By M.T. Burkhart

NORRISTOWN, Pa. – Over the last few weeks, a well-traveled Alco RS1 has been working its way to a new home on Pennsylvania’s Allentown & Auburn Railroad.

Built in 1948 as Washington Terminal 57, the locomotive last worked for the East Penn Railroad, but it has been more than 15 years since it operated in freight service. Over the years it also spent time on the New Hope & Ivyland and Black River & Western.

On Friday, April 14, East Penn took the RS1 and a former Chicago Northwestern boxcar from Quakertown to Telford, Pa. Then on Sunday, April 16, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) dispatched a crew and two switchers from Wayne Junction (just north of Philadelphia) to head for Telford and take the locomotive and boxcar down the 10-mile Stony Creek Branch to the Norfolk Southern interchange near Norristown, Pa.

The Septa move was unique. While the former Reading Stony Creek Branch is owned by the transit authority, CSX is the typical tenant for freight movements. NS was expected to move the Alco to the Allentown & Auburn interchange at Topton, Pa. shortly after. Once there, it will receive a thorough evaluation and mechanical work before being placed into service.

A&A operates passenger and freight service over the former Reading branch between Topton and Kutztown, Pa. using rare 1937-built EMC switcher 206. It’s also home to Railroad & Industrial Preservation Society’s Lehigh & New England Alco S2 611, which is undergoing restoration.