Anthracite hauler Reading Co. 2-10-2 3012 leads a train of anthracite along the Schuylkill River at Tamaqua, Pa., in July 1953. RDG’s 20 K-1’s were the heaviest Santa Fe types ever built. Classic Trains collection […]
Anthracite hauler
Orders at Clare
Orders at Clare At the joint Chesapeake & Ohio-Ann Arbor depot in Clare, Mich., the engineer on Toledo–Frankfort freight TF-1, behind two GP35s, reaches to pick up orders in May 1966. John S. Ingles photo, Brian Schmidt collection […]
SoCal “Blimps”
SoCal “Blimps” Three big “Blimp” cars leave downtown Los Angeles behind them as they proceed down PE’s four-track right of way toward Long Beach, August 1953. Reginald McGovern photo […]
Remembering Milwaukee Road locomotives
Milwaukee Road locomotives All through November, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the multi-faceted Milwaukee Road. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Milwaukee Road selected from the image archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. The Milwaukee Road operated with steam, electric, and diesel motive power in its Midwest-to-Northwest service area. There are examples in […]
Reefer block
Reefer block 4-8-2 2605, a product of IC’s own Paducah (Ky.) shops, leads a long string of refrigerator cars north on the main line at Peotone, Ill., in the 1940s. Illinois Central photo […]
Handsome Hudson
Handsome Hudson For a few years in the late 1930s, the steam queens of New Haven’s Shore Line were 10 class I-5 4-6-4s. The handsome Hudsons’ wheel-balance woes prompted NH to begin acquiring a fleet of 60 DL109 diesels in 1941. Here, an I-5 roars west with the Merchants Limited at Sharon, Mass. Wayne Brumbaugh […]
Milwaukee Road freight trains photo gallery
All through November, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the multi-faceted Milwaukee Road. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Milwaukee Road freight trains selected from the image archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. In its history, the Milwaukee Road operated freight service from as far as Louisville, Ky., west to Tacoma, Wash., and Portland, […]
Diesel hydraulics: Diesels that didn’t
North American railroads never found a broad use for freight service diesel locomotives with a hydraulic drive, making them another case of the “diesels that didn’t.” Germany was the early leader in developing and building diesel locomotives that utilized direct-drive transmissions. Those early models in the 1930s incorporated torque converters and gears in lieu of […]
Feather River freight haulers
Feather River freight haulers Western Pacific’s original road freight locomotives were 65 Consolidations; 20 came from Baldwin in 1906, followed by 45 from Alco’s Schenectady plant in 1909. Engine 63 was still on the job at Oakland in 1952. Western Pacific photo […]
Three-builder consist
Three-builder consist A “we ain’t mad at nobody” diesel consist of F3A/F3B/H24-66/RS3 (that’s two EMDs, an FM Train Master, and an Alco) rolls eastbound freight through Fanwood-Scotch Plains, N.J., in the ’60s. Jim McClellan photo […]
Arroyo Seco
Arroyo Seco Several miles out of Los Angeles Union Station, Santa Fe 4-8-4 3782 leads the eastbound Chief across the viaduct spanning the Arroyo Seco Parkway. Although Santa Fe abandoned this line through Pasadena, the bridge is still in use by Metrolink light rail trains. Classic Trains collection […]
Washington Hill
Washington Hill Electro-Motive F3s on a westbound freight wait in the clear at Chester, Mass., for the New England States to pass on its way to Chicago. Pacific 589 assists the States’ road engine, a three-unit Baldwin diesel, up Washington Hill. James D. Bennett photo […]
