Amtrak GP40 diesel locomotives came in two flavors: eight former GO Transit GP40TCs acquired in October 1988 and 15 straight GP40s leased between May 1991 and June 1993. The 3,000 hp GP40 is a standard bearer of freight motive power in the second half of the 20th century. Introduced by EMD in 1968, the model […]
Walking out the 15th Street side entrance to Detroit’s Michigan Central Station last Friday morning, I found myself channeling the great baseball play-by-play man Jack Buck. “I can’t believe what I just saw!” Buck’s epic quote came, of course, when Dodger Kirk Gibson launched his epic home run off A’s reliever Dennis Eckersley in game […]
DETROIT — The magnificent indoor space at Michigan Central Station that once hosted New York Central passenger trains has been brought back to life in spectacular fashion by the Ford Motor Company. It joins New York’s Grand Central Terminal, union stations in Washington and Chicago, and Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal as well-preserved classics built […]
SILVIS, Ill. — Union Pacific DDA40X Centennial diesel No. 6936 will be on display at a free “Summer of Safety” open house at the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America shops in Silvis, Ill., later this month, while a concurrent event, the “Walk Amongst the Giants Fundraiser,” will offer a chance to view the two UP […]
DETROIT — The city of Detroit has seen its share of comebacks over the past 20 years, but nothing quite like what is happening this week as it celebrates the grand opening of the renovated Michigan Central Station, the beneficiary of hundreds of millions of dollars in investment by its new owner, Ford Motor Co. […]
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – Already powering past its current-year fund-raising goal, the volunteer Friends of the East Broad Top group has hit another milestone, announcing this week that since the historic East Broad Top Railroad was reopened in 2020, the group has raised $1 million in donations. The 33-mile-long narrow gauge EBT, a National Historic […]
THOMASTON, Conn. — The Railroad Museum of New England’s Naugatuck Railroad will formally unveil the museum’s restored Russell snow plow during its Connecticut Open House Day this Saturday (June 8). The plow was refurbished after being damaged by vandals last May. The plow, Maine Central No. 70, was built by the Russell Snow Plow Co. […]
DETROIT — Diana Ross, Jack White, Big Sean, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra headline the list of performers scheduled to appear this Thursday, June 6, as part of a 90-minute concert to celebrate the reopening of Michigan Central Station. The lengthy lineup for the concert for the long-closed landmark, purchased and restored by Ford Motor […]
Chicago & Eastern Illinois history was special to those to watched the railroad firsthand. In the pantheon of great railroad names, “Chicago” was so often the magic word. Think of all the carriers with Chicago on their letterhead, railroads with thousands of miles on their system maps, railroads whose names imply vast, continental […]
Classic Trains Film Archive | Pacific Northwest and California, J. David Ingles Reel 103 – Through the lens of J. David Ingles, you’ll see the Canadian Pacific, Great Northern, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific; and other roads as he ventured into the Pacific Northwest and California too. Dave rides along Puget Sound with his sights set […]
CHICAGO — Four private cars have made their way to the Windy City to participate in this weekend’s “Pullman Railroad Days: People, Progress and Innovation.” The event Saturday, June 1, and Sunday, June 2, is sponsored by the Historic Pullman Foundation in partnership with the National Park Service and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. […]
Some careers are more than just a way to make a living. Sometimes they represent history itself. The trick is to recognize that about yourself and plan appropriately. Anyone who cares about railroading in general over the past half-century, or about motive-power technology in particular, can be grateful that Preston Cook came to that realization […]
