I went for a little wander early Saturday morning. What’s so bad about that? Why nothing really. Except that I happened to be wandering around in the former Reading Railroad yard. But don’t blame me. Nope, it’s Kerri Messner’s fault. What? You don’t know who Kerri Messner is. And you accuse me of living in a void. Kerri is absolutely hysterical. And she takes awesome pictures which she then posts on her blog. She can be found here, on Facebook and MySpace. If you don’t already read her, you should!
So why is it her fault I was roaming where I shouldn’t have been? Because she went exploring a new path Friday and shared it on her blog. Okay so she was on open to the public state game lands but I don’t have any of them available in my immediate vicinity. And, though her pics of the wilderness are uber cool, I have a fondness for bleak desolation at the moment, think urban wilderness. The closest thing I could think of was the train yard so I followed the tracks in from my end of the city. Yep, it really was that easy. I went late enough that any criminal activity from the night before would be completed and early enough that the new day’s had yet to begin. No, I think I’d rather not get into how I know that just now if you don’t mind.
Yes, technically the train yard is not abandoned. It’s part of Norfolk Southern these days. But they aren’t using the Reading Railroad buildings that are left standing. Apparently they repair their trains elsewhere. I did find piles of spare track parts, rails, ties, plates and spikes. Not sure if they’re actually there to be utilized as needed but it was interesting to see them scattered about.
Of course once I got that close I had to poke around in the closet building too. One side of it is open. There’s a track running through it but I can’t tell if the rest of the building’s been torn down or if it was never enclosed. But isn’t it cool looking? There’s another building at the other end but I didn’t want to go too far since right beside there is where all the office trailers are. And I couldn’t really go around at that point because the yard was starting to get active and I thought it best to leave.
But I will be going back. Earlier than I was there
Saturday. Perhaps one day before work. Hmm, I wonder if that would be an acceptable excuse for being late? I was exploring the abandoned building at the old train yard, lost track of time and was then detained by the current security staff. Yeah, I’m sure that would be just fine.
Right near the end of the tracks I followed is a set of steps that lead nowhere. Reading used to have a trolley system back in its heyday. The buildings nearby are fairly new so I wonder if there was a stop at my end of town before they were built.
Oh by the way, if you’d like an authentic souvenir spike from the original Reading Railroad, contact me. We’ll talk.
So why is it her fault I was roaming where I shouldn’t have been? Because she went exploring a new path Friday and shared it on her blog. Okay so she was on open to the public state game lands but I don’t have any of them available in my immediate vicinity. And, though her pics of the wilderness are uber cool, I have a fondness for bleak desolation at the moment, think urban wilderness. The closest thing I could think of was the train yard so I followed the tracks in from my end of the city. Yep, it really was that easy. I went late enough that any criminal activity from the night before would be completed and early enough that the new day’s had yet to begin. No, I think I’d rather not get into how I know that just now if you don’t mind.
Yes, technically the train yard is not abandoned. It’s part of Norfolk Southern these days. But they aren’t using the Reading Railroad buildings that are left standing. Apparently they repair their trains elsewhere. I did find piles of spare track parts, rails, ties, plates and spikes. Not sure if they’re actually there to be utilized as needed but it was interesting to see them scattered about.
Of course once I got that close I had to poke around in the closet building too. One side of it is open. There’s a track running through it but I can’t tell if the rest of the building’s been torn down or if it was never enclosed. But isn’t it cool looking? There’s another building at the other end but I didn’t want to go too far since right beside there is where all the office trailers are. And I couldn’t really go around at that point because the yard was starting to get active and I thought it best to leave.But I will be going back. Earlier than I was there
Saturday. Perhaps one day before work. Hmm, I wonder if that would be an acceptable excuse for being late? I was exploring the abandoned building at the old train yard, lost track of time and was then detained by the current security staff. Yeah, I’m sure that would be just fine.Right near the end of the tracks I followed is a set of steps that lead nowhere. Reading used to have a trolley system back in its heyday. The buildings nearby are fairly new so I wonder if there was a stop at my end of town before they were built.
Oh by the way, if you’d like an authentic souvenir spike from the original Reading Railroad, contact me. We’ll talk. 
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