Union Pacific had the largest fleet of rebuilt boxcars with built-in grain doors, visible in the upper part of the right plug door. No. 520003 was rebuilt from an older 40-foot car in 1967. Photo by Union Pacific […]
Rebuilt for grain
Era: 1946 - 1970
Doodlebug discontinued
Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf gas-electric M-23, assembled by GE in 1939 using parts from other cars, stands at Denison, Texas, on July 8, 1954. M-23 was scrapped a few months later, after its Denison–Muskogee, Okla., run, the last Muskogee Group varnish, was discontinued. Photo by Harold K. Vollrath […]
Member video: Last run on the Minneapolis Northern
Name: Todd Hein Location: Crystal, Minnesota Scale: O Description: This is the last run on my layout before I dismantled it for a basement remodel. This video shows a Marx set from the 1947 Sears Catalog and a Marx set from the 1957 Sears catalog. […]
Burlington high stepper
In April 1965, the Mississippi River rose enough at Savanna, Ill., to endanger diesel traction motors, but the tracks were still passable. So, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy fired up fantrip 2-8-2 Mikado No. 4960, which ferried freight and passenger trains (like the North Coast Limited, pictured) through the high water. Photo by Chicago, Burlington & […]
Kansas City, again
Nameless Rock Island train 39, heavy with “head-end” mail-and-express business, is 2 miles out of Kansas City Union Station on February 9, 1963, as it arrives at the Kansas City, Kans., station, behind an E7A-B duo. The depot, which sat between the two main tracks used by RI and UP through trains, was beside the […]
Wabash mogul
Just uncoupled from its train, Wabash 2-6-0 Mogul 573 looks spiffy at Keokuk, Iowa, on October 18, 1953. The locomotive resided on the railroad’s Keokuk Branch due to the Illinois River bridge at Meredosia, Ill., which was unable to support newer diesels. Photo by Don Hofsommer […]
Modern grain movers
Some of Soo Line’s 50-foot, 70-ton boxcars were equipped with grain doors, visible in the upper part of the plug door. The railroad built 200 of the modern-looking cars in 1964. Photo by Soo Line […]
Dispatcher’s delight
Missouri-Kansas-Texas 4-6-2 400 leaves Denison, Texas, with an extra in late 1948. Above the engine, awnings shade the windows of the dispatcher’s office, where the photographer then worked. One of 10 members of the Katy’s H-3-c class Pacifics, No. 400 was built in 1920 by Lima. Photo by Harold K. Vollrath […]
Fall in Wisconsin
A C&NW E8 leads the Chicago–Rapid City, S.Dak., Dakota 400 past the shimmering waters of Devil’s Lake on October 7, 1956. Today, Wisconsin & Southern freights pass through this scenic state park, located 3 miles south of Baraboo. Photo by William D. Middleton […]
Shark nose style
Baldwin’s shark-nosed DR-4-4-15 demonstrator set appears in a 1949 photo. Typical of builders’ offerings of the time, it was constructed in an A-B-B-A set. Photo by Baldwin […]
Small town railroading
Santa Fe local 42, with 4-6-2 3445, rolls along Duarte Road in the community of Duarte, Calif., east of Los Angeles on January 1, 1952. The railroad had 50 locomotives in the class, Nos. 3400–3449, built by Baldwin in 1919–1924 and retired in the early 1950s. Photo by Stan Kistler […]
Diesels victorious
Two Pittsburgh & Western Virginia Fairbanks-Morse H20-44s lead 81-car train 92 into Louise, W.Va., in March 1950. P&WV completely dieselized its road trains with the Fairbanks-Morse units, sending all seven of its 2-6-6-4s to scrap. Photo by J.J. Young Jr. […]
