Tim Stockwell
Happy Birthday, Amtrak!
Alright, I'll throw in a photo in honor of Amtrak's 50th birthday. For most of my 20 years (give or take) in the hobby of railroad photography, Amtrak was usually an afterthought. Like many of you, I always preferred shooting freight. However, I have fond memories of my dad taking me by Albany-Rensselaer station as a kid where I was able to both see and hear Amtrak's FL9s. There's no doubt that Amtrak's P32s are nowhere near as cool or attractive looking as their FL9s were, but when Amtrak started repainting most of their fleet of P32s into an "Empire Service" version of the Phase III scheme the FL9s wore, my interest was piqued. Since then, I've slowly but surely made more of an effort to photograph these engines. One such opportunity was on April 18, 2017. I was on my way home from a very successful day of chasing the NYS&W's UT-1 job when I decided to stop in Little Falls to shoot a couple trains. Amtrak Train 283 came through in its usual late afternoon window, making for this shot. I know I'm probably in the minority, but I'd take an engine in this scheme over a dirty CSX GE in YN3 paint any day...
Happy Birthday, Amtrak!
Alright, I'll throw in a photo in honor of Amtrak's 50th birthday. For most of my 20 years (give or take) in the hobby of railroad photography, Amtrak was usually an afterthought. Like many of you, I always preferred shooting freight. However, I have fond memories of my dad taking me by Albany-Rensselaer station as a kid where I was able to both see and hear Amtrak's FL9s. There's no doubt that Amtrak's P32s are nowhere near as cool or attractive looking as their FL9s were, but when Amtrak started repainting most of their fleet of P32s into an "Empire Service" version of the Phase III scheme the FL9s wore, my interest was piqued. Since then, I've slowly but surely made more of an effort to photograph these engines. One such opportunity was on April 18, 2017. I was on my way home from a very successful day of chasing the NYS&W's UT-1 job when I decided to stop in Little Falls to shoot a couple trains. Amtrak Train 283 came through in its usual late afternoon window, making for this shot. I know I'm probably in the minority, but I'd take an engine in this scheme over a dirty CSX GE in YN3 paint any day...