{"id":38840,"date":"2024-04-13T06:39:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-13T10:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=38840"},"modified":"2024-04-12T22:01:39","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T02:01:39","slug":"a-brief-look-at-the-old-crossline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/a-brief-look-at-the-old-crossline\/","title":{"rendered":"A brief look at the old Lebanon Valley Branch."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The portion of the former Reading Company’s Lebanon Valley Branch\/Crossline running between Reading and Harrisburg, PA is now operated by Norfolk Southern as the western end of its Harrisburg Line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the Conrail-era, this route has hosted the lion’s share of through freights moving east of Harrisburg toward the New York City and Philadelphia metro areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This heavily built line is signaled for two-main tracks [bi-directional signaling allows moves on signal indication in both directions on either track].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although conceptually interesting, I’ve found this to be a difficult route to photograph effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Saturday, Kris and I were exploring the area and visited the town of Richland, Pa., which is bisected by NS’s Harrisburg Line. Shortly after we parked east of the main crossing, I heard a roar to the west.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There’s a freight coming.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kris made a video with her phone, and I exposed a sequence of photos using my Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm lens and Lumix LX3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was an impressive mixed carload freight. Following the lead locomotives were 136 cars and a single-engine DPU (distributed power unit) at the back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The view at Richland was hardly the magnificent vista offered by the famous Horseshoe Curve, but it was a neat place to roll a train by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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