Two 4-8-4s, Baldwin products of 1943, lead a westbound freight with a long string of open hoppers through Sandy Hook, Mo., about 19 miles west of Jefferson City on Missouri Pacific’s River Line. The railroad had 15 such locomotives, Nos. 2201–2215, and 25 more home-built examples, Nos. 2101–2125. C. T. Wood photo […]
A McCloud River Railroad freight rolls thought Bartle, Calif., in July 1983. Lead unit No. 39 is the road’s sole SD38-2 while trailing unit 38 is the highest numbered of three SD38s. The logging and lumber road operated Baldwin diesels into the late 1960s. Jim Shaw photo […]
Labor intensive Hundred-pound sacks of flour are stacked in a single-sheathed Rock Island boxcar at Minneapolis in 1939. The paper lining helps protect the bags. John Vachon, Library of Congress photo […]
Hundreds of small towns had piggyback ramps through the 1960s, as seen here on the Minneapolis & St. Louis in 1959. However, moving one or two trailers at a time proved economically unviable. J. David Ingles collection […]
Norfolk & Western Y6 2-8-8-2 No. 2130, one of the road’s distinctive homegrown designs, works near Elliston, Va., 20 miles west of the road’s headquarters in Roanoke. It was one of 35 such locomotives built 1936–40. W. A. Akin Jr. photo […]
A string of single-sheathed boxcars awaits coopering at an elevator on the Milwaukee Road in Sisseton, S.Dak., in 1939. Single-sheathed boxcars could be found in grain service into the 1960s. John Vachon, Library of Congress photo […]
Michigan was and still is no stranger to railroads small yet unique enough to attract a following. The former Ann Arbor Railroad, not to be confused with today’s incarnation under Watco, certainly fit the bill with these 5 traits of the Ann Arbor Railroad that range from quirky to charming. More car ferry […]
Gainesville Midland 2-8-0 No. 301 switches at Gainesville, Ga., in the 1950s. The two-story building above its stack is the road’s headquarters and former depot. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
A Colorado & Southern train climbs toward Silver Plume, Colo., ducking under Devil’s Gate bridge on the Georgetown Loop shortly before the end of service in 1938. The bridge was restored for tourist trains in 1984. R. H. Kindig photo […]
A northbound Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac freight rolls into Alexandria, Va., almost at its destination of Potomac Yard, on Dec. 29, 1949. The A-B-A set of blue-and-gray F units is nearly brand new. Charles Wales photo […]
A variety of road-freight locomotives, including EMD Geeps and Alco FAs, stand at the servicing tracks at New York Central’s West Detroit, Mich., terminal in the early 1960s. J. David Ingles photo […]
Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 No. 4890 rolls past C Tower, a mile from its destination, Washington Union Station. This locomotive survives on display at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wis. E. John Long photo […]
