Two Burlington Route 2-10-2s power away from Edgemont, S.Dak., with a westbound “Banana Special,” 67 reefers of bananas bound for the Pacific Northwest, in November 1948. G. B. Taylor photo […]
Burlington “Banana Special”
Brand-new GN Railway Post Office
Fresh from the American Car & Foundry plant in 1950, this RPO is ready for service on Great Northern’s newly re-equipped Empire Builder. The 85-foot car has a 60-foot RPO apartment. ACF photo […]
B&O 2-10-2 on Sand Patch Grade
Baltimore & Ohio S-1 2-10-2 6149 descends the west side of the Allegheny Mountains at Keystone, Pa., after crossing the summit at Sand Patch on April 5, 1947. William P. Price photo […]
Early Burlington Northern locomotives in review
When the long-anticipated “Hill Lines” merger finally created the Burlington Northern on March 2, 1970, it was time not to mourn the loss of a favorite, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, but to embrace and record the details of the changeover. I had been through this six years before, when the Norfolk & Western […]
Action on the Mesabi Range
A Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range 2-8-2 has hold of a caboose at Rainy Junction, Minn., on the Mesabi Iron Range in August 1950. An Oliver Iron Mining RS2 diesel works in the distance. Henry J. McCord photo […]
Chicago intercity passenger terminals
Having six intercity passenger terminals at one time, and that doesn’t include the electric interurbans, is a muscle flex to Chicago’s claim as the nation’s railroad capital. That is also why former Trains and Classic Trains Senior Editor J. David Ingles made regular visits to document whatever was left, prior to Amtrak’s formation in May […]
Action on the Front Range
GP30s stand in the foreground as F9s lead the westbound Rio Grande Zephyr up the Front Range toward the Moffat tunnel in the 1970s. Classic Trains coll. […]
Fast Mail at Council Bluffs
The E units from Burlington Route train 29, the Fast Mail from Chicago, prepare to couple to a baggage express car after setting out other cars at Council Bluffs. The steam and signal lines made it more time-consuming to switch head-end equipment. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
Unloading on a car float
A worker unloads produce from refrigerator cars on a Pennsylvania Railroad car float in New York harbor in 1939. This car float has two tracks flanking a central covered platform that enabled cars to be unloaded while still on the float. Arthur Rothstein, Library of Congress photo […]
Troubled times
Rolling through Marengo, Iowa, in May 1979 was this Rock Island freight with GP38-2 No. 4305 leading. This Davenport–Des Moines section of the Omaha main was one of the road’s busiest, but this portion was still train order territory. The railroad’s precarious financial condition is reflected in the depot’s upkeep. R.B. Olson photo […]
Railroad bus service to New York City
There are standard-gauge tracks close by, but they can’t be seen here, since they’re underground in this neighborhood. We’re at Columbus Circle in New York’s borough of Manhattan, on Thanksgiving Day in 1951, Nov. 22. How can that be deduced? Well, that’s the famous Macy’s parade that’s passing down the street, complete with a […]
Train time in New Orleans
Passengers walk out to Missouri Pacific’s Orleanean, loading on Track 4 of recently opened New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal in mid-1954. James G. La Vake photo […]
