A clear blue dome at Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts made for picture-perfect conditions.
Cape Cod Central’s Polar Express consist was led by a vintage New Haven Railroad FL9, while at the back of the train was a sister FL9 and an even rarer GP59.
The FL9 was created by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division for New Haven in the 1950s to allow passenger trains to run directly from Boston to New York City’s electrified terminals without a need for a locomotive change. Just sixty of this model were built between 1956 and 1960.
Where the FL9s have been widely photographed, EMD’s model GP59 has gone comparatively unnoticed. This is a much rarer locomotive, with just 36 built. For decades these worked for Norfolk Southern in relative obscurity.
One of these unusual locomotives was acquired by Mass-Coastal earlier this year. Finding a GP59 in passenger service is very rare and I was delighted to see this cranberry colored machine in action!
In addition to these digital photos, I also made a few color slides on Fujichrome Provia 100F. Those images remain latent on the roll of film in my Nikon F3.
![](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Cape_Cod_Central_FL9_2011_at_Cohasset_Narrows_Bridge_Buzzards_Bay_MA_©BrianSolomon_DSC_0695.jpg?resize=474%2C315)
![](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Cape_Cod_Central_GP59_2014_FL9_2026_at_Buzzards_Bay_MA_©BrianSolomonDSC_5548-2.jpg?resize=474%2C316)
![](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Mass_Coastal_GP59_2014_FL9_2026_at_Buzzards_Bay_MA_©BrianSolomonDSC_5556.jpg?resize=474%2C316)
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!