Reading and Northern 425: The Santa Claus Special Finale

On December 17th and 18th, 2022, Reading and Northern's 4-6-2 light pacific steam locomotive #425 completed her final excursions prior to an FRA-mandated 1472-day inspection, which requires a complete overhaul or rebuild of the locomotive. These days were bittersweet for myself and many other railfans, as even though we enjoyed being able to see 425 run a few more times on these Santa Claus trips, they were in fact her last runs before the inspection. She already is and will be missed while she is down, but 425 couldn't be in more capable hands than the RBMN. I trust wholeheartedly that their amazing steam crew will rebuild her better and more magnificent than ever! The excursions depicted in this video were from Reading Outer Station to Port Clinton and then returned back to Reading Outer Station. The departure times were 10:30am, 1:00pm, and 3:30pm, each lasting about 80 minutes round trip. 425 led north to Port Clinton, while a diesel led the consist back down to Reading in a push-pull operation to improve efficiency. With four-and-a-quarter holding a special place in my heart, I wanted to make this video a little more special than normal. As a result, I put together a slideshow of all the years I have chased 425 at the end of the video, accompanied by some music credited below. The photos range from late 2018 to this last excursion in 2022. However, 425 has been a part of my life for years before I had begun filming her. Please enjoy this video of my favorite steam locomotive doing what she does best one more time!! 0:00 Intro 1:08 Port Clinton Steam Shop 3:52 Broad St. Port Clinton 4:53 River Rd. 5:56 Reading Outer Station 8:17 Crossing Peacock's Lock Viaduct 10:21 Leesport 11:53 Hamburg 13:06 Port Clinton 14:55 Port Clinton Steam Shop 16:06 Special Thanks 18:20 Outro 19:50 Slideshow Music in this video (in order of appearance): Song: Straight Fuse Artist: French Fuse Licensed to YouTube by: YouTube Audio Library Song: Mourning Dove Artist: Zachariah Hickman Licensed to YouTube by: YouTube Audio Library Song: Climbing Artist: Reed Mathis Licensed to YouTube by: YouTube Audio Library