The steam community is in a happy state of shock this week with the news that New York Central 3001, one of the NYC’s famed 4-8-2 Mohawk engines, might be restored to operating condition by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, operators of famed Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 No. 765. The announcement came Oct. 9 […]
Although most closely associated with developer New York Central, a number of other roads had Flexi-Van equipment on their rosters. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, for example, had 100 refrigerated Flexi-Van containers equipped with meat rails. New York Central photo […]
Coal empties leave Pennsylvania Railroad’s Buffalo Line at Driftwood, Pa., in 1955, bound for the mines. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Union Pacific U50C No. 5000 lays over at the railroad’s North Platte, Neb., shop on Jan. 21, 1975. It was one of 40 such units on the railroad in operation from 1969 to 1978. Bruce Barrett photo […]
To win over the railroads with its new Rail Diesel Car (RDC), the Budd Co. wasn’t content with a single model type. In a time of declining passenger traffic during the post war years, the car manufacturer banked on multiple to meet the needs of either passenger, baggage-express or mail, as well as for all […]
First the tracks were built east. Then west. Then west some more. Such were the uncertain beginnings of what became the West Point Route. Construction began on the banks of the navigable Alabama River at Montgomery, the capital. During 1834-41, 32 miles of standard-gauge track extended east toward both West Point and Columbus, Ga., […]
In early 1954, Union Pacific 4-12-2 No. 9028 brings a train into North Platte, Neb., from the east. Only UP had 4-12-2s, 88 built during 1926–30, which led to the wheel arrangement being called the Union Pacific type. Art Stensvad photo […]
Early last spring, it was time to plan a summer vacation and get to some unfinished business. Alison and I agreed on the overall goal: get to Alaska. For her it was the call of Denali National Park and the fjords along the coast south of Seward. For me (no surprise), it was the chance […]
The Southern Pacific had large trailer-on-flatcar ramps in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Multiple trains could be loaded and unloaded at the same time. This view is from the early 1960s. Southern Pacific photo […]
Several Chevrolets await loading at General Motors’ Tarrytown, N.Y., assembly plant in 1951. Tracks extend along both sides of an elevated platform. In the intervening decades, railroads and manufacturers have switched to multi-level auto racks for the shipment of new automobiles. New York Central photo […]
In a view taken halfway up a light tower we see Union Pacific’s modern hump yard at North Platte, Neb., around 1950. At the bottom left is the hump tower, and the two cars just above it are rolling free toward the master retarder. Union Pacific photo […]
Pennsylvania Railroad 2-10-4 No. 6456 is one of 125 such locomotives on the roster. The home-built engines were in the J1 and J1a classes, built between 1942 and 1944. The last was retired in 1959. Classic Trains collection […]
