Florida from the air

We’re high above Seaboard Coast Line’s Uceta Yard and locomotive shop on Sept. 26 1970. Below is the busy former Atlantic Coast Line yard and the neighboring Seaboard Air Line Yeoman Yard that were brought together under the SCL banner with the 1967 merger. The locomotive shop would distinguish itself in the late 1970s with […]

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A key connection

A southbound Norfolk & Western freight train approaches the Southern Railway junction at Front Royal, Va., in this undated photo. The junction here will become a key connection when N&W and Southern merge to form the Norfolk Southern Railway in 1982. Photo by Michael S. Murray […]

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Happy “Kalmbach Day”!

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From 1943 to 1989, Kalmbach Publishing Co. — whose family of magazines includes Model Railroader (launched 1934), Trains (1940), and Classic Trains (2000) — occupied this building at 1027 N. 7th Street in Milwaukee. The number “1027” has significance for generations of KPC customers. Classic Trains collection […]

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Rolling through the Rocks

Led by a new MP36PH-3C, a MARC commuter trains curves past the historic depot at Point of Rocks, Md., on its afternoon run from Washington, D.C., to Brunswick, Md., June 10, 2010. Photo by Alex Mayes […]

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The high iron

Three Union Pacific diesels muscle a southbound intermodal train under classic Southern Pacific searchlight signals near Mojave, Calif., on Sept. 3, 2010. In the background are the Tehachapi Mountains, site of one of the world’s most impressive railroad crossings of a mountain range. Photo by William Steck […]

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They made Milwaukee great

Two Wisconsin & Southern MP15s switch the MillerCoors brewery on July 1, 2010. The lead unit’s heritage is unmistakable, thanks to the Milwaukee Road lettering and “bandit” colors. Railroads and brewing propelled Milwaukee’s industrial might in the 20th century. Matt Van Hattem photo […]

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Santa Fe in three states

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The Santa Fe established a major shop complex at Albuquerque to maintain and repair steam locomotives. At their peak in 1940, the shops were one of the city’s largest employers, with 1787 workers. The shops declined as the Santa Fe dieselized, and, as the road’s last steam backshop, perfromed their final locomotive work in March […]

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The Railroad Capital through the Years

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Illinois Central wasn’t the first railroad in Chicago, but it was one of 10 Class 1’s headquartered there and became arguably the most visible, thanks to its lakefront location. Its Romanesque Revival-style Central Station, built on fill in Lake Michigan for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, served IC plus New York Central’s Michigan Central and […]

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