Towards the end of my semester break during the winter of 2024 I found another friend who was interested in trying out my old playbook of running the triangle route between Philly, Pittsburgh and Washington DC. 2005 would see a substantial curtailment of the, but in 2004 the old PRR Main Line was still hosting two trains in either direction and Pennsylvanian Train 43 departed 30th St Station around 9am, completing the full trip to Pittsburgh in daylight. The planned connection was to the eastbound Capitol Limited train 30 that had the same customary 530am departure, but naturally things don't always work out to play. You can check out the full set of photos here ( mirror ).
The morning begins with the still-in-service CORK tower in Lancaster PA.
Later at Harrisburg we pass a Keystone train with P42DC #17. At this
time the Keystone Corridor improvement project had necessitated the
electrification de-energized west of Thorndale so all Keystones were
diesel hauled.
Frozen Susquehanna River as seen from the Rockville Bridge.
The preserved HUNT tower in Huntington, PA.
Passing the Altoona Shoppes was all sorts of power on the dead line awaiting repair, rebuilding or disposal. In no particular order Conrail SD40-2 #3363, NS SD40-2 #3336, former-Southern hi-hood SD40 #3175, NS MP15DC shoppe switcher #2422, wreck damaged Conrail C40-8 #8311, high hood NS GP38AC #2869, high hood SD40 #3174, former Conrail SD50 #6507, Conrail B23-7 #1949 and finally Conrail SD40-2 helper pair #3380 and #3370.
