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Between Parkesburg and Atglen the Main Line and the Low Grade parallel each other in the westernmost sector of the Chester Valley. Road bridges over the tracks provided Jim Shuman with great photo opportunities of trains on both lines framed by the North Hills. This natural gateway was once also home to the tracks of the Conestoga Traction's line to Coatesville, whose abandoned right of way is visible to the left of the freight line. E2b 4941 is one of four of its class turned out in 1951 by General Electric as a potential replacement for the P5as with which the new units could multiple, as here an with eastbound train. The GE units joined experimental units from Baldwin-Westinghouse in response to the PRR's call in 1948 for a freight motor to replace the P5as, whose performance had always fallen below expectations. While not a failure, neither were they so successful that the company chose to invest in a repeat order, other than purchasing the two additional members of the class built by GE to demonstrate on the Great Northern and New Haven in 1952. (James P. Shuman)

Photograph from Trackside Under Pennsy Wires James P. Shuman, by Jeremy F. Plant.

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