PITTSTON, Pa. — The new station of the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad near Pittston is not only open for rides to and from Jim Thorpe. It's open for shorter and seasonal opportunities too.
"We have our winter character trips going on here at our Pittston station. We're running at 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm here on the 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th. For 70 70-minute trip, we have some of our favorite winter characters on the train to interact with everybody," explained Director of Passenger Operations Tim Wright.
"We're gonna go down 35 minutes to an interlocking called sidle. It's in the vicinity of Wilkes-Barre. Wilkes-Barre, we'll be off to our west, and then we're going to turn around and come back so you get to see a good variety. We go through the neighborhoods of Duryea, Avoca, Dupont, Pittston Township, and then we start to climb up Penobscot Mountain, so you get to see some beautiful terrain and some beautiful vistas overlooking the city of Wilkes-Barre," explained narrator Jamie Makin.
"We live on the route. So we'd like to see our house from the train. So that would be fun too," said Peggy Long of Plains, who was there with her grandchildren.
Many families are happy to have an experience like this while children are off from school to give them an experience they may have never had before.
"It's definitely the first time for a lot of kids. They even tell me that now a lot of them have seen Polar Express. So, to them, this is something out of the movies, and they're getting to experience it. I'll be at a much tamer version. Thankfully, they're getting to actually experience what they've seen on TV in reality, and just really delightful to see," said Makin.
It could be a good way to get out of the house, too, even if it rains.
"Dry inside to train the cars are nice and toasty warm. We got the heat on, and nice and comfortable inside. So if you can stand the rain from the car into the train, you'll be perfectly fine," said Wright.
If you'd like to learn about purchasing tickets to climb aboard for an excursion this week, you can find more information by clicking here.