Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: general electric

This was the first look I ever got at a G.E. Genesis P32, in Albany-Rensselear on my way back from Washington, DC (after I had had my first-ever train ride at over 90 m.p.h.). Some people have said that this shot is blurry. That's because the camera was a point-and-shoot, and the scan wasn't top-notch either. Oh well... In those days, the P32s didn't work all the way to Buffalo and Niagara Falls as they do now, but were cut off at Albany-Rensselaer just as the old FL9s had been (and still were when I took this). We had an F40PH take us the rest of the way home, and that was my second-fastest-ever trip on a train as of then!!!

I took this while on the same tour as when I took my older Berea Tower photo. I apologize for the poor resolution of the scan, but it's almost as old as the photo!

The location of this photo is at least as obvious as the one above, since it has "Berea" and Berea Tower in the picture!! Actually, the scan isn't good enough to read the sign in this shot. I'm not aware of whether this train was the same manifest as in the previous shot with the water tower, but note that the locomotive is also a G.E. Dash 8-40CW.

This train, as incredible as it may seem, appears to be a reefer express, with a lashup of old 2nd Generation diesels to match (if you count SD50s and SD60s 2nd Generation, it's not very easy to identify all the power in this photo). In actuality, there isn't any evidence that this train was a genuine reefer express, as most of it is out of the picture.

Obviously, it's not possible to get a shot like this except for when you're on an organized tour! I was, however, one of the lucky ones. This train appears to be a UP unit coal train, and it was indeed a unit coal train, but I'm more than 90% certain the power was leased by Conrail, as these were Conrail tracks in 1997. I'm not aware of UP coming this far east...ever, and UP were a common lessor to Conrail in those days. Still it makes a cool title for my photo. :-)

This shot goes with...well..."Union Pacific Coal Train From Berea Tower." This one is shot from the other end of the tower, after the head end passed, and gives us a view of the hoppers, which appear to be 49' 100-ton coal tri-hoppers.

I'm sure that many of you will recognize this photo from a previous post. As you'll recall, I had always intended to rescan this, so I had a photo lab do it, and here's the result. I hope you all like it. :-)

Here's one of my favorite all-time shots on the Water Level Route, with Amtrak leading an Empire Service train out of the notorious Gulf Curve!! I've always though this was quite dramatic, even if some serious photographers consider it boring.

Mixed power was still a bit rare on the Water Level Route in 2000, but getting more common all the time with the Conrail sale and the subsequent explosion in traffic. This consist, though, was still something special, as it had a G.E. Dash 7 still in Family Lines colors!! I caught this in Little Falls, NY while out train chasing.