GP30s stand in the foreground as F9s lead the westbound Rio Grande Zephyr up the Front Range toward the Moffat tunnel in the 1970s. Classic Trains coll. […]
Action on the Front Range
Magazine: Classic Trains
Fast Mail at Council Bluffs
The E units from Burlington Route train 29, the Fast Mail from Chicago, prepare to couple to a baggage express car after setting out other cars at Council Bluffs. The steam and signal lines made it more time-consuming to switch head-end equipment. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
Unloading on a car float
A worker unloads produce from refrigerator cars on a Pennsylvania Railroad car float in New York harbor in 1939. This car float has two tracks flanking a central covered platform that enabled cars to be unloaded while still on the float. Arthur Rothstein, Library of Congress photo […]
Troubled times
Rolling through Marengo, Iowa, in May 1979 was this Rock Island freight with GP38-2 No. 4305 leading. This Davenport–Des Moines section of the Omaha main was one of the road’s busiest, but this portion was still train order territory. The railroad’s precarious financial condition is reflected in the depot’s upkeep. R.B. Olson photo […]
Railroad bus service to New York City
There are standard-gauge tracks close by, but they can’t be seen here, since they’re underground in this neighborhood. We’re at Columbus Circle in New York’s borough of Manhattan, on Thanksgiving Day in 1951, Nov. 22. How can that be deduced? Well, that’s the famous Macy’s parade that’s passing down the street, complete with a […]
Train time in New Orleans
Passengers walk out to Missouri Pacific’s Orleanean, loading on Track 4 of recently opened New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal in mid-1954. James G. La Vake photo […]
Burlington Northern passenger trains
Talk of Burlington Northern passenger trains inevitably conjures visions of green E units toting bilevel stainless steel coaches at rush hour. But BN has history, albeit brief, with conventional intercity passenger service. This spanned from its March 1970 inception to the May 1, 1971, startup of Amtrak – just days less than 14 months. […]
Train of Tomorrow’s observation car
Moon Glow, the dome observation car of the 1947GM Train of Tomorrow featured seating for 68 in four separate lounge areas. L. O. Merrill photo […]
Streamlined 4-8-4 with GTW’s Maple Leaf
At 9:52 on the morning of June 2, 1953, Grand Trunk Western U-4 No. 6410 accelerates the Toronto-bound Maple Leaf away from Dearborn Station, Chicago. R. R. Malinoski photo […]
Steam and diesel on the Union Pacific
June 13, 1950, finds three Fairbanks-Morse H20-44 end-cab road-switchers and 4-8-2 No. 7019 at Union Pacific’s San Bernardino (Calif.) engine house. The F-Ms had taken over Cajon Pass helper chores in 1948. When they were found wanting, UP brought steam back for a spell in 1950–51. Chard Walker photo […]
Winter 2024
Welcome – Still has the connections Head End – A potpourri of railroad history, then and now Mileposts – Commentary by Kevin P. Keefe True Color – Katy green-and-yellow Short Rails – Illinois Central in Wisconsin The Way It Was – Tales from railfans and railroaders Classics Today – Preserved NYC steam Looking Back – […]
South Wind heading north
Streamlined Louisville & Nashville 4-6-2 275 departs Birmingham, Ala., with the every-third-day South Wind from Miami to Chicago on February 4, 1941. James Wade, L&NHS coll. […]
