Tag Archives: #Columbia Secondary

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Signal, Mural, and passage of an Evening Freight.

We followed Route 441 north from Washington Boro, as we have on many evenings. The signal in Columbia, Pa., near the old Pennsylvania Railroad station displayed Slow Clear. This indicated that the route had been lined at Cola Interlocking for a train coming off Norfolk Southern’s Columbia Secondary—a vestige of the original Philadelphia and Columbia Rail Road, one of the oldest continuously operated railroad lines in North America.

Although I’ve made a variety of night photographs at this location over the last year, we decided to pull in for another view of H19 local freight on its return trip from Lancaster to Enola.

I opted for a series of handheld images, including a couple of views featuring the mural on the wall adjacent to the old station. A closer look reveals that it includes several railroad-related scenes.

As H19 rolled by, we began our pursuit of the nocturnal freight. I had a location in Marietta that I was hoping to try.

More soon!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Mountville on the Columbia Secondary

Of the railroad lines radiating from Lancaster, Norfolk Southern’s Columbia Secondary represents a photographic challenge. This short former Pennsylvania Railroad electrified line connects Lancaster and Columbia, Pa., but lacks the scenic splendor, open vistas, and historic structures that have aided my photography on other lines in the area.

On a warm evening, Kris and I were approaching Columbia on South Front Street when I heard the sound of EMD diesels working in Run 8. When we arrived at the grade crossing near the old Philadelphia & Reading freight house, Norfolk Southern freight H-19 from Enola was crawling through town, ascending the grade as it climbed away from the Susquehanna River.

We jumped onto Route 30 and drove east to Mountville, where I had previously scoped out a few potential locations. We arrived several minutes ahead of the train. As it passed, I made these images using my Nikon Z7-II with a 70–200mm zoom lens and a Nikon Z6 with a 24–70mm zoom. The freight totaled more than 80 cars, including several flatcars carrying structural steel.

It was a good show!

Tracking the Light explores railroad photography!