{"id":43934,"date":"2026-04-05T06:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T10:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=43934"},"modified":"2026-04-03T10:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T14:33:09","slug":"conrail-gp30-42-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/conrail-gp30-42-years-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"Conrail GP30\u201442 Years Ago!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In April 1984, on one of our countless rail-photo excursions together, my father and I paused to photograph this set of Conrail locomotives near the former Lehigh Valley Oak Island Yards in Newark, New Jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>GP30 2175 caught my attention, as I always admired the unusual semi-streamlined cab that characterised this EMD classic diesel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although I have a number of Conrail GP30 photos, this is one of the few images I have of a former Reading Company unit, which today makes it special, since I embarked on a project to re-imagine the Reading in HO-scale several years ago (presently in hiatus while I embark on more Reading research).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Conrail&#8217;s early years were an exciting time for me. I don&#8217;t think Pop was as impressed, but he brought me to many neat places across the east to watch and photograph Conrail, which was the greatest show around at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"474\" height=\"315\" data-attachment-id=\"43935\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/conrail-gp30-42-years-ago\/conrail_2175_at_oak_island_nj_april_1984brian_solomon_664503\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2175_at_Oak_Island_NJ_April_1984\u00a9Brian_Solomon_664503.jpg?fit=2048%2C1360\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1360\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1449009829&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Conrail_2175_at_Oak_Island_NJ_April_1984\u00a9Brian_Solomon_664503\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2175_at_Oak_Island_NJ_April_1984\u00a9Brian_Solomon_664503.jpg?fit=709%2C471\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2175_at_Oak_Island_NJ_April_1984\u00a9Brian_Solomon_664503.jpg?fit=474%2C315\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2175_at_Oak_Island_NJ_April_1984\u00a9Brian_Solomon_664503.jpg?resize=474%2C315&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43935\" style=\"width:800px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2175_at_Oak_Island_NJ_April_1984\u00a9Brian_Solomon_664503.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2175_at_Oak_Island_NJ_April_1984\u00a9Brian_Solomon_664503.jpg?resize=709%2C471 709w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2175_at_Oak_Island_NJ_April_1984\u00a9Brian_Solomon_664503.jpg?resize=1022%2C679 1022w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2175_at_Oak_Island_NJ_April_1984\u00a9Brian_Solomon_664503.jpg?resize=205%2C136 205w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2175_at_Oak_Island_NJ_April_1984\u00a9Brian_Solomon_664503.jpg?resize=1536%2C1020 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2175_at_Oak_Island_NJ_April_1984\u00a9Brian_Solomon_664503.jpg?w=948 948w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2175_at_Oak_Island_NJ_April_1984\u00a9Brian_Solomon_664503.jpg?w=1422 1422w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Kodachrome 64 exposed with a Leica 3A fitted with 50mm Summitar lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, one of Conrail&#8217;s GP30s is preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Old 2233 will be one of the topics of my next class on railroad photography at the museum, scheduled for April 14, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To register for the class see:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/railroad-photography-prr-to-penn-central-to-conrail-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1985578201852?aff=oddtdtcreator\">https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/railroad-photography-prr-to-penn-central-to-conrail-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1985578201852?aff=oddtdtcreator<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"474\" height=\"243\" data-attachment-id=\"43936\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/conrail-gp30-42-years-ago\/conrail_2233_and_e44_4465_dsc_3832-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2233_and_E44_4465_DSC_3832.jpg?fit=2048%2C1048\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1048\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON Z 6&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1740503422&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;BrianSolomon&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;36&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.02&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Conrail_2233_and_E44_4465_DSC_3832\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2233_and_E44_4465_DSC_3832.jpg?fit=709%2C363\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2233_and_E44_4465_DSC_3832.jpg?fit=474%2C243\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2233_and_E44_4465_DSC_3832.jpg?resize=474%2C243&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43936\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2233_and_E44_4465_DSC_3832.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2233_and_E44_4465_DSC_3832.jpg?resize=709%2C363 709w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2233_and_E44_4465_DSC_3832.jpg?resize=1022%2C523 1022w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2233_and_E44_4465_DSC_3832.jpg?resize=205%2C105 205w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2233_and_E44_4465_DSC_3832.jpg?resize=1536%2C786 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2233_and_E44_4465_DSC_3832.jpg?w=948 948w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2233_and_E44_4465_DSC_3832.jpg?w=1422 1422w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Tracking the Light looks back on Conrail!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In April 1984, on one of our countless rail-photo excursions together, my father and I paused to photograph this set of Conrail locomotives near the former Lehigh Valley Oak Island Yards in Newark, New Jersey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6060,10,6108,48],"tags":[5186,8600],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Conrail_2175_at_Oak_Island_NJ_April_1984\u00a9Brian_Solomon_664503.jpg?fit=2048%2C1360","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2BVuC-bqC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43934"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43934"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43937,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43934\/revisions\/43937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}