Four red-and-white GP40s lead fast freight train 33, the Texas Special, into Valley Park, Mo., on Nov. 25, 1980, four days after merger with Burlington Northern. […]
Frisco fast freight
Section: Photos
Model Railroader Photo of the Day: Continental Divide crossing
Working its way upgrade, Union Pacific Alco RS-2 no. 1293 leads a local near Beaver Creek, Idaho. The train will cross the Continental Divide twice before reaching Butte, Mont. Bob Johnson photographed the scene on his HO scale Butte Line layout. Model Railroader‘s Photo of the Day features images from our archives, celebrating decades of […]
Daily except Sunday
Virginia & Truckee 2-8-0 No. 5 brings the daily-except-Sunday mixed train across the highway crossing at Washoe, Nev., on Aug. 7, 1948. The railroad ended service on its 46-mile route on May 31, 1950. Fred H. Matthews Jr. photo […]
Model Railroader Photo of the Day: A summer afternoon in the desert
On a hot summer afternoon, an Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 4-8-4 thunders past a small desert gas station. The attendant, who has operated the station for decades, is so used to the trains that he doesn’t even give this one a glance. Gary Hoover of Florissant, Mo., took the photo on his old HO […]
Cumbres Pass
Denver & Rio Grande Western Mikados Nos. 497 and 488 lift an eastbound narrow gauge train up Cumbres Pass in June 1963. Under Rio Grande management such sights would last only five more years. Cornelius W. Hauck photo […]
Model Railroader Photo of the Day: Chicago & North Western through rural Iowa
The quiet of rural Iowa is temporarily interrupted by the roar of a passing train. Here, a Chicago & North Western GP50 and two St. Louis Southwestern SD45s hustle a unit grain train across an HO scale module constructed by Bill Larsen for the Midwest Mod-U-Trak Club. Matt Kosic of Orland Park, Ill., took the […]
Classic conveyance
The plain 40-foot, general-purpose boxcar was the standard method of hauling bulk grain through the 1960s. Adding temporary grain doors to the door openings made a boxcar a rolling storage tub. This steel Chicago Great Western-marked car carries a load of corn at Milwaukee in the 1970s. Its replacements, high-capacity covered hopper cars, are already […]
Model Railroader Photo of the Day: CSX Dash 8 on the Missouri, Kansas & Quincy
A clean locomotive on a bright, sunny day – you can’t ask for much more when you go trackside. Gary Hoover of Florissant, Mo., caught a virtually spotless CSX Dash 8-44CW on the point of a priority freight near the fictitious community of Oak Grove, Ill. The HO scale action takes place on Gary’s old […]
West Virginia coal
Baltimore & Ohio 2-8-8-4 No. 7609 carries a coal train to the summit at Altamont, W.Va., in June 1945. The locomotive is one of 30 EM1-class engines built by Baldwin. H.W. Pontin photo […]
Model Railroader Photo of the Day: Pont-Rouge station
Sometimes rail photography is all about being in the right place at the right time. Pierre Dion photographed this five-unit consist of CP Rail C-630Ms and C-424s in front of the Pont-Rouge station. The crew of the westbound freight is waiting for a relief crew to arrive. Pierre took the photo on his freelanced HO […]
Center Flow
Early ACF Center Flow cars were nearly cylindrical. This 100-ton Union Pacific car, built in 1964, has three trough hatches and a 3,700-cubic foot capacity. Introduced in 1961, the Center Flow design had no center sill and instead relied on the curved sides for strength. Union Pacific photo […]
Model Railroader Photo of the Day: The Ames Cliffs on the Rio Grande Southern
Rio Grande Southern 2-8-0 no. 74, a Sunset Models brass import, works its way upgrade near Ames Cliffs on Dennis Ferguson’s On3 RGS layout. The boxcars behind the locomotive are San Juan Car Co. models assembled by Bob Leners. Dennis, of St. Paul, Minn., took the photo. Model Railroader‘s Photo of the Day features images […]
