Favorite Trains
Photographs by Tom Trencansky

Train and more trains, catching the railfan bug early, some of the best times of my life have been photographing trains.  The best part?  Many of the trips have been with family and friends and each photograph brings back those great memories.  This web page was created to show some of my favorite photographs along with sharing a few of the memories.

Wellsville Addison & Galeton F7A 2200 trundles along the river east of Galeton, PA on a beautiful summer morning [July 21, 1978].  The fog has just lifted and the train is heading for its junction with Conrail to drop its only freight, one single boxcar.  Time is ticking and the lack of freight a telltale sign that the end is near for this railroad.  Today, I was all alone, taking a day from work to photograph the only WAG train in two weeks.  The air was fresh and the sound of that lonely horn echoing across the valley will be remembered always. And what about that centercab?  Long-stored and out-of-service WAG GE 1700 was in the shop and getting fitted to operate the following day for a potential buyer.  On just the speculation of finally photographing one of these rare units, this fan made another round trip to Galeton the following day.  The WAG passed into history but my memories and my photographs remain.

Westbound Rio Grande Zephyr races alongside us during its last week of operation in April, 1983.  The F-units sound great as they accelerate the train towards Utah.  Rain in Denver had turned to snow in the mountains but soon will turn to sunshine and warm spring temperatures as the train makes its way westward.  The end of the era is near and later this week, the final Zephyr will depart Denver's Union Station forever.  This week has been spent with a roundtrip from New York to Denver on Amtrak and photographing the many railroads in the Denver, Colorado area.  Night photography has always been a favorite pastime and we made sure to catch the Zephyr in the station as it unloaded passengers.  F9 5771 made an excellent portrait on the cool April evening.

Steam locomotives had already been replaced by diesels when I became interested in railroads.  That fact, by no means would stop me from finding and photographing some sharp looking and sounding steam.  Arcade & Attica 18 would be photographed on a hot summer night in 1990, posed with my daughters Lisa & Maria on a family trip that would combine family activities and trains.  Memories are so precious.  Many states and communities work to preserve our history and heritage.  Cass Scenic Railroad in West Virginia maintains a stable of old logging locomotives and a right-of-way that climbs the the top of the mountain.  The railroad hosts several railfan and photography weekends each year in which fans can see, photograph and ride behind these classic trains.  Mainline steam was long-gone but there were still excellent opportunities to see big steam in action.  1971 would find me visiting the Western Maryland Railway in Hagerstown, MD to view Nickel Plate 2-8-4 759.  Photographer J.J. Young and I would follow her north towards a new home at Steamtown in Vermont but on this day, the shop forces are hard at work to ready her for the journey.  This view at the Hagerstown Roundhouse is one of my favorite all time views, not just the trains but those memories.  Now, 30-years later, this particular locomotive sits at Steamtown in Scranton, PA and the hope that she will again steam is always a distant promise.  Maybe someday.  But, until then, there are great memories of her storming across the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg, drifting down over Starrucca Viaduct and her final journey north over the D&H.  

Pennsylvania plays host to several railroad operations that maintain steam locomotives. Blue Mountain & Reading hosted many excursions over the years and we would find their steam and diesel together at the West Cressona, PA depot on June 7, 1992.  That headlight, searching through the crisp springtime air made the long evening trek worthwhile.  The former Reading Shops in Reading, PA was home at various times to both steam and diesel restoration projects.  Many fans attended a night session in which Reading 2102 posed with a restored CNJ RS3 and PRR E-unit.  Railfanning that evening, June 27, 1986 is nearly 20 years ago and yet the memory seems like just last week.  Pennsylvania holds many treasures including rare and interesting diesels, caught over the years.  A visit to a friend near Pittsburgh would allow me to borrow his car and chase into WVA to follow a pair of Monongahela Railway sharknose diesels back to Brownsville, PA.  A friendly crew allowed a brief ride and would have even allowed me to ride the entire trip with the promise of a crew member driving me back to get my friend's car.  Unfortunately, he needed to be picked up from school so time would not allow such an adventure but the day spent with the sharks will always live in both memory and photos.  The Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern Railroad is an excursion line in eastern PA that owns and operates an old military wartime Whitcomb centercab [WWII].  The locomotive was first discovered by my friend and I working the huge Gulf Oil refinery in South Philadelphia, PA.  Through our efforts, it passed in ownership to our local Cornell Railroad Historical Society [Cornell University, Ithaca, NY] before the CRHS transferred it to the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society [ARHS] and ultimately the WK&S.  Repainted into a replica of the same units the Lehigh & New England RR used, it was photographed pulling an old L&NE caboose in heavy fog.  The ARHS is an active historical group which also owns and maintains several other diesels including this CNJ F3 set.  The locomotives were assigned to operate tourist trains in Jim Thorpe, PA where we caught them on in May, 1991.  The locomotives still provide similar service today, more than a decade later, thanks to the dedicated folks at ARHS.  

Steam would draw me south again with family, this time to Cumberland, MD to view the Western Maryland Scenic RR's trip to Frostburg, MD.  This view is WMS 2-8-0 #734 and crew waiting for the return run in September 1994.  The shade offered little comfort on this hot summery day.  What always brought up the end of the train but a caboose?  and this is how I can close this short look into my own word of favorite trains.  

Once again, at the museum at the WK&S in Wanamaker, PA, we photographed a former Reading caboose in thick Pennsylvania fog.  Illuminating it from behind with our old antique flashbulbs would burn the silhouette into an image that has brought up the conclusion of many of my slide programs, as it will here.