July 1958 in railroad history
One of steam’s greatest chapters comes to a close July 2 when class S-2 No. 746 makes the last revenue freight trip of a Nickel Plate Road Berkshire, Bellevue-Conneaut, Ohio. . . .
Fan trips: Burlington Route assigns O-5A 4-8-4 No. 5618 to a July 4th weekend Railroad Club of Chicago trip from Chicago to St. Paul and back. Coordinated with the Q trip is a 175-mile jaunt over the Missabe Road on July 5; co-sponsored by the Chicago club and Minnesota Railfans, it’s the first-ever fan trip for the ore hauler, which provides one of the largest engine ever to front an excursion: 2-8-8-4 No. 222. The California-Nevada Railroad Historical Society and Railway & Locomotive Historical Society team up to field a six-state tour from California to Colorado that includes steam on the Union Pacific, Rio Grande narrow-gauge, Colorado & Southern, and, on July 6, Great Western Railway; all-inclusive fares for the multi-week extravaganza start at $235. Southern Pacific Ten-Wheeler 2248 and Mogul 1765 (plus an SD9) haul a 12-car Glendale (Calif.)-Oxnard railfan excursion on July 8. . . .
Norfolk & Western, after announcing in June that it was spending $50 million on 268 new freight diesels that, when delivered, would vanquish steam from its rails, leases eight E7’s from Atlantic Coast Line and four E8’s from Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac for use on passenger trains. The E’s begin replacing N&W J-class 4-8-4’s on July 16. . . .
Also this month, GM’s Electro-Motive Division rolls out its first SD24, beginning the era of turbocharged, six-axle diesels for the leading locomotive builder.
