A driver backs a brand-new 40-foot Union Pacific trailer into position on a likewise-new 85-foot flatcar in a 1959 publicity shot. The trailer was one of 10 new insulated trailers from Utility, and the flatcars were among 100 new UP cars equipped with two ACF hitches. Union Pacific photo […]
Amtrak’s Pioneer began as an Amfleet-only train. By June 1981 it had become a hybrid of Amfleet, Superliner, and heritage equipment, as seen here in Pendleton, Ore. Bob Johnston photo […]
An eastbound Rock Island freight, led by a red-and-black F unit trio — FT A-B 99/99B plus an F2 — passes the Joliet (Ill.) Union Station platform, on which several passengers wait. The Will County courthouse rises above the train and station. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
Grand Trunk Western steam provided a last look for many Midwest railfans. Despite having a large population with sizeable cities, Michigan has hovered just above the nation’s busy paths of commerce. Except for Detroit, the state tends to be out of sight, out of mind — no offense to Grand Rapids, the state’s […]
Prior to the time of the streamliners, North American passenger trains were not particularly colorful. Most sleeping cars were Pullman green, although there were exceptions; both the Pennsylvania and Canadian Pacific utilized shades of red on their passenger equipment, for example. With the arrival of streamlined lightweight equipment as of the late 1930s, […]
Santa Fe’s Golden Gate, a secondary Bay Area train, pulls into Merced, Calif., in May 1958 as a tour group prepares to board. Jim Neubauer photo […]
Canadian Pacific 4-4-4 No. 2929, last of 20 class F1a Jubilee types received from Canadian Locomotive Co. in 1937–38, sits with a short train at Montreal West station on May 11, 1957, as 4-6-2 No. 2472, last of CP’s 173 G3-class Pacifics, arrives on the next track. Bob Krone photo […]
This 1949 view of the erecting floor at EMD shows a 567 diesel engine, generator (on the deck at the left of the engine), and electrical cabinet (far left) in place on an F7 frame. An FP7 is taking shape in the background. EMD photo […]
It was my bittersweet duty last week to write an obituary for illustrator Bob Wegner, one of the all-time greats from the heyday of Kalmbach Publishing Co. He was a versatile illustrator and (best of all from my perspective) a railroad mapmaker extraordinaire. Bob put in more than 40 years at KPC, turning out hundreds […]
At Pittsburgh in 1956, a Pennsylvania Railroad SW1 switches cars on the “Panhandle” side of the station as passenger trains pass on the “Fort Wayne” bridge over the Allegheny River in the distance. The names refer to PRR predecessors Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway and Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway, respectively. Philip […]
A GP9 and RS11 work in Crookston, Minn., on Aug. 15, 1969. Northern Pacific went from hauling 35 percent of its tonnage behind diesel in 1950 to complete dieselization in January 1958. Bells retired from steam locomotives found their way onto GP9 replacements. Doug Wingfield photo […]
All through January 2025, the Grand Trunk Western is Classic Trains‘ Railroad of the Month! In this photo gallery, please enjoy images of Grand Trunk Western passenger trains selected from the archives of the David P. Morgan Library at Firecrown Media! This photo gallery had previously been published in May 2020. Only from Trains.com! […]
