunate to have strong support from all the elected officials in Carbon County and many of them helped us in our efforts to connect our Reading and Lehigh divisions. My dream has long been to bring high-quality freight and passenger rail service to the region and nothing epitomizes that more than the creation of a high speed rail line between Reading and Scranton. We are now able to help businesses expand, communities attract new business, and tourism grow even faster in Jim Thorpe and the region. This is a great day [June 24] for the Reading & Northern, our nearly 300 employees and the entire region.”

RBMN serves more than 70 customers in nine eastern Pennsylvania counties (Berks, Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Northumberland, Schuylkill and Wyoming) over some 400 miles of track.