There are many ‘Gaps’ in Pennsylvania but only Gap, Pa.
I’ll let historians argue about the details, but what’s important to me is that Gap offers an excellent place to photograph Amtrak.
Last week, fellow photographer Dan Cupper, advised me that Amtrak P42 108 (painted in an unusual 50thAnniversary heritage livery) was expected to work Train 42, the eastward Pennsylvanian.
My first plan was to catch both westward and eastward Pennsylvanians at Christiana, where I can picture the trains passing the classic Pennsylvania Railroad station building.
This plan was partially foiled when I arrived to find that my planned photo of Train 42 wasn’t possible because of some vehicles parked near the right of way. Complicating matters was that Train 43 was close, but running a few minutes late. (See TTL post from March 14). My quandary was that if I waited too long for 43, then I might not have time to relocate to catch 42 at another location.
Thankfully, 43 rolled through Christiana in time, and I relocated posthaste to Gap. I made it with minutes to spare, and mounted my Nikon Z7-II on a tripod and frame up a view with my 70-200mm lens.
I was about to check the tracker when I saw 42 in the distance.
Soon I was on my to get a coffee and head home.
Tracking the Light discusses rail photographic process daily!