Absolutely stunning is the best way to describe Lionel’s classic no. 1520W Texas Special passenger set from 1954. [Missed Part 1? Click here to read the first installment] Middle of the O-27 line First in the catalog, with a designated listing of $39.95, came the no. 1503WS. Familiar? Yes, because Lionel had shown that outfit […]
CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE THE MAP California to Nevada Nevada to Utah Utah to Wyoming Wyoming to Nebraska Nebraska to Iowa The first Transcontinental Railroad was a monumental undertaking by the time workers finished it in 1869. Today, tourists and enterprising photographers can visit much of what American ancestors left behind 150 years […]
Union Pacific Railroad as of 2019 The original Transcontinental Railroad route was the combined efforts of two railroads: the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific. By 2019, 150 years after joining their rails at Promontory Summit, Utah, only the Union Pacific remains. Union Pacific operates along much of the original Transcontinental Railroad route between Sacramento, […]
Map of Sherman Hill on Union Pacific: one of the Transcontinental Railroad’s challenging obstacles Sherman Hill is one of the imposing physical challenges from the building of the first Transcontinental Railroad that remains a challenge today. In this map, see what Sherman Hill is like from an operations point-of-view for Union Pacific. Only from Trains! […]
1.) Samuel S. Montague, Central Pacific chief engineer 2.) Grenville M. Dodge, Union Pacific chief engineer 3.) James H. Strobridge, CP construction superintendent 4.) Unknown UP officials 5.) CP Jupiter engineer George Booth 6.) Beverages, possibly champagne 7.) UP No. 119 engineer Sam Bradford 8.) Funnel or “Yankee” stack for a wood burning locomotive 9.) Coal oil or […]
GLENVIEW, Ill. — The Glenview Village Board has voted to budget another $36,000 for its fight against efforts to increase Amtrak Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee, running the community’s total tab for the effort to more than $541,000. The Chicago Tribune reports that of the newly budgeted funds, $30,000 will go to a state […]
Name: Scott Plunkett Railroad name: Easter Eggspress Location: Milwaukee WI Scale: S gauge Description: I’ve always had a Christmas layout. Why not have an Easter layout? When I had first received this Civil War 1959 American Flyer S-Gauge train set, for Christmas of 1963, I was 9 years old. As you can see, I still […]
A Union Pacific local train passes through suburban areas near Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., in October 2017. TRAINS: Steve Sweeney Question: How do trains crews earn their money? — Lee Martens, Rifle, Colo. Answer: In short, it is complicated. There are differences between how most Class I railroaders are paid and their short line colleagues — […]
Siemens Charger SC-44 No. 4632 leads Amtrak train 391, the southbound Saluki from Chicago to Carbondale, Ill., on the Canadian National Centrailia Subdivision, after passing the coaling towers that were built for the then Illinois Central Railroad in 1949. 18302-27 Jim Pearson Question: What effect, if any, will the implementation of Precision Scheduled Railroading by […]
“Long-term deterioration” is believed to be the cause of this bridge collapse onto Norfolk Southern tracks last week in Toledo, Ohio. Michael D. Harding TOLEDO, Ohio — Officials believe long-term deterioration was the cause of last week’s bridge collapse that blocked Norfolk Southern’s main line through Toledo for more than six hours. The Toledo Blade […]
Broadway Limited Imports HO scale Union Pacific late 4-6-6-4 Challenger steam locomotive HO scale locomotives Union Pacific late 4-6-6-4 Challenger steam locomotive. Clinchfield (painted black and graphite with coal tender in two road numbers) and Union Pacific (black and graphite with coal tender in two numbers, black and graphite with oil tender and smoke lifters […]
If you want to speak strictly from the heart, then any year in the postwar era was a great one to receive your first Lionel set. But if you prefer to let your brain do the talking, then 1954 surely was the year to pick. From the peak of the company’s grand 50th anniversary celebration […]
