Hanging Out In Hazleton

Dave Blaze Rail Photography
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Hanging Out In Hazleton
Hanging Out In Hazleton

On a quiet Sunday afternoon a pair of geeps rest tied down in Norfolk Southern's small stub ended Hazleton Yard. These units are for local H98 that serves industries in the area. Rebuilt GP38-2 5633 was blt. Aug. 1969 as a straight GP38 orignally Penn Central 7739 while 5608 was rebuilt from a high nose GP38AC originally blt. Jun. 1971 as Norfolk and Western 4127.

This small former Lehigh Valley yard is reached by the winding Ashmore Secondary climbing up from the upper Lehigh Line at Penn Haven Junction deep in the Lehigh River Gorge. This is the last Class 1 railroad presence in the Hazleton area that was once served by the LV, RDG, PRR and CNJ. The small locomotive shop dates from LV days and was once home to the famed four packs of MUed LV pups that ruled on the 'Hazleton Man.'

Hazleton is the heart of the eastern middle coal fields of the Pennsylvania anthracite region and became fabulously wealthy in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1818, anthracite coal deposits were discovered in nearby Beaver Meadows. Less than two decades later some of the earliest railroads in the country were built to connect the coal fields to the canal system. What would later become this LV line up from Penn Haven was part of the first steam powered (as opposed to incline plane and gravity) railroad in the area. Hazleton would ride the wave of coal mining and see its population bloom to 14,000 in 1891 the year it incorporated as a city to a peak of 38,000 in 1940. When anthracite fell out of favor as a fuel in the post WWII era Hazleton suffered a deep decline with it and today the population is around 23,000.

Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Sunday October 6, 2024

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Taken on: October 6, 2024
Sets appears in:   • Pennsylvania Railfanning   
Camera: Canon EOS R6m2, f/13.0, 1/500 sec, 37mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Canon EOS R6m2
Aperture: f/13.0
Exposure Time: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Focal Length: 37mm
ISO: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Center-weighted average
White Balance: Auto
Color Space: sRGB
Software: Snapseed 2.0
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