With the general speed-up of passenger train schedules in the 1920s, the need arose for a more powerful version of the 4-8-2. Although it had adequate adhesion, the 4-8-2 lacked the raw horsepower to accelerate a heavy train coming out of a sag or after rounding a curve. Lima Locomotive Works had shown the world […]
New York Central E8 diesels idle at La Salle Street Station, Chicago, awaiting departure with two sections of the 20th Century Limited in November 1953. Robert W. Carper photo […]
A long string of stock cars is tucked in behind Santa Fe 2-8-2 No. 4085 on train 44, the Perishable Express, near Henrietta, Mo., in 1946. Behind the stock cars are 33 refrigerator cars. Robert R. Malinoski photo […]
This is a typical standpipe (also called water crane, water column, or water plug) used to fill steam locomotive tenders with water, which is supplied by pipe from a tank. A single tank might supply several standpipes. When not in use, they were swung away from the track. The bucket-like object between the end of […]
In the 1890s, the Gotthard Railway in Switzerland operated the first Mallet locomotives. They were compound articulated locomotives developed by, and named for, Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet. A Mallet locomotive has two engines, which are independently mounted on an articulated frame. A high-pressure engine is located at the rear. Steam exhausted from it is conveyed […]
A Daylight 4-8-4 and a 4-8-2 doublehead the Los Angeles-bound San Joaquin Daylight upgrade at Allard, Calif., a dozen miles north of famous Tehachapi Loop, in May 1953. W. E. Malloy Jr. photo […]
Four F7s take a train of refrigerator cars through a horseshoe curve near Gleed, Ariz., in the 1950s. A major line change in 1960 eliminated tough operating conditions like this for the Santa Fe across northern Arizona. Santa Fe photo […]
Denver & Rio Grande Western 4-8-2 1705 raises an impressive smoke plume as it lifts a troop train up the Front Range of the Rockies at Tolland, Colo., on May 16, 1943. Robert McKell photo […]
Wabash E8 1007 brings the Wabash Cannon Ball into Litchfield, Ill., near the beginning of its St. Louis–Detroit run in March 1956. John C. Illman photo […]
Electro-Motive 952, completed in August 1949, was the first E8 built. After a stint as a demonstrator, it became Rock Island 643. Electro-Motive photo […]
Townsfolk of New Lisbon, Wis., inspect Milwaukee Road Class A No. 2 after the 4-4-2 clipped off 14 miles at a steady 112.5 mph on a Hiawatha pre-inaugural test run on May 15, 1935. MILW photo […]
Dirty Chicago & North Western class H-1 4-8-4 No. 3029 departs Chicago with train 13, a local for Omaha, on June 8, 1953. R. R. Malinoski photo […]
