On June 30, 1981, at 8:10 p. m., the last regularly scheduled passenger train arrived at the Pottsville Railroad Station, Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania from Philadelphia, The train, a diesel-driven Budd car, was then being operated by SEPTA (Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority), which had taken over the Philadelphia-Pottsville run formerly operated by the Reading Lines. As part of SEPTA’s long-term plan, some of the longer routes were eliminated and the fact that this line was one of several that had not been previously electrified made it a candidate for termination. Since June 30, 1981, there has been no scheduled passenger rail service to or from Pottsville.
The photo above is of the actual last train arriving in Pottsville. It was taken by Anthony Rice of St. Clair, Schuylkill County, who happened to be the only one present to pictorially document the event. Rice gave the photo to the Pottsville Republican, who published it on July 15, 1981.
There are two items of lore about the “last train to Pottsville” that deserve to be repeated.
In 1929, the film short Berth Marks featured Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in a talking comedy about their trip to Pottsville to a performance engagement and the antics that occurred in the sleeping car enroute. The film poster (above) shows the two stars at a train station – most likely not Pottsville – and at right on the poster, getting aboard the train.
In 1966, the Monkees, a musical group, released a single record and an album featuring the song “Last Train to Clarksville.” The song was often performed by local musical groups with the words, “Last Train to Pottsville.” In 2003, Davy Jones, the leader of the group, was invited to perform at the Schuylkill County Fair, and although it has not been verified, Jones was said to change the lyrics from “Clarksville” to “Pottsville” of the iconic song to the roaring delight of the fair attendees.
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Poster and album cover from Wikipedia.
Train photo from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.