FULL SCREEN UP photo Casement Brothers construction train used during the building of the Union Pacific Railroad. Three 4-4-0s were the power this day. FULL SCREEN UP photo Casement Brothers camp train during the construction of the UP. Note the barely finished cottonwood logs stacked as ties to the left and the scant ballast, probably […]
Magazine: Classic Trains
Virginian Railway

Read about the Virginian Railway in a PDF of the article: “A Bit of Flair in the Coalfields” published in the Fall 2001 issue of Classic Trains in the Fallen Flags Remembered section. Download the story by clicking on the PDF below. […]
One man’s favorite locomotive

Engineer Norman Strickland (in front of cylinder) and fireman Russell Phillips stand at Perryville, Md., with G5s 1592, ready to depart with MD-58 for Philadelphia via the Octoraro Branch. George Gillespie Probably 90 percent of all railfans would say their favorite locomotive is the one on which they took their first cab ride. This is […]
Reading Company

Read about the Reading Company’s railroad in a PDF of the Fallen Flags Remembered article: “Take a Ride on the Reading” published in the Summer 2000 issue of Classic Trains magazine. Download the story by clicking on the PDF below. […]
When the Green Hornet raced the Hiawatha

On a day when they left the “Green Hornet” parked in order to simply watch the Afternoon Hiawatha sweep by, artist buddies Howard Fogg (at right in photo) and Gil Reid witnessed an F7 Hudson lean into Deerfield Curve with the Chicago-bound train. Gil Reid The year is 1939, and I am a student at […]
Special handling at Las Vegas

Union Pacific’s Las Vegas depot was the gateway to temptation for some passengers. Fletcher Swan I am a fanatic when it comes to preserving old paperwork related to railroad operations and history, as attested by a cluttered basement. I tell my wife, who is sometimes a bit skeptical, that there is always some interesting history […]
KCS Mid-1960s Passenger Policy
Read more about Kansas City Southern’s pro-passenger policy in a PDF of Lou Marre’s article “We Have No Intention of Going Out of the Passenger Business” published in the November 1967 issue of Trains magazine. KCS passenger policy DOWNLOAD […]
Martin Blomberg
Read more about Martin Blomberg’s work in a PDF of the article “Martin Blomberg, Designer Extraordinaire” by Max Ephraim Jr., published in the October 1994 issue of Trains magazine. Martin Blomberg DOWNLOAD […]
‘Super Chief’
Read more about the 1937 streamlined Super Chief in a PDF of the article “Crafting the Lightweight Super Chief” by Larry E. Brasher, published in the Streamliner Pioneers special issue of Classic Trains. Super Chief DOWNLOAD […]
An A-OK roster

Arkansas & Oklahoma B23-7 No. 4062 leads a train to interchange cars with Union Pacific in Oklahoma City. John Leopard Although General Electric B23-7s dominate the Arkansas & Oklahoma’s roster, the railroad does use a few Electro-Motive Division locomotives and has previously even rostered a couple of Alcos. With heritages ranging from Santa Fe to […]
Incident at Tucson

When SP cab-forward 4173 derailed on the turntable at Tucson, “suits” and laborers reported to the scene. R. S. Plummer, Gordon Bassett coll. I have been collecting old black-and-white railroad negatives for nearly 30 years. When I receive a new batch, it’s like Christmas, opening the package and sorting through the stuff. You never know […]
The towerman was a kid

Near the end of its San Francisco–L.A. run, SP GS-2 4-8-4 4415 rolls “Overnight Merchandise” train 374 through Glendale. Herb Sullivan In 1954, when I was 14 years old, my family moved to within a few blocks of Southern Pacific’s Glendale Tower north of Los Angeles. I soon became friends with the second-trick towerman, and […]