Rockville Bridge Across the Susquehanna River

My oldest sister and I have been planning a bus trip to Atlantic City for months. It had been several years since our last visit, and we were very excited about it. On Saturday, I drove to my sister's house to spend the night. Our bus to Atlantic City would pick us up in Harrisburg first thing on Sunday morning, for a two-day, one-night stay at the Trump Taj Mahal.

On the way to my sister's late Saturday afternoon, I stopped at a scenic view to snap a few photos of the Rockville Bridge, which spans the Susquehanna River just north of Harrisburg. At 3,820 feet long, it is the largest stone arch railroad bridge in the world. It is still used by Amtrak and Norfolk Southern; in this shot, you can see a train crossing the bridge.

Trains hold a special appeal for me because I come from a railroading family. My father, who will turn 82 in early June, had a long career with the railroad. He worked for more than 40 years - and supported a wife and six children - working as a railroad brakeman at the Enola train yards. The Enola yards where he worked (located just a short distance from where this photo was taken) were once the largest railroad freight yards in the world.

You may recall from my comments on my May 14 photo that I was stewing over which camera to take along on our Atlantic City trip: my older, smaller, cheaper Canon SX120 IS, or the newer, bigger, better Canon SX40 HS.

As the weather called for some rain during our trip (and possibly significant amounts of rain on Monday), in the end I decided to take the smaller SX120 IS camera, which I could easily fit into a pocket or fanny pack if it rained. So that's the camera that I had along, and what I used for this shot.

My sister and I plan another Atlantic City trip in September. My sister (a confirmed "local" after many years of living in nearby Marysville) says she knows a secret location along the river where she can take me to get some close-up pictures of the Rockville Bridge. So perhaps in September, you'll get to see the Rockville Bridge from an additional, more close-up vantage point!