Three Delaware, Lackawanna & Western F3s power the Twilight at Morristown, N.J., in the early 1950s. The railroad had 71 FT and F3 units. Homer R. Hill photo […]
Twilight in daylight
Section: Photo of the Day
Texas Tunnel
The eastbound Southern Pacific Sunset Limited approaches the Memorial Tunnel at El Paso, Texas, on March 15, 1952. Born in 1894, the Sunset had received its latest upgrade in 1950. Classic Trains collection […]
Tanks a lot
A tank car begins its descent from the crest of the hump at Union Pacific’s North Plate, Neb., hump yard. The mast atop the hump control tower is for radio communication with switch engines. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
SPUD power
St. Paul (Minn.) Union Depot Co. 0-6-0 No. 6 passes track workers in October 1954. The locomotive was relegated to standby duty in the 1950s by the arrival of GE 44-ton No. 441 in 1941. John Thill photo […]
Rolling freight
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis class L-1 2-8-2 No. 619 rolls into Dickson, Tenn., before World War II. After nearly 60 years of control, the Louisville & Nashville merged the NC&StL on August 30, 1957. Louisville & Nashville photo […]
Richmond Beach
Two Great Northern E7s skirt Puget Sound at Richmond Beach, Wash., with the eastbound Empire Builder in April 1953, two years after its re-equipping. Soon, F units will replace the Es. David W. Salter photo […]
Inside scoop
The truss bracing in the sides of cab units helped support the locomotive’s weight, so cab units required a thinner underframe compared with switchers and road switchers. This is an F unit being assembled at EMD’s La Grange, Ill., plant. Electro-Motive Division photo […]
Hummingbird
Louisville & Nashville’s Hummingbird passes between the engine terminal and coach yard as it backs towards New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal in 1954. Visible at left are locomotives of Illinois Central and Kansas City Southern. James G. La Vake photo […]
Helping the Chief
Santa Fe 2-10-2 No. 1680 assists the 15 passenger cars and three diesels on train No. 19, the Chief, at Wootton, Colo., on the climb up Raton Pass on June 17, 1950. R.H. Kindig photo […]
Four-builder lineup
A General Electric U25B leads EMD, Alco, and Fairbanks-Morse units on Norfolk & Western train KB6 near Hull, Ill., in October 1964, just weeks after N&W leased the Wabash. J. David Ingles photo […]
Enola bound
Pennsylvania Railroad M1 class 4-8-2 No. 6987 heads a freight toward Enola Yard near Harrisburg, Pa., in July 1955. The railroad had 301 such locomotives in the M1 and M1a classes built in-house and by Baldwin and Lima. Don Wood photo […]
Dual service
St. Louis-San Francisco 4-8-2 No. 1503 works train No. 3 at Southeastern Junction just west of Lindenwood Yard southwest of downtown St. Louis in December 1942. The railroad had 30 such locomotives built by Baldwin between 1923 and 1926 that served in both freight and passenger service. William Barham photo, Don Wirth collection […]