SALT LAKE CITY — The journey to Promontory for 21st century rail enthusiasts wanting to taste the history of the first transcontinental railroad 150 years ago is becoming more clear. The National Railway Historical Society is urging members to reserve hotel space now for the event May 7-12 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The convention […]
Train Topic: History
Telegrapher at Wilbur
Although author Dinsmore’s territory was some 1,500 miles to the west, this 1966 scene inside Northern Pacific’s depot in South Superior, Wis., would be familiar to him. William D. Middleton When I picked up Classic Trains’ Summer 2008 issue, the cover blurb about the “Kid Telegrapher on NP’s Idaho Division” caught my eye. I searched out the […]
Niles Canyon Railway to celebrate 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike NEWSWIRE
Niles Canyon Railway, which fields both steam and diesel power, will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad in 2019. Trains: Jim Wrinn NILES, Calif. — 2019 will be a big year for the Pacific Locomotive Association and its Niles Canyon Railway. The association will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad with […]
New life for Detroit’s Michigan Central Station
DETROIT – The news this week that the Ford Motor Co. has purchased Detroit’s crumbling but historic Michigan Central Station indicates a happy ending for one of America’s most notoriously neglected big-city train stations. Ford purchased the building from the Manuel Moroun family, billionaire owners of a trucking and logistics empire, which includes the Ambassador […]
Watermelon Extra
Russell Tedder’s 16-hour 70-tonner ride occurred in July 1955, when he was dispatching for the Live Oak, Perry & Gulf and South Georgia, two affiliated short lines recently acquired by the Southern Railway. Watermelons were an important source of revenue for the Live Oak, Perry & Gulf and South Georgia in the early 1950s. The […]
Mobile & Gulf steam
See color film footage of Mobile & Gulf No. 97 at work from the Sunday River Productions program Steaming Through the Deep South. […]
Mobile & Gulf steam
See color film footage of Mobile & Gulf No. 97 at work from the Sunday River Productions program Steaming Through the Deep South. […]
Journey to Promontory Tour and blog posts launch Trains’ Golden Spike celebration NEWSWIRE
Trains Magazine kicks off a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad with a special tour and two new bloggers. This replica of Central Pacific Jupiter is at the National Park Service site in Promontory, Utah. Trains: Jim Wrinn WAUKESHA, Wis. – On the 149th anniversary of the Golden Spike, Trains Magazine announces […]
Polishing the rails for General Electric
New York Central S3 No. 9363 stands on the West Side line in Manhattan in 1967. Thirteen years earlier and 150 miles to the north, the road used another Alco switcher in a novel attempt to capture special-train business. Elliot Kahn, Louis A. Marre coll. In a lifetime of reading about railroading, I’ve seen the […]
Pennsy T1 comes to life in a St. Louis shop
ST. LOUIS – Gary Bensman walks through Continental Fabricators in St. Louis, holding a washout plug for the boiler of Pennsylvania Railroad T1 No. 5550. Bensman grips the plug much like a judge would hold a gavel, as he holds court over the fabrication of the boiler for a locomotive class whose last member of […]
The “middle” order
Baldwin road-switcher 1615 passes the Hertford, N.C., depot with Norfolk Southern freight 88 in January 1965. A few months later, removal of a siding here would cause some confusion. Harry Bundy Telegraph operators working from the extra list rolled with the punches. They were on call 24/7, as they say now, to fill vacancies created […]
Billy Graham ran into career doubts because of Altoona NEWSWIRE
Billy Graham Milwaukee Journal; Trains archive WAUKESHA, Wis. — It is hard to imagine that a revival in Altoona, Pa., made the Rev. Billy Graham doubt his calling. Graham died this morning at his home in Montreat, N.C., at age 99. But the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that before the Southern Baptist preacher dazzled thousands in […]
