Eastern Railroad Discussion > ...And now for something completely different (part 1)

As most of you know, most of my shooting these days takes place within an hour or 2 of the Pittsburgh area. But now and then, my travels allow me the opportunity for a little variety. In this case, last Friday morning, I found myself alongside the Amtrak Philly to Harrisburg mainline east of Lancaster, PA. The family and I were in town to visit the "Day out with Thomas" festivities at Strasburg later that morning, but snuck out for about 90 minutes to catch some Amtrak passenger action. As has been typical for June, the weather was less than stellar, but at least the low clouds/gloom allowed me to shoot from whatever angle worked best, without having to worry about lighting. My shooting location for the day was the former grade crossing location at Ronks. My hope was to get some of the new Sprinter electrics, along with the AEM-7s before they fade into history.
1. First up was eastbound Keystone service train 600 behind an AEM-7. The closing speed here took some getting used to! Thank goodness for motor drives.
2. Amtrak's "track a train" feature came in handy as I noted train 601, which had been scheduled to already be by me, was running late, so I was able to capture this Sprinter led train a few minutes later.
3. After relocating back to the south side (local roads allow this fairly easily and quickly) I repositioned to get an on time train 605 behind another AEM-7. The sky was dark, but at least there were plenty of wildflowers to brighten the scene.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/15 19:57 by PittsburghMike.

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4. The schedule indicated I'd have a break in traffic, so I ducked down to the local turkey hill for some coffee. Fortunately, I didn't daly getting back trackside, because just as I arrived back, the NS local showed up, using the break in Amtrak trains to hustle east with a short train, some of which I'm assuming was headed for Leaman Place. Catching any kind of freight activity was certainly an unplanned bonus!
5. Next I worked my way down the berm south of thye tracks to a nice pacth of tiger lillys for AMTK 607 coming under the signal bridge.
6. Finally, just a few minutes later, my last train was #642 led by a new Sprinter. I have to say that these new units look REALLY sharp, compared to the battle weary AEM-7's

With that, it was back to the hotel to meet the family for breakfast and prep for our train ride. More on that later this weekend.

Thanks for looking!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/15 19:56 by PittsburghMike.

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Nice pic's Mike.....no E44's?  LOL.......

No, and no GG1s either :-( lol

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/15 10:02 by PittsburghMike.

Get those shots of the AEM7's while ya can, their replacements are here.   I shot th 946 and the 638 in Middletown on the 29th. Only had about 1/2 hour of time then, and that's what came by.  I do like the look of the 600's also, but do miss the GG1'/E44'S/E33'S and the E40's. And I will miss the AEM7's when they are gone.  Thanks for sharing. Ben

Wow, different for you Mike for sure. Nice series in some crappy weather. My favorite is the Sprinter in photo #2 under the signals. The white light from those LED lights are quite apparent in the cloudy weather.
John



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/15 15:18 by jmbreitigan.