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The Philadelphia Chapter of the

National Railway Historical Society

Established in 1936

 

Railfan Pictures of the Week - 12/13/2015


North Philadelphia Station Amtrak Northeast Corridor Philadelphia PA November 29 2015
 

The Sunday after Thanksgiving is one of Amtrak's busiest days of the year, Amtrak's Northeast Corridor is one of the busiest lines in the country, and North Philadelphia Station is one of the busiest stations on the NEC, if not for boardings, but for the number of trains passing and the variety of equipment. So sit back and watch the trains fly by.

 
This is the second of the Turkey Sunday series: Part One is here, Part Three is here.
 
AEM-7AC 908, one of the last 15 active Amtrak units, makes a trip north on Train 164. Soon the only railroads operating AEM-7's will be SEPTA and MARC. MARC has marked their AEM-7's and HHP-8's for retirement in 2017-2018, to be replaced by diesel-electric Siemens Chargers. That will leave SEPTA's "rolling museum" of seven AEM-7's and one ALP-44 to soldier on until 2018-2019 when its ACS-64's arrive (13 in the initial order with options for 5 more).
By this time next year, the Cities Sprinters will have replaced all the Toasters on Amtrak. ACS-64 642, decorated to honor veterans, has become a NEC favorite, here on Train 143.
One of the best things about North Philadelphia Station is the heads up you get. Amtrak has signals both north and south of the station, and the much slower freights on the former Track 0 can be easily spotted by their headlights in the distance. Just two minutes before the following photographs, nothing was in sight but with green signals on Tracks 2 and 3, something was up. When the headlight of NS 60N popped up, it was just a matter of the passenger trains showing up on time. As 60N approached the station, the southbound made its debut in the form of an Acela nose coming round the bend.
A quick turn to the south and Train 1054 with MARC equipment appeared, with HHP-8 4911 making the trip to NYC. MARC operates the last HHP-8's on the NEC, Amtrak having already retired its problem children by November 2014.
Had to go wide to get all three trains and the station in the shot.
Then as Acela Express 2211 neared, went tight to get all three trains in the shot.
Train 2211 went from passing the tail end of 60N to passing the nose in less than a minute.
 
 

All pictures November 29, 2015

Copyright © 2015 John P. Almeida

Photographs for personal use only. All rights reserved by original owner of image. Reproduction or redistribution in any form without express written permission is prohibited.

 
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Last Updated December 20, 2015


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