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Conceived in 1907 as an interurban line, Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern never did electrify. In the diesel era, MN&S favored Baldwin products like this blue-and-silver DRS-6-6-1500, shown switching the yard at Auto Club Junction south of Minneapolis in 1958. William D. Middleton photo […]
Milwaukee Road’s westbound Morning Hiawatha pauses at Portage, Wis., in October 1965. Tucked behind the E units are several head-end cars, including a Great Northern express boxcar, Milwaukee express boxcar, and GN baggage express car. Tom Hoffmann photo […]
This view from 1950 looks eastward from the hump of Union Pacific’s newly expanded yard at North Platte, Nebr. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
A four-unit set of FT diesels leads a 125-car Burlington Route freight west at Galesburg, Ill., in June 1953. R. R. Malinoski photo […]
Two Gulf, Mobile & Ohio E7 diesels bring the St. Louis–Chicago Alton Limited into the station at Springfield, Ill., in May 1952. Edward Theisinger photo […]
Linn Moedinger Linn Moedinger is among the last of his kind: those who learned his trade from the final generation of Class I steam railroaders. At the end of 2018, the president and chief mechanical officer of Pennsylvania’s famed Strasburg Rail Road will retire. Linn’s name is a household word in the steam fraternity. We […]
Big Boy 4004 parties like it’s 1941 again! Join us at Cheyenne’s Holliday Park to talk to the restoration crew responsible for bringing Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4004 back to its 1941 appearance in 2018. The giant locomotive has been on display for almost 60 years and is once more looking like its original appearance. […]
A split-rail derail along the trail in Auburn, Wash., helps keep errant railcars from fouling the main track. Dale Smith A wedge-style derail, that lifts wheels over the rail, protects the Norfolk Southern yard facility at Rossville, Tenn. Ralcon Wagner Q I recently observed the most unusual track switch along the Interurban Trail near Main […]
Of the eight Big Boy locomotives preserved, only two are indoors. No. 4017 is one of the major artifacts on display at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wis. Join Editor Jim Wrinn and museum Education Director Bob Lettenberger on a tour of this giant of steam. […]
Join Trains Art Director Tom Danneman for a video adventure tracking down elusive BNSF Railway motive power in Wyoming’s Big Horn Basin. The spectacular and out-of the-way region is the scenic backdrop for unique BNSF locomotives such as Geeps, SD40-2s, and SD60Ms. A side trip to the Power River Basin and few “bonus” trains round […]
Where does the fire burn? Where does the water boil? Where does it travel? What are all those pipes about? Our simplified drawing of how a Big Boy works shows how this king of the rails made and used steam to pull long freight trains up to 70 mph in Wyoming and Utah from 1941 […]
At Wheaton, Ill., the motorman of a westbound Chicago Aurora & Elgin train looks back for the highball while the conductor waits on the platform to assist passengers. CA&E passenger service ended in 1957. Bob Schmidt photo […]
