GP39

Three quarter view of dark blue diesel locomotive with light yellow lettering

GP39 Chesapeake & Ohio No. 3909 is a GP39. It looks like a GP38 but it /has a single turbo stack in front of the dynamic brake fan. The GP39 was an “in-between” locomotive, using a smaller (12-cylinder) turbocharged 645 engine rated at 2,300 hp, putting it between the GP38 and GP40. It never became […]

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SPUD switcher

Center cab diesel switcher with cars along passenger platforms

SPUD switcher St. Paul Union Depot 44-ton 441, built by GE in 1941, works its namesake Minnesota passenger terminal. The locomotive’s size and weight would allow one-man operation under the “90,000-pound” rule of the 1937 National Diesel Agreement labor rules. Classic Trains collection […]

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Soldier Summit

Streamlined passenger train rolls into valley alongside yard tracks filled with hoppers

Soldier Summit The eastbound California Zephyr catches the morning sun at Soldier Summit, Utah, in August 1959. Ahead: a full day of breathtaking scenery on the Denver & Rio Grande Western, which the train used for 570 miles of its 2,518-mile, three-railroad route. Fred Matthews photo […]

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A visit to John Staschak’s O gauge layout

Overview of John Staschak's toy train layout with superimposed cover of September 2021 Classic Toy Trains

John’s layout appears in the September 2021 issue of Classic Toy Trains. It features tremendous trackwork and wonderful scenery (see the plan here), in addition to some spectacular modern trains. Watch and hear freight and passenger consists work their way around it. […]

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A visit to John Staschak’s O gauge layout

Overview of John Staschak's toy train layout with superimposed cover of September 2021 Classic Toy Trains

John’s layout appears in the September 2021 issue of Classic Toy Trains. It features tremendous trackwork and wonderful scenery (see the plan here), in addition to some spectacular modern trains. Watch and hear freight and passenger consists work their way around it. […]

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State of the art

Diesel locomotive set leads a freight train through hills and under a signal bridge

State of the art A classic A-B-B-A set of EMD FTs — the state of the locomotive art in 1940 — lead a Santa Fe freight over Southern California’s Cajon Pass. Santa Fe photo […]

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Western Pacific Railroad: Locomotives

Black-and-white view of diesel road-switcher locomotive

  All through August 2021, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the heritage, history, and splendor that was the Western Pacific Railroad. Please enjoy this photo gallery of locomotives selected from Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Only from Trains.com! […]

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Indiana museum receives donation of ex-EJ&E locomotive

Orange locomotive next to color position signals

NORTH JUDSON, Ind. — The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum will receive a rebuilt former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern locomotive, originally an SD9,  from its current owner, the Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad, the museum has announced. The locomotive is currently operational and will continue to be used by the Chesapeake & Indiana until it is ready […]

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Rare Fairbanks-Morse locomotive donated to Tennessee museum

Light blue and white diesel locomotive

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum has added a rare Fairbanks-Morse locomotive to its collection thanks to a donation from the Tennessee Valley Authority. The H16-66 “Baby Trainmaster”, built in 1958, is one of the few surviving Fairbanks-Morse locomotives, and one of less than 1,500 produced by Fairbanks-Morse before the company exited the […]

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