Ivan Safyan Abrams:
In the long-departed days of Penn Central, the railroad was perenially short of motive power. One solution was to acquire a large fleet of EMD 2,000 horsepower GP38 locomotives, such as 7777 shown here at Kiski Junction, Pennsylvania, 1976
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Two Penn Central SD40 locomotives pull a short westbound freight train upgrade around Horseshoe Curve on the former Pennsylvania Railroad between Altoona and Gallitzen, Pennsylvania. 1975
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
And then there was the right-of-way...not all of Penn Central's trackage was overgrown but this scene could have been duplicated in many places along the railroad. GP38 7784 stands in for a weed whacker, on the Herminie Branch southeast of PIttsburgh, PA.
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Chicago Amtrak yards with the "Southwest Chief", formerly Santa Fe's "Super Chief" in the foreground. August, 1977
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Eastbound freight comes down the "slide" from the summit at Gallitzen, on the ex-PRR 4-track "broadway" near Altoona, Pennsylvania. 1876
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
B&O in the Alleghanies, Oakland, Maryland, winter, 1977. A GP40, GP38 and GP30 head west in Maryland's mountains (and yes, they're Alleghanies here, Alleghenies in Pennsylvania).
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
An SD40 and an SD45 push a westbound Penn Central freight train upgrade at Slope interlocking, Altoona, Pennsylvania, 1977.
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
With the University of PIttsburgh's landmark Cathedral of Learning in the background, and the Frick Fine Arts buildin in the middle, the Carnegie Museum and Library on the right. the B&O adds further interest with a train. 1966
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
The Chessie Steam Special at the former Wildwood Coal Mine complex, on B&O's BR&P line north of Pittsburgh, 1977.
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Eidenau, Pennsylvania, north of PIttsburgh, was a junction of B&O lines, and still serves the Allegheny Valley RR. This shot is from 1977.
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
ALCO cab units are extremely rare in 2013, but in 1966, they could be seen daily on B&O's line through Panther Hollow in Pittsburgh.
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) northbound freight train passes under the Panther Hollow bridge linking Pittsburgh's Oakland section with Schenley Park. 5 cab units (4 EMD F7's and 1 ALCO FA2) provide 7500 horsepower for the upgrade run, 1966
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Pennsylvania Railroad Baldwin RF-16A Sharknose diesel-electrics 9596 and a companion lead a train on the PRR at Homewood Station, Pittsburgh, PA, October, 1964. This is my only shot of the Sharks in service on the PRR.
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Cumberland, Maryland, B&O mainline, taken from our trackside room in the Holiday Inn, 1976. There are 3 types of EMD locomotives in this shot, an SD35, a GP38, and a GP7.
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Canadian National Railways MLW FPA4 creates its own snow squall as it crosses a bridge east of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Winter, 1978
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Baltimore and Ohio traffic in Panther Hollow, Oakland, Pittsburgh PA., in 1975. There are an ALCO S-2, two EMD GP9's, and an EMD SD35 in this photo. I took the photo with Bill Metzger's Leica M3, which he loaned to me for this impromptu photo excursion.
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Penn Central SD40 6261, bigger than two houses, and then some...Altoona, Pennsylvania, summer, 1974
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Bessemer and Lake Erie F7A on the Western Allegheny, a short line built by the PRR then acquired by the B&LE, and the location of many coal mines and loadouts. Near Kaylor, Pennsylvania, Summer, 1973
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
The ever-changing Toronto, Ontario, skyline, with a GO Train in the foreground. Photo shot from Bathhurst Street bridge. 1974
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Penn Central local freight at the Avondale, Pennsylvania, coaling tower in 1976. Avondale was the location where Matt Damon's recent film, "Promised Land", was shot.
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the former PRR passenger train yards. The cars on the right are the Freedom Train exhibit cars, being delivered to California. 1975
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
3 CNR GP40W locomotives haul a short trailer-on-flatcar train along the shore of Lake Ontario, at HAmilton, Ontario, 1974
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
The American Freedom Train on display in PIttsburgh's Pennsylvania Station, 1976.
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Deutsches Bundesbahn (DB) steam at Trier Locomotive Depot in Germany's Mosul Valley, summer, 1971.
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
The Chessie Steam Special working upgrade into Eidenau, on B&O's Buffalo, Rochester, and PIttsburgh line, 1978
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
The Chessie Steam Special climbs east slope of B&O's Sand Patch grade near Mance, PA, 1978
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Ex-RDG T-1 4-8-4 2102 heads across the former PRR bridge over the Ohio River at McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. An hour or so earlier, the locomotive had come down from Pittsburgh on the P&LE tracks at the bottom of the photograph. 1976
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
Ex-Grand Trunk Western USRA Light 2-8-2 4070 southbound on the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie with an excursion train, autumn, 1977
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
This bridge, on the former PRR in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, is never lit from the front, instead it's backlit all day. Despite that, I've never been able to resist taking photos of trains on the bridge, backlit or not. Spring, 1976.
Ivan Safyan Abrams:
On a dreary day in Pittsburgh, ex-Grand Trunk Western USRA Light 2-8-2 awakens the South Side as it pulls an excursion train south on the P&LE. 1974
