Allentown & Auburn

Company History: The ALLN was established in 2013 to take over operation of a four mile former Reading line between Kutztown and Topton, Pennsylvania. Conrail had refused to include the line and ownership was turned over to the Kutztown Transportation Authority. They brought in the East Penn Railroad as the designated operator but when the line’s only regular customer closed, East Penn bowed out. ALLN rode to the rescue initially to operate tourist trains on the line but freight service is also offered on an as needed basis. Their sole operating locomotive is an EMD SW originally built for the Philadelphia Bethlehem & New England in March of 1937. This is allegedly the second oldest diesel locomotive in regular service.

Successor/Parent History: The MSE was launched in 1922 to take possession of the 42 mile segment of the bankrupt Alabama & Mississippi Railroad between Evanston and Pascagoula, Mississippi. During the steam era, the line was operated with four 2-8-0’s and a 4-6-0. They began dieselizing in 1940 with GE 44-tonners, joined later by 70-tonners. Today, the MSE operates with eight EMD units: a GP9, an SW1500, three GP38-2’s, a GP40, a GP50 and an SW900. Traffic includes chemicals, coal, grain, lumber, paper, and rubber.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.