Charles Crouse lives near Lancaster, PA, and is enjoying retirement adjacent to Amtrak's improved Keystone Corridor. With increased frequencies, taking photos of this scenic route through the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country has rarely been so much fun. All of these photos were taken between May 2007 and January 2008.
To view larger versions of the images, simply click on the image. |
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AEM-7 No. 905 at Royalton, accelerating eastbound from a stop at near the Middletown station. The NS freight line along the Susquehanna River (PRR's Port Road) diverges at left. |
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AEM-7 No. 908 is at Elizabethtown, midway between Lancaster and Harrisburg, is one station, where all Keystone Corridor trains stop, The handsome two-level stone station has seen better days, and has lost its platform canopies. There are plans to refurbish the station. |
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P42 No. 98 leads train 42, the Pennsylvanian, eastbound across the Eby-Chiques Road grade crossing a few miles east of Mt. Joy. All grade crossings--three remain--on former PRR "Main Line" are due to be eliminated. |
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P42. No. 1 and the westbound Pennyslvanian kick up snow near Landisville. |
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The westbound Pennsylvanian in warmer weather at Cooper Avenue, Landisville, with P42 No. 40 doing the honors. |
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AEM-7 No. 928 with a westbound Keystone train has just passed under the Church Street overpass in Landisville. |
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P42 No. 64 and the westbound Pennsylvanian are coming off the stone arch bridge spanning Old Harrisburg Pike and the right-of-way of the long-gone Conestoga Traction Company's Elizabethtown line. |
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AEM-7 No. 919 and train 646 kick up snow near Landisville. |
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Cab car No. 9635 arrives at Lancaster Station with train 665. The tracks in the station have been upgraded, but the station building awaits a $12 million dollar renovation. The 9635 was originally Metroliner coach No. 823. |
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Train 650, in push-mode with cab No. 9636 leading swoops around the curve at Bird-in-Hand, while Amish buggies and tourist buses pass beneath the concrete overpass barely visible at extreme left. 9636 began life as Metroliner coach No. 816. |
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Train 650 again, this time with AEM-7 No. 939 in the lead at Ronks, flanked by Amish farm fields, worked by horse-power. |
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Train 646 with cab car No. 9649 at Irishtown Road, the easternmost of the three remaining grade crossings on the route. |
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Former Metroliner coach No. 806, now cab car No. 9641 passes beneath U.S. 30 at Leaman Place with train 648.. |
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The westbound Pennsylvanian with P42 No. 148 is at Christiana, a mile north of Atglen where the alignments of the passenger line to Lancaster and Harrisburg turns north from the alignment of the now-abandoned low-grade freight line to Safe Harbor, the Susquehanna River and Harrisburg. |
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The westbound Pennsylvanian passes through Pomeroy, a few miles west of Coatesville. |
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AEM-7 No. 942 leads train 642 across the high stone bridge over the Brandywine Creek, just west of the Coatesville station. |
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