Illinois Central SD40-2 No. 6015 leads Canadian National train 348 south past the tower at Barrington, Ill., on May 6, 2010. Photo by Chris Gus […]
I SEE you in Barrington
Train Topic: Fallen Flags
Rondout Memories
Seen from the North Shore Line bridge, a Milwaukee Road F7 4-6-4 rips through Rondout, Ill., with train 15, the Olympian, in March 1941. Frank Sellers At Christmastime 1940, when I was 15 years old, my widowed mother spent $4 of her hard-earned money to buy me a Kodak Brownie Special camera. I was thrilled. […]
Stranger on the West Shore
NYC’s eastbound 20th Century Limited slows for a station stop at South Bend, Ind., in October 1962. Louis A. Marre On Saturday, February 17, 1962, a train wreck at Fonda, N.Y., on New York Central’s Water Level Route main line, blocked all traffic east and west. Because of this, westbound trains were to be diverted […]
Pennsy Tubular Train
The Pennsylvania Railroad’s Keystone Tubular Train, built by The Budd Co. in 1956, was designed to hug the rails tighter and enable faster transit times. PRR Q What happened to the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Keystone Tubular Train? I heard it was in Michigan and derailed on its way to a new owner for dinner train service.— […]
The challenges of firing an oil-burner
Firemen on oil-burners like SP 4-8-2 4360 at Pinole, Calif., had to be sure the fuel was not too hot, not too cold, and adequately pressurized. John C. Illman As a fireman of oil-burning steam locomotives on the Southern Pacific during the 1950s (on the Coast, Rio Grande, Western, and Sacramento divisions), I never envied […]
Blue Train of the Prairies
Still dressed in royal blue, a mail-express car and “comboose” 307 bring up the rear of NAR mixed train 75 at Egremont, Alta., in August 1972. J. David Ingles collection Several great trains have carried the name “Blue Train.” The most famous ones were in Europe and South Africa. Then there were the trains of […]
This is Richmond?
At Ellerson, Va., Richmond-bound passengers watch Amtrak train 450, the James Whitcomb Riley—a C&O GP7 and a dome coach—depart for Newport News before boarding a bus to their destination. Jack N. Bruce Jr. “Are you certain this is the Richmond stop?” asked J. C. Jones of Huntington, W.Va. He was getting off Amtrak train 450, […]
Green, gold, and gorgeous!
Southern Railway 2-8-2 No. 4501 pulls a National Railway Historical Society convention train on Sept. 5, 1966 from Keysville, Va., to Richmond, Va. This was among the first excursions that led to the development of Southern Railway’s famous series of annual excursions that ran between 1966 and 1994. Today, the 1911 Baldwin is under restoration […]
The ultimate degree of nomenclature
A Rutland RS3 switches at the road’s hub of Rutland, Vt., in 1957; 31.5 miles to the southeast on the Bellows Falls line is a road crossing with a memorable and long-lasting nickname. Jim Shaughnessy Many places are named for things associated with or located near them. Well-known examples include Niagara Falls, N.Y.; Warm Springs, […]
Magic carpet to Durham
Southern Railway 2-8-0 No. 400 powered a boy’s “magic carpet” mixed train to Durham, N.C. Curt Tillotson Jr. collection What an adventure this was for a 7-year-old, impressionable young man, already a lover of trains. Indeed, every minute of the 4-hour trip from Stovall to Durham, N.C. (approximately 45 miles), is still fresh in my […]
Headed north on the Southern main line
Norfolk & Western J-Class 4-8-4 No. 611 rolls north on the Southern Railway main line, Aug. 22, 1982 during the engine’s three-day move from its restoration in Birmingham, Ala., to its birthplace in Roanoke, Va. The engine has an eight car train high above the James River. William D. Middleton photo […]
End of the Line
N&W’s eastbound Pocahontas descends Christiansburg Hill toward Roanoke on April 21, 1971 – ten days before Amtrak. J. David Ingles The air was chilly and damp as I stood beneath the eaves of the weather-beaten depot in Lynchburg, Va. I was waiting for the train that would take me back to Cincinnati one last time. […]
