It was a warm, sunny day in May 1942. I was a stenographer-clerk in Missouri Pacific’s Traffic Department at Poplar Bluff, Mo. I recently had enlisted in the Army Air Corps, passed their aptitude tests for Aviation Cadet, and was waiting to be called for training. My boss, Mr. Waldo Ahrens, was out in […]
Scenic views Curved windows along the edge of the roof give the Santa Fe El Capitan’s Hi-Level lounges a bright, airy feeling; a smaller lounge-buffet is below. Budd Co. photo […]
Shipping container New York Central (and subsidiary Michigan Central) had a large fleet of steel auto cars by the early 1920s. These had 10-foot door openings with 6- and 4-foot platesteel doors. New York Central photo […]
Center of commerce A Pennsylvania Railroad Geep pulls a string of express cars in front of railroad’s Polk Street freight station near Chicago Union Station. Polk was the country’s largest freight terminal when built in 1918. Ed DeRouin photo […]
Mixed train Internal stairways on some of the Sant Fe’s Hi-Level cars enable them to operate with single-level equipment. Here, a Hi-Level is mated with a sleeping car when the all-Pullman Super Chief and all-coach El Capitan were running as a combined train. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
‘Broadway’ interrupted Pennsylvania Railroad K4s Pacific 5369 pauses with the eastbound Broadway Limited at Englewood Union Station on Chicago’s South Side in the late 1920s or ’30s. Singly and later doubleheaded, the K4 was standard power on PRR trains 28 and 29 for a quarter of a century. Andrew Hritz photo […]
The movie camera of R. R. “Dick” Wallin finds 3-foot-gauge Mikados at work in Colorado and New Mexico. […]
Mail call Carts of mail sacks crowd the northeast side of the new New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal in 1954. The stub-end terminal features 12 passenger tracks ending at an open-air concourse. James G. La Vake photo […]
Safety first Tethered at the waist to the car for safety, a mine employee rides a string of coal hoppers it coasts from the tipple down to yard. The cars will travel from Wharton No. 2 Mine near Barrett, W.Va., to Newport News, Va. W. A. Akin photo […]
Serving Chicago Chicago & North Western’s sprawling freight house at Proviso was located away from the city of Chicago, taking advantage of the available space. Jack Delano photo, Library of Congress collection […]
‘Seatrain Georgia’ The hull configuration of the Seatrain ships—three decks, each with four tracks (plus four tracks on the top deck)—is evident in this view of Seatrain Georgia being lengthened at Sun Shipbuilding in 1963. The vessel has been cut in two for installation of a new midsection. Hagley Museum & Library collection […]
All through June 2021, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the heritage, grit, and grandeur that was the Central Railroad of New Jersey. Please enjoy this Jersey Central locomotive photograph gallery selected from the image archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Only from Classic Trains! […]
