A special Metra train promoting visits to the Pullman National Monument arrives at the 111th/Pullman station on the Metra Electric line. In the background is Pullman’s landmark Clock Tower building, surrounded in scaffolding for its renovation. Metra photo by Courtney Aubrecht Passengers on Metra’s special train to the Pullman National Monument detrain at Pullman. Metra […]
Stuart tanks and crated loads on flatcars tell of the herculean effort of American industries, including railroads, to bring victory in World War II. Classic Trains collection […]
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. — Alan Buchan, 83, past president of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society, passed away on June 4. He was a link between the real Pennsylvania Railroad and the current-day interest in studying and modeling the railroad. Following his graduation from college and military service, Buchan was hired by the Pennsylvania […]
A CSX Transportation freight passes Marion (Ohio) Union Station. The site is now a museum with a restored interlocking tower. Brian Schmidt Q Why is the word “Union” used so often in the names of passenger stations and terminals? For example, Cincinnati Union Terminal, St. Louis Union Station, or Denver Union Station. Is there a […]
New York Central SW8 8626 stands at the road’s Avon Yard near Indianapolis in 1966. Another EMD switcher powered the E&W Turn some 140 miles to the north. Louis A. Marre As a struggling schoolteacher in northern Indiana in the early 1960s, I worked a few summers as a brakeman on a couple of local railroads, […]
Richard Sparks in his studio painting a railroad book cover. Sparks family collection ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Richard M. Sparks, rail enthusiast, editor, author, historian, photographer, artist, and so much more, passed away May 12, 2019 after a valiant, prolonged bout with metastatic cancer. He was 77 years old. Richard was one of a handful who […]
Question: What do the numbers and letters mean on the side of the cab of Union Pacific Challenger 4-6-6-4 No. 3985? — Ben Fairbank, San Antonio, Texas Answer: 21 – 21 4-6-6-4-4-69 ————— 404 UP […]
Question: What do the numbers and letters mean on the side of the cab of Union Pacific Challenger 4-6-6-4 No. 3985? — Ben Fairbank, San Antonio, Texas Answer: 21 – 21 4-6-6-4-4-69 ————— 404 UP […]
OMAHA, Neb. — There have been all kinds of celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the nation’s first transcontinental railroad this May – from ceremonies at Promontory Summit, Utah, to the Big Boy steaming to and from Ogden, Utah’s, Union Station, to special exhibitions at museums all along the original route — but the […]
PROMONTORY SUMMIT, Utah — For one day on Friday, lonely, windswept Promontory Summit filled with thousands of visitors eager to celebrate the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad 150 years ago today. The morning began with positioning steam locomotive replicas Jupiter and No. 119, representing the Central Pacific and Union Pacific, respectively. Soon afterward, a […]
Cast members from the musical “As One” gather for a group photo on a stage at the Golden Spike National Historic Park on Friday. The musical was the main educational and entertainment event during ceremonies marking the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. TRAINS: Steve Sweeney A sign near a re-enactors’ encampment […]
This and other historic images from the building of the Transcontinental Railroad will be part of a new exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. National Museum of American History WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will mark the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad by opening […]
