Burlington Route 4-8-4 No. 5621 on a westbound freight clatters across the Illinois Central diamonds at Mendota, Ill., as it slows for a coal and water stop in September 1954. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
CB&Q Northern at Mendota
Section: Photo of the Day
Seaboard Coast Line’s Silver Meteor
The New York–Miami Silver Meteor heels to a curve near Sebring, Fla., on March 30, 1970, nearly 3 years after the Seaboard + Atlantic Coast Line merger. At 17 cars, the train is a testament to the enduring strength of the New York–Florida rail travel market. William T. Morgan photo […]
NYC’s Knickerbocker departs St. Louis
In the early 1950s, two E8s ease New York Central train 24, the Knickerbocker, out of St. Louis Union Station at the start of the train’s journey to New York. Wayne P. Ellis photo […]
Pennsy P5a in the snow
Pennsylvania Railroad P5a electric 4737 brings a freight into Philadelphia from the west after a heavy snowfall in early 1958. The motor is passing the station at Overbrook, easternmost of the suburban stops on the Main Line to Paoli. Aaron G. Fryer photo […]
IC’s original Green Diamond
Illinois Central’s first streamliner, delivered in 1936, was the Green Diamond, a fully articulated aluminum train built by Pullman-Standard and powered by Electro-Motive with a Winton diesel engine. It is pictured at 47th Street, Chicago, near the end of its regular run from St. Louis. Philip Korst Jr. photo […]
Fast freight on the Nickel Plate
Well into the 1950s, the Nickel Plate Road believed its superb 2-8-4 Berkshires to be better than diesels for its fast freight service. Because it dieselized late, NKP had no freight cab units, only road-switchers. Don Wood photo […]
Interlocking tower at Shawano, Wis.
A brick interlocking tower guards the crossing of Soo Line (left to right in photo) and Chicago & North Western trackage in Shawano, Wis. Gordon Odegard photo […]
Frisco heavy 2-8-2
The Frisco’s 4200-series Mikados of 1930 were among the most powerful 2-8-2s on any railroad. They were rated at 68,500 lbs. tractive effort — 78,100 lbs. with booster — and could wheel fast freights at 50 mph. Frank E. Ardrey photo […]
SP piggyback train
For a time in the 1950s, Southern Pacific had the most extensive piggyback operations in the land. Here a train bound from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area climbs Santa Susana Pass near Chatsworth, Calif. Classic Trains coll. […]
Soo Line overnighter leaving Chicago
Handsome 4-8-2 No. 4018 marches away from Chicago’s Grand Central Station with Soo Line train 17 for Duluth, Minn., with cars for Minneapolis and Ashland, Wis., in May 1949. Harold Stirton photo […]
GM&O RS1 at Joliet
The engineer of a Gulf, Mobile & Ohio RS1 eyes the photographer as his locomotive clatters across the Rock Island diamonds at Joliet, Ill., in 1951. The Alco and a caboose are bound for GM&O’s South Joliet yard. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
Inside GN’s 1951 Empire Builder
The 1951 edition of Great Northern’s flagship train, which the road called the Mid-Century Empire Builder at the time, included a 60-seat coach for short-haul passengers. GN photo […]
