#Newark | Tracking the Light

The GP38 was introduced the same year as me, which gives me a certain fondness for this EMD classic diesel. Amtrak’s GP38-3s represent an upgrading of old GP38/GP38-2 models to more modern standards.

In March, I was visiting with my friend Doug Scott on the station platform at Newark, Delaware. We heard a distant whistle and after a while and unscheduled train approached Davis interlocking (east of the station) on a secondary track. This was an Amtrak maintenance-of-way move carrying a Loram ballast cleaning train and some freshly shopped Amfleet cars.

The train entered the mainline, pulled up to the station and stopped in front of us to change directions. This was a nice surprise. Leading was Amtrak GP38-3 744 wearing fresh Phase 7 paint. It was the first of this class of locomotives that I’de seen wearing Amtrak’s latest interpretation of its classic livery.

The locomotive, now 54 years old was built new for Penn Central as its 8032 in 1972. Gosh, it is an antique!

In addition to this selection of digital photos, I also exposed a few slides, and in fact finished off the roll of Ektachrome the I’d loaded into my dad’s old Leica M4.

A lot of Amtrak color in this photo; GP38-3 744 holds on the mainline as an eastward (northward) Regional train zips by with ACS-64 642 at the back. This was painted to support America’s Veterans.

Tracking the Light Explores Photography Each and Every Day!

I realize I’m a bit late off the mark.

Last Friday, I finally captured my first action photos of Amtrak’s NextGen Acela on the move.

I wanted to photograph this high-speed train at full speed as it passed a landmark structure, so I set up an elevated vantage point across from the old Pennsylvania Railroad station in Newark, Delaware.

When the blue-white headlights of Acela service 2108 came into view, I was ready with my Z6. I set the motor drive to “H*” for a rapid sequence of images and dialed the shutter speed to 1/4000 of a second to freeze the action.

I fired off a burst as the sleek new high-speed train blitzed past.

Wow!