Patriotic locomotive draws sightseers in move through northern Schuylkill
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Reading and Northern Railroad Locomotive #1776 crosses over Main Street in Mahanoy City on Nov. 20, 2025.
MAIZEVILLE – Railfans and residents from near and far lined the tracks of the Reading and Northern Railroad as a special, patriotic locomotive made its way through our area this week.
Locomotive 1776 is the Port Clinton-based railroad’s tribute to the 250th Anniversary of the United States, which will take place next year.
With three passenger cars in toe and owner Andy Muller, Jr., aboard, the train cross northern Schuylkill County.
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Reading and Northern Locomotive #1776, a tribute to the 250th Anniversary of the United States, passes Hill Avenue in the Maizeville section of Gilberton on Nov. 21, 2025. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Railfans line State Avenue in Barnesville as Reading and Northern Locomotive #1776 nears on Nov. 21, 2025. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Reading and Northern Locomotive #1776 passes under the Tuscarora Mountain Drive bridge in Barnesville on Nov. 21, 2025. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Reading and Northern Locomotive #1776 passes under the Tuscarora Mountain Drive bridge in Barnesville on Nov. 21, 2025. 
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Reading and Northern Railroad Owner Andy Muller Jr., right, and his wife, Carol, wave at onlookers in Barnesville on Nov. 21, 2025.
Beginning in Locust Gap, the train passed through Gordon, Ashland, Girardville, Gilberton, Mahanoy City, and Barnesville on its way to Carbon County.
Along the way, railfans and residents took notice. Some photographers from other parts of Pennsylvania, if not other states, chased the train from location to location.
More than a dozen people set up along State Road in Barnesville to catch the train.
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