A week ago (March 18, 2022), Kris and I called into the Reading & Northern at Port Clinton, Pennsylvania.

We obtained permission to be on the property and make photos.

Although, I had visions of seeing something older, grander, and of greater personal interest, I was impressed by the vintage EMD diesels sitting outside the company offices.

Reading & Northern 2000 was a classic SD38, a 2,000 hp six-motor EMD, built for the Penn Central in 1970, and later served Conrail.

Where the GP38 was a common type (as were the GP40 and SD40 models), the SD38 was unusual—a real rare bird with just 63 built.

I’ve only photographed a scant few SD38s in all my years wandering North American rails, including those operated by Conrail, the US Steel roads: Bessemer & Lake Erie, Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range, and Elgin, Joliet & Eastern; and at least one Grand Trunk Western unit, that back in 1986 showed up on Central Vermont in Palmer, Massachusetts leading a cable laying train.

So here we find this rare diesel, ripe for a few photos: I made this photo with my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Z-series lens. But, I also exposed a frame or two of HP5 using an antique Nikon F3 with 50mm lens.

Soon we were on the verge of finding something rarer, cooler, and the reason for our visit . . . stay tuned!

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