Mt. Penn Gravity Railroad
Virtual Tour

We climb on the trolley at Pendora Park, and hear the chugging of the steam engine as the train begins to pull away from the station. We are going to climb Mt. Penn from the east side, or the "back" side from Reading.

Our first stop is at the Mineral Springs Hotel. Here we can get off and have lunch or a drink, or just picnic on the beautifully landscaped grounds.

As we continue on, we begin to slope gradually upward as we begin our climb. We slowly travel through the wooded countryside toward Egleman Park.

As we cross into Egleman park, we are travelling beside the lake. Again, here we could get off and picnic, if we like. But, we continue on and cross the creek and leave through the back of the park.

After traveling through some woods and alongside a creek, we come to Keideish's winery, where we can stop and taste some of their wares - wine.

After leaving Keideish's, we begin a sweeping turn to the left, where we come upon the Angora Park picnic area. Then we begin a steeper climb toward the top of Mt. Penn. The chugging of the steam engine sounds a little deeper now, as the engine works harder to pull us uphill.

We stop at the South Turn picnic area to pick up more passengers who had stopped earlier to picnic there, then continue through the South Turn.

The South Turn is a sharp turn to the north and turns us onto the ridge of Mt. Penn, where we can catch our first glimpse of the western side of the mountain and Reading, below.

At the South Turn, we travel upward along the ridge to begin our 'final assault' to the summit.

View of Reading from the Summit House

After about a half-mile along the ridge, the engine slows as we arrive at the summit of Mt. Penn. Here we disembark for a beautiful scenic view of Reading.

We stroll along the edge of the mountain enjoying the view for a while, then we stop in at the Summit House or the Tower Hotel for a bit of lunch.

After we have lunch and relax a bit, we go back outside to enjoy some more of the beautiful day and the view.

In a little while, we decide to leave the summit of Mt. Penn and begin our descent.

-- THE DESCENT --

While standing on the platform, we see the next train coming up the ridge from the South Turn. As it comes to a stop in front of us we climb on.

When all the passengers are on, we watch as the engineer disconnects the engine from our trolley. The engine backs onto a siding to begin its descent down the way it had come. But we will be going in the opposite direction.

Coasting along the crest of Mt. Penn

As we watch the steam engine receding to the south, the brakeman slowly releases the brake, and our trolley begins to coast, by itself, toward the north, along the crest of Mt. Penn.

About a half mile along the ridge of the mountain, we come to the North Turn, where we have one last glimpse of Reading below. The North Turn is a sharp turn to the east, which, again, brings us to the "back" side of the mountain.

We continue our slow, gradual descent coasting at about 12 mph, stopping first at Kuchler's Roost. This is where we meet Lou Kuchler, also known as the "hermit of Mt. Penn". Mr. Kuchler hasn't been off the east side of Mt. Penn in over 2 years. While prefering to be alone, he seems to tolerate the constant visitors, and sometimes even seems to enjoy his fame. This stop has an elevated platform where we can get a good view of the east side of Mt. Penn.

After leaving the winery, we continue coasting for about a half mile through the woods, until we reach the Wildwood picnic area where we pick up and discharge passengers.

From Wildwood we turn south to head back in the direction of Pendora Park. Our next stop is Renninger's winery.

Steigerwald's Winery

Then we travel by Steigerwald's winery, and Spuhler's Mountain Resort (later known as Haag's Mountain Manor) before beginning the final leg of our journey.

After School House Crossing, we begin a mile long ride, descending gently through the woods, coming out of the woods at the turn known as "Cemetery Curve", named for the view of Reading across Aulenbach's Cemetery below. This is the turn where tragedy struck in the early years, but the track has now been re-routed to make it a safe trip.

The brakeman slows the car for a slow, graceful turn and we catch our last glimpse of the south end of Reading.

The track steepens a little here as we travel a few hundred feet to the final turn. This is a hairpin turn and we slow to a comfortable speed to round the turn and coast slowly back into the Pendora Park station. Our ride is finished.

We disembark the trolley with memories of the beautiful views, the lovely countryside, and the wonderful ride we have just enjoyed.