West Side Freight Line New York Central’s West Side Freight Line, more formally named the 30th Street Branch, was the only direct freight railroad into Manhattan. It was just 10 miles long but maintained to mainline standards, and was even electrified for three decades. Vital for freight, mail, and express into the 1960s, it afterward […]
Amtrak GP7 diesel locomotives served for decades in supporting roles for America’s passenger carrier throughout its network. Electro-Motive Division produced the 1,500-hp, four-axle GP7 from 1946 through 1958, making a total of 2,729 units, including five cabless B units, for more than 40 railroads. By the time Amtrak needed more support motive power […]
I got a late afternoon call to be the rear brakeman on train No. 1/146/05 (South Pool, Seattle to Portland, Ore.) on Aug. 5, 1979. We were at our away from home terminal of Portland. My crew that day was conductor Duke D., engineer Les M., and head brakeman Pete T. I was working the […]
Canaan Union Depot The past The story of this historic building traces back to the 1870s, a busy time for American railroads. Across the nation new lines were being built between cities and towns, often crossing over one another. One of these crossings happened in the small town of North Canaan. Located in the northwest […]
U.S. railroads introduced long-haul luxury coach trains in the 20th century to attract a more budget-conscious traveler. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the worst of the Great Depression in the U.S. was over, and railroads began to invest in new passenger equipment; both new diesel motive power, and a radical new […]
Railroad tell-tales At one time, railroad tell-tales were placed along the track on either side of low structures such as bridges and tunnels to warn crew members on top of the cars that they could not remain in a standing position while passing under the structure. Before the adoption of the air brake, and for […]
Is railroad preservation in ascendance, marked by a succession of triumphs in recent years? Or are we whistling past the wrecking ball and the acetylene torch? Is the glass half full, or half empty? The stars of a new podcast might answer “both.” Launched a few weeks ago with the title “Ahead of the Torch” […]
Transfer locomotives Transfer runs are trains that move cars from one freight yard usually to a nearby yard of another railroad (but not always). Early in dieselization, three of the major builders marketed locomotives built specifically for such service, called transfer locomotives, which demanded a lot of pulling power but not much speed. Transfer units […]
What was your first byline in Trains? Steve Smedley: My first byline in Trains was “Confessions of a ‘Sacred Central Illinois’ railfan,” published in the July 2000 issue. By far the most enjoyable article I have produced. Since I worked second shift at The Pantagraph newspaper based in Bloomington, Ill., and prior to that at […]
F40M-2F locomotives In the late 1990s, Amtrak converted a handful of its F40PH locomotives to locomotives suitable for freight service. At the time, new Genesis engines from General Electric were fast replacing its massive fleet of F40PHs in mainline service. Amtrak would produce 14 F40M-2F locomotive that featured a number of changes, including removal of […]
By the late 1930s, the Pere Marquette Railway had made a big splash in motive power acquisition. And rightly so, as the tired and second-rate fleet of steam locomotives was not enough to pull the Michigan railroad out of the hardship of the Great Depression. An order of 15 N-class 2-8-4s initially was rolled […]
Train signals All dark, two silent sentinels guard their respective tracks on the double-track main line. Just beyond them is a crossover enabling trains to switch from one track to another. Beyond the crossover, a similar set of signals faces the opposite way. Suddenly, the dark signals light up, each displaying three columns of red […]
