“TlMBER!” It was that cry ringing across West Virginia’s Appalachian slopes that put loads on the flat cars of the Cherry River Boom & Lumber Company’s Railroad, and cash in the company coffers. Once the Cherry River trundled 100 million board feet of lumber a year down to the mill at Richwood. But timber grows […]
Roanoke, Va., headquarters of the former Norfolk & Western Railway and once known as the “Alamo for Steam,” is home to the renowned East End Shops. This facility, still standing today, was where the bulk of the railroad’s steam fleet was built. Among these were three locomotive classes from the 1940s-50s, known as the “Big […]
Thirty years after its grand opening as a unit of the National Park Service, Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pa., is at a crossroads. Whether you admire or disdain it, know nothing about it, or simply hope for its survival, it remains a significant railroad preservation effort. Steamtown has the potential to expand the […]
In the 1910s, Lawson Billinton of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway was tasked with designing a successor to the E1 Class 0-6-0T steam locomotives, designed by William Stroudley in 1874. The “answer” became the E2 Class 0-6-0T that would go on to have a complicated legacy during its flawed career and after its […]
Given the dangers inherent in the railroad industry, it’s no surprise the slogan “Safety First” has a long history with railroading, appearing on posters, signs, and other safety materials — and even turntable bridges like this one in the western Nebraska community of Chadron. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the first recorded use of […]
Freight on the Iron Range The Canadian-owned Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific line (now part of Canadian National) links the Midwestern United States with the CN’s east-west line in Ontario and provides CN with a direct route to the Port of Duluth on Lake Superior. According to The Historical Guide to North American Railroads, Third Edition […]
Railfanning spots with heavy rail traffic can be a magnet for enthusiasts and casual observers. The constant parade of one train after another with minimal lulls in between is alluring — and a stark contrast to places where waiting on a single train for hours can feel like watching paint dry. For those who don’t […]
Fairbanks-Morse, the Beloit, Wisconsin-based locomotive manufacturer, was celebrated for its powerful and innovative designs during the transition from steam to diesel. Nevertheless, not all of its creations achieved commercial success. The following examines three Fairbanks-Morse locomotive models that, despite their ambitious engineering, struggled to find a foothold in the market. Fairbanks-Morse H20-44 The H20-44, introduced […]
Time capsule When construction of Pennsylvania’s iron ore and coal-hauling East Broad Top began in 1872, more than 150 years ago, its builders decided it would be a narrow gauge line, with rails set 3-feet apart instead of the North American standard gauge of 4-feet, 8.5-inches. Narrow gauge offered significant advantages, as the smaller locomotives […]
Steam over Cumbres Pass On a sunny June morning in Antonito, Colorado, Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad’s 4-6-0 No. 168, built by Baldwin in 1883, is readied for another run over the mountains. Its relatively tall 46-inch drivers made it suitable for fast passenger service. Carl Swanson The 64-mile-long Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is […]
Most railfans will not dispute this statement: The most iconic General Electric locomotives to be employed by Amtrak were the Genesis series. These streamlined, monocoque-body (single shell) workhorses have been everywhere along the passenger carrier’s regional and long-distance services since the 1990s. The impact of the Genesis series locomotives can make it easy to forget […]
In introducing the issue-length article on Santa Fe’s 2-10-4s dominating the August 1975 issue of Trains Magazine, Editor David P. Morgan wrote: “We broke our word. We promised you after our single-subject issues in 1972 on L&Ns “Big Emma” 2-8-4 and Electro-Motive’s 50th anniversary that Trains would not publish any more all-steam or all-diesel editions. […]
