Tag Archives: #Low Grade

photography

Through the Girders

After photographing the head end of Norfolk Southern 36A at Washington Boro, Pa., we drove to Safe Harbor, where I made a speedy walk into the darkness. The massive girders of the trestle, built for Pennsylvania Railroad’s Atglen & Susquehanna Branch, loomed above me.

Although night had fallen, a hint of sunset remained in the western sky. I had an angle in mind that I hoped would capture the scale of the enormous viaduct.

Using my iPhone as a flashlight, I set up my 3Pod tripod just as the headlights of the eastward freight began to illuminate the tracks below.

I made several photos of the passing train, of which these two are my favorites.

Although these were exposed using a 50mm lens, next time I’d like to try a telephoto view.

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Success at Safe Harbor

Persistence. Patience. Planning. (And an understanding wife!)

For more than two years, I’ve been trying to photograph an eastward train on the Port Road Secondary from the Enola Low Grade Trail at Safe Harbor.

I’ve made at least 30 visits to Safe Harbor. I’ve climbed the steps to the trail no less than a dozen times.

While I’ve caught a westward train from a perch on the old Low Grade; and I’ve made a nocturnal sequence of a coal train from below the Low Grade trestle, my vision of catching a eastward train had from the bridge had thus far remained elusive.

My friend Dan Cupper had shown me his version of a Norfolk Southern train here, and in scouring the archives at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania I found Kodachrome views of PRR electrics by the late James P. Schuman, which inspired my persistence.

My-wife-Kris, Seamus-the-Dog, and I live just 15 minutes from the bridge.

The other evening, Kris and I were on our evening drive. My thoughts of exploring Marietta were foiled by a serious automobile accident at the intersection of PA Routes 772 and 441 that detoured us eastward. So instead we drove to Columbia, and continued on toward Washington Boro, as we have done countless times in darkness.

At Washington Boro the signals displayed ‘clear’ for an eastward movement. There was still an hour’s daylight in the sky.

“This is my best shot at Safe Harbor.”

Patience paid off.

Tracking the Light makes its own Luck!