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Authored by Society president George Meiser IX |
| Posted 04-04-2006
FIVE News-Bits of Reading-Berks historical interest.... ======================= ====================== ======================= ====================== 1- Society's monthly BCTV program TONIGHT at 7 p.m. 2- FIRST THURSDAY program tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. 3- Railroad displays and museums having local r.r. artifacts 4- Reading Choral Society program at Albright this Sunday ======================= ====================== ======================= ====================== 1- Tonight (Wed., April 5th) at 7 is the Society's monthly BCTV program. Included are some unusual views of old-time Reading and Berks. The Society's program repeats this Friday (Apr. 7th) at 10 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m., and Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Most people living outside the limits of BCTV's cable system can watch the Society's program on a computer. Access.... ======================= ==================== ======== 2- The FIRST THURSDAY program for tomorrow---Thurs., Apr. 6th, at 8:30 a.m. ---features Cary Shaner of West Lawn who portrays JACOB SCHOENER, a typical 18th century worker. PHOTO: Carey Shaner impersonating JACOB SCHOENER 
Schoener was an orphan indentured to James Logan. As Logan's servant he experienced early Philadelphia and rose to the position of a wagoner. In that capacity he hauled oats from Lancaster to Philadelphia and returned with manufactured goods. He tells of his job experiences and friends. Cary's presentation begins at 9 a.m. $1 for Society members; $2 for non-members ======================== ===================== ======== 3- A News-Bits reader wrote asking whether there is a Reading Railroad Museum. The inquiry was forwarded to Society member Rev. Philip Smith of Stouchsburg, who provided a reply too good not to share with you. Accordingly, here is Pastor Smith's answer..... At present, the closest thing to a Reading Railroad Museum is The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania at Strasburg (www.rrmuseumpa.org). A number of Reading exhibits are there, including 0-6-0T Shop Switcher No. 1251 in the Main Hall and an observation car from the CRUSADER in the yard by the turntable from Bridgeport (Norristown). Across the street by the Strasburg Rail Road station (moved from East Petersburg on the Reading & Columbia Branch), Reading Business Car No. 10, formerly spotted on a siding by the Skew Bridge at the Outer Station, now repainted green and relettered in yellow for the P&R, is open for tours. Little 0-4-0 Camelback No. 1187 rests by the Strasburg Rail Road shop, being restored to service. And P&R wooden coach 90849 runs in passenger trains as No. 58, the CHERRY HILL. Northwest of Reading Terminal, Philadelphia, along Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Railroad Hall of The Franklin Institute (www.fi.edu) has been remodeled as "The Train Factory." Near Baldwin compound 4-10-2 demonstrator No. 60000 is the ROCKET, built in England in 1838, on a stretch of contemporary track. Elsewhere is the 1:8 scale G-1sa Pacific built by 52 Reading Shop apprentices in 1939. The Reading Company Technical & Historical Society is building a Reading Company museum in Hamburg. For the latest information, go to www.readingrailroad.org and look for "Museum Ties." North of Lenhartsville, the Wanamaker. Kempton & Southern runs on the Schuylkill & Lehigh (a.k.a. Berks County Railroad; Slatington Branch) weekends May through October (www.kemptontrain.com) . Passengers can ride Combine No. 408, the first car on many an Iron Horse Ramble, coaches 1474 and 1494, and two cabooses: steel No. 92830 and wooden NM-N 92936. In fact, both cabooses can be chartered. I am certain that you and your husband would enjoy a book called READING TRAINS AND TROLLEYS by Arcadia Publishing. Some 15,000 photographs donated to The Historical Society of Berks County were considered, and more than 200 of the best were selected for that book, published in 2004. There are scenes of all three landscaped lawns at the Outer Station, the Swinging Bridge, interior views of the locomotive shop and the car shop, stations, yards, and twenty pages of horsecars and trolleys. Autographed copies are available from the on-line Gift Shop of The Historical Society of Berks County..... IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!! IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!! IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!! YOU are also invited to join us on a Rail Ramble from Reading to Port Clinton on the Main Line, from Port Clinton to Tamaqua on the Little Schuylkill Branch, through East Mahanoy Junction across the high bridge at Haucks and on to Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe) on the former Jersey Central. There will be 3 and 1/2 hours of free time in Jim Thorpe. Passengers will also be able to ride the new Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway from Jim Thorpe to Nesquehoning Junction, where the train will cross two restored bridges above the Lehigh River and the former Lehigh Valley Railroad and loop down to join the Lehigh Valley main line to Old Penn Haven and return. Inaugurated on Memorial Day weekend last year, the LGSRY is a big-time operation with a former UP SD-50 3600 hp six-axle diesel at each end of the train to eliminate time-consuming run-arounds at Old Penn Haven and at Jim Thorpe. We are making arrangements with the Reading & Northern; we hope to run this Ramble in the middle of July, probably on the 15th, the 22nd, or the 29th. Ask George Meiser to place you on our mailing list. You are more than welcome to join us as passenger service returns to the Reading and to the Jersey Central and to the Lehigh Valley to boot. ------Philip Smith ====================== =============== ============= 4- On Sunday afternoon, April 9, 2006 at 3:00 PM at Albright College Chapel...... The Reading Choral Society will close its 130th season by celebrating the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth with a performance of his magnificent setting of the Vespers. Paired with this in a program entitled "Intimate Devotions" is another reflective work, and one of the most beloved pieces in the choral repertory, Gabriel Faure's eloquent and moving Requiem. Joining in this concert will be Julia Walsh of Westminster Choir College, soprano and Jason Steigerwalt of Temple University, baritone, winners of the RCS Young Artists Competition. Ms. Walsh is a Berks County native, alumna of the Berks County Classical Children's Chorus and winner of several RMF scholarships. ==================== ============== ============= ================= ================ ============== ================= GMM IX ========== END ======== |
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