The westbound Sunset Limited, right, and eastbound Golden State Limited — the premier trains on their respective routes — meet near Colton, Calif. Classic Trains collection […]
Premier service
Section: Railroads
Prototype
Original dome car Silver Dome was at Lincoln, Neb., in 1963. It was different from production model dome cars with its square windows and corner vents. Jim C. Seacrest photo […]
C-Liners
Fairbanks-Morse C-Liners, Nos. 4802 and 4801, shown at Milwaukee, could reach speeds of 110 mph. However, these passenger locomotives proved to be unreliable. Norton D. Clark photo […]
Coal drag
One of Norfolk & Western’s 81 big Y6-class 2-8-8-2s handles a long coal drag at Blue Ridge, Va., in the mid-1950s. Jim McClellan photo […]
Freight goats
Great Northern dieselized with FT locomotives, which debuted the classic orange and green paint scheme. Here, a matched set of FTs departs Wilmar, Minn., in the early 1960s. Perry Becker photo […]
G-MO in Joliet
Two of the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio’s four F7As approach UD Tower in Joliet, Ill., in fall 1951 with a southbound freight for Bloomington. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
Horseshoe meet
In May 1967, westbound and eastbound Pennsylvania Railroad freights pass a train stopped at Horseshoe Curve near Altoona, Pa. J.J. Young Jr. photo […]
20th Century Limited
Streamlined Hudson-type No. 5448 leads New York Central’s 20th Century Limited at LaSalle Street Station in Chicago in the late 1930s. Nos. 5445-5454, known as the J-3a subclass, wore the Henry Dreyfuss-styled streamlining. Alexander Maxwell photo […]
Bessemer bridge
A brand-new A-B-B-A set of orange-and-black Bessemer & Lake Erie EMD F7 diesels pose on the State Route 358 bridge near Greenville, Pa., shortly after delivery in 1951. Bessemer & Lake Erie photo […]
Burlington beets
A Chicago, Burlington & Quincy train treads some of the most famous tracks outside of the mountains in Colorado: street running in Fort Collins. Behind the locomotive are 26 cars of sugar beets for Loveland, Colo. Jim Ehernberger photo […]
Ask Trains: What route did Big Boys take to get to Union Pacific?
Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 on a test run in Cheyenne, Wyo., on May 2, 2019. TRAINS: Jim Wrinn Q: How were the Big Boys originally delivered to Union Pacific? — David Kuntz, Salt Lake City A: The exact original routings of the Big Boys have been lost to history, but we have […]
Blue bearing caps
This blue roller bearing cap is a Brenco Class K 6 1⁄2 x 9 model. These are more common as half of the freight-car fleet is made of heavier cars. Bucyrus Railcar Repair Q Why are the roller bearing caps of some freight cars painted blue? – Nathan Penn, Monmouth, Ill. A In 1988, the […]
