 In December 2016, the RBMN announced that it invested $2 million to construct a train station at Pennsylvania Route 61 and Bellevue Avenue in Muhlenberg Township outside Reading called Reading Outer Station, with plans to operate passenger excursions from there to Jim Thorpe.On May 29, 2017, the first round-trip excursion from Reading Outer Station to Jim Thorpe operated, utilizing refurbished Rail Diesel Cars that were built by the Budd Company in the 1950s and formerly operated along the Pottsville Line between Pottsville and Philadelphia via Reading until SEPTA discontinued diesel service in 1981.In 2019, an audit by the borough of Jim Thorpe revealed the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway owed the borough $90,000 in amusement tax.