Several weeks back, our friend Wayne Duffett had business on Pennsylvania’s Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad, a short line that operates a short segment of the former Reading Company. Wayne posed with the railroad’s vintage GE 65 ton diesel number 2. Later, we drove to Middletown, where we had lunch in the classic Brownstone Cafe on Union Street.
After lunch the railroad fired up its antque former Western Maryland Alco S6 switcher to do a little work. Stay tuned for views of the grand old Alco at work . . .
I made two visits to the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad about three weeks apart.
The first was on an overcast January afternoon, the second on an early February evening. On both visits, I made photos of the railroad’s antique locomotives using my Nikon Z7-II mirrorless digital camera.
The light was more uniform on the first vist, but had better color and mood on the second visit.
It has been about 15 years since I last photographed a M&H train on the move.
January 2023.January 2023.February 2023.February 2023.
In March, Kris and I stopped by the Middletown & Hummelstown railroad yard in its namesake town.
My last visit here was in 2009.
I made a few photos of M&H’s rare diesel locomotives, which includes an Alco S-6 switcher, an Alco T-6 switcher (that was one of last diesels built by Alco before it exited the domestic locomotive market) and a GE 65-ton center cab.
While I exposed a handful of black & white photos on film, I also made these digital images with my Nikon Z6.
Middletown & Hummelstown Alco S-6 diesel switcher is painted for Western Maryland, the locomotive’s original owner.
In 2007 while working on my book Railroads of Pennsylvania, I visited the Middletown & Hummelstown, a short line operating a short section of the former Reading Company.
I made this 2 1/4 inch square Fujichrome transparency using my Rolleiflex Model T.
The focus of the image was the Alco Products builder’s plate on the model T-6 switcher.
