Closing the Gap near Christiana

We were on our evening drive after work.

I was watching the ASM.Transitdocs.com app to monitor the progress of east and westward Amtrak Keystone trains.

My aim was to catch both 656 eastbound and 651 westbound within a few minutes of each other.

As we drove east on Highway 30 passing Bird-in-Hand and Paradise, I noticed that both trains had fallen behind their advertised schedules, so I kept pushing east.

Initially, I was aiming for Gap, Pa., but at the last minute continued to Christiana.

I arrived in time to set up at the old PRR freight house that the Lancaster Chapter NRHS has set up as a viewing platform.

Moments after I arrived, train 656 came into view. Westward 651 was delayed about about ten minutes, but with a total elapsed time of only 12 minutes, I’d caught both trains.

Train 651 had a bonus; this was led by Amtrak ACS-64 670, the highest in the series. This engine has been a bit elusive for me. Although I photographed it on film a couple of days earlier, this sequence at Christiana represents my first satisfying digital photos of the locomotive. A small victory in the bigger picture, but these days I’ll take it.