Westbound at Harpers Ferry

Westbound at Harpers Ferry

I'm not always glad to have as many miles on the odometer when, as I kneel
down behind a tripod, a knee joint reminds me it's not as supple as it once was...

But it all goes away when I find a film image like this one that reminds me I was around when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad operated passenger trains behind handsome EMD E-units and my youthful ears took in the hearty growl/whine of multiple 567 prime movers notching up as a train departed and the youthful nostrils took in the heady aroma of their exhaust, my youthful camera-pressed eyes taking in the distinctive blue, gray, black and gold livery of this classy railroad.

Wearing the classic livery that adorned the B&O's original Electro-Motive streamlined diesel electric locomotives from the time of their introduction, two of their progeny, E7 No.1426 on the point and an E8 companion unit power this westbound passenger train as it pulls into Harpers Ferry, West Virginia on an afternoon in the early '60s.

The train has just emerged from the tunnel in Braddock Heights (MD) onto the bridge across the Potomac River. (*)

In the background, at right, another bridge across the Potomac carries a branch line from
Winchester, Virginia. Those tracks converge with the main line at the mouth of the tunnel.

This is the photograph's first appearance.
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©2021 Steve Ember
(*)