Top of the PRR

20181128

The pushers of two eastbound freight trains pass AR Tower in Gallitzin, Pa., summit of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Pittsburgh–Philadelphia main line in 1956. The track above the tower loops from the westbound main tracks. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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Timeworn T1

20181120

Pennsylvania Railroad class T1 4-4-4-4 duplex 5536 shows the effects of hard service at Chicago in the late 1940s, but the engine is in fact less than five years old. Classic Trains coll. […]

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Secondhand 2-8-2 in West Virginia

20181107

Mikado 482 was built by Alco’s Schenectady plant for the Mobile & Ohio in 1928. It went to West Virginia short line Cherry River Boom & Lumber after the GM&O merger. It’s resting at Jerryville, W.Va., southwest of Elkins, in May 1952. Ed Theisinger photo […]

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Harz and soul in Germany

Steam-powered train at atation

The prospect that German’s Harz Railway might end steam operations prompted me to dig out photos from a 2015 visit to the railroad as part of a Trains Magazine/Special Interest Tours trip, the thought being that readers might like to see a little more from this unique operation. Perhaps a few of you might even […]

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It’s the end of the line: Locomotives in the scrapyard

view of locomotive in scrapyard

Locomotives in the scrapyard Sitting switchers The switcher is a rapidly-dying species on American railroads. Pushed out of yard duties on the Class I railroads by demoted road units (like ex-BNSF No. 2224, at top), they soon became most noticeable on industrial sites, switching cars for grain elevators and warehouse complexes. However, the proliferation of […]

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NC&StL F units

20181116

Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis considered its 52 F3 and F7 units (32 cabs, 20 boosters) to be dual service locomotives, although only the B units had steam generators. Linn H. Westcott photo […]

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