A Snowy Night at Poughkeepsie Station

A Snowy Night at Poughkeepsie Station

Ahhh, the heady olfactory mix of falling snow and soupçons of departing and idling diesels on a winter night...

As a powdery snowfall swirls at the Poughkeepsie Railroad Station on this December 20 night, an Amtrak Empire Service train bound for Albany glides away from the platform, powered by two P32AC-DM dual-mode diesel-electric locomotives, the one seen here pushing from the rear, while a Metro North Railroad Hudson Line train bound for New York's Grand Central Terminal awaits its departure time from its northern terminus.

The Metro North consist also runs on P32AC-DM power, but with only one unit, seen here at "rear" of train, the convention being that locomotives always face "outbound" at GCT, with the train operated from a control cab at
the opposite end on the way back to New York.

These dual-mode locomotives are equipped with third-rail pick-up shoes for the initial/last parts of their journeys from/into Manhattan - for Amtrak, the West End line into Pennsylvania station, for Metro North, the long tunnel from 97th Street into Grand Central, a 50+ block journey under Gotham's streets.

Happily, I thought to bring along my Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art Lens, whose fast glass allowed me
to use fairly conservative ISO settings on my Canon 5D Mk IV in shooting these night trains.

©2024 Steve Ember