Earlier this month on my visit to Harrisburg, I made the opportunity to photograph the Harrisburg Station, now officially the Harrisburg Transportation Center.
Harrisburg is one of America’s last active stations with a traditional train shed over the platforms.
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania June 3, 2015. Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.
The last time I photographed this station was back in the summer of 1989 with my friend TSH on one of our big two-week long Pennsylvania-centered photo adventures. Back then we’d timed our visit to intercept Amtrak’s Broadway Limited. Hard to believe but its been about 20 years since Amtrak ceased running that classic train.
These photos were exposed on June 3, 2015 using my Fujifilm X-T1 and Lumix LX7 digital cameras. Back then I’d been using Kodachrome 25. For me, what is interesting is that in both instances the lighting conditions were about the same.
Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.A westward Norfolk Southern autorack train passes the Harrisburg passenger station with the Savanna & Atlantic heritage locomotive. Exposed with my Fuji X-T1.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.Fujifilm X-T1 digital photograph.
June 3, 2015 was a lucky day. I’d traveled to Harrisburg on Amtrak’s Keystone to visit Kurt Bell at the Pennsylvania State Archives to research for a book. I don’t make it Harrisburg very often, and while there are lots of interesting items in the archives, all study and no photography makes Brian dull and edgy. (pardon the referring myself in the 3rd person but it was a necessary allusion.
So afterwards, I wandered around the city, took a look at the Susquehanna River Bridges, then up to explore the view from the bridge over the old Pennsylvania Railroad west of the Amtrak station.
As it happens this is good in both directions. And in the course of just a few minutes I had trains east and then west.
I was surprised by the westward train. ‘What’s this?’ I thought when the locomotives came around the corner by the station shed. ‘That’s not an ordinary Norfolk Southern locomotive.’ Hardly.
A westward Norfolk Southern autorack train 15J passes the Harrisburg passenger station. Exposed with my Fuji X-T1.
Savanna & Atlantic heritage locomotive passes the restored Harris Tower. Exposed with my Fuji X-T1.I was blessed in my fortuitous timing. XT-1 close up view.
My good fortune! It was locomotive 1065 painted for Southern Railway affiliate Savanna & Atlanta. Hooray! Well, that makes up last week’s trip to the Hoosac Tunnel
I’m glad I didn’t waste too much time looking at the Susquehanna, I might have missed this! After the train went by, I rang my friend Paul Goewey in Massachusetts to check the internet to find out what train I’d seen. (My scanner was in Philadelphia, good place for it, right?) Later he got back to me with the details: symbol freight 15J.
