PAs on the Pony Express

Union Pacific Pony Express Alco

An Alco PA/PB/PB consist leads the Union Pacific’s Pony Express across the desert near Victorville, Calif., in the early 1950s. The railroad’s 14 PAs and PBs were assigned to passenger service in the West. Donald Sims photo […]

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Photo of the Day

General motors train of tomorrow

Aboard the Train of Tomorrow’s observation car Moon Glow, the rear car of the General Motors Train of Tomorrow, contained a variety of lounge spaces, including this sunken area underneath the dome. GM photo […]

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Photo of the Day

20161215

Train time at Chadron, Nebr. Way out on Chicago & North Western’s lonely “Cowboy Line,” 4-6-2 No. 1588 arrives Chadron, Nebr., with daily-except-Sunday train 13 from Omaha, 447 miles to the east. The train is bound for Rapid City, S.Dak., 104 miles west. Fred H. Ragsdale photo […]

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Photo of the Day

20150727

4-8-2 on the Creole’s connection Illinois Central 4-8-2 No. 2438 pulls out of Carbondale, Ill., with train 208, the St. Louis connection for the Creole, in September 1954. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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Photo of the Day

20130823

Rock Island TA diesel Electro-Motive Corp.’s model TA passenger diesel of 1937 was a lighter, less powerful counterpart to the builder’s EA of the same year. Although they shared the same styling, the single-engine, 1,200 h.p., B-B TA was a derivative of EMC’s power cars for streamlined trains, while the twin-engine, 1,800 h.p., A1A-A1A EA […]

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Summer 2019

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Feature Articles Quiet Monsters Coming to Life By Scott Lothes Donald W. Furler was an early master of action photography in the Northeast Bad Day at Olathe, Great Day at Lawrence By I. E. Quastler Derailment detours bring rare moves to a secondary Santa Fe main line Golden Spike Centennial Prelude By George A. Forero […]

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Winter 2019

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Feature Articles End of the Trail By William P. Diven Summer trips from New Mexico to Illinois exposed a high-school boy to a world of Midwestern railroading and the final flowering of Santa Fe passenger service Itinerant Agent By Walter F. Smith Tales of working through two world wars and the Depression in New England […]

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Spring 2020

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Feature Articles Steam, Diesels, and Disruption By Michael E. Iden Dieselization: The greatest change in 20th century railroading had profound effects on carriers, suppliers, and employees Disappearing Railroad Blues By Don L. Hofsommer Line abandonments: From a peak of 254,000 miles in 1916, rail routes fell by more than half Cheaper by the Thousands By […]

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Summer 2020

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Feature Articles Photographing the Real Rio Grande Narrow Gauge By Victor Hand From a first visit in 1959 until the end of revenue freight in 1968 Will Stop on Signal Only … By James E. Dierks A veteran traveler muses on flag stops of yore Last Decade for the Georgia Railroad By Jeffrey A. Harwell […]

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