P&LE Berkshire

20181205

Pittsburgh & Lake Erie 2-8-4 No. 9401 leads a southbound freight through the station at Beaver, Pa., in June 1948. The seven P&LE Berkshires, delivered in May and June 1948, were Alco’s last steam locomotives. Richard J. Cook photo […]

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New Belpaire firebox emerges for PRR K4s steam engine No. 1361

Three men standing in front of steam locomotive under construction

ALTOONA, Pa. — The first new Belpaire steam-locomotive firebox built in Altoona in 76 years is taking shape at the Railroaders Memorial Museum. Over the last week, employees of consultant FMW Solutions LLC and volunteers have fabricated a new firebox for former Pennsylvania Railroad Class K4s 4-6-2 steam passenger engine No. 1361 (PRR Juniata Shops, […]

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News photos: CNJ 0-6-0 makes holiday appearance

Steam locomotive and passenger train across bridge

MINERSVILLE, Pa. — A largely overlooked steam locomotive in Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal region is Central Railroad of New Jersey 0-6-0 switcher No. 113 (American Locomotive Co., 1923), owned and operated by the nonprofit Railway Restoration Project 113 of Minersville, Pa.  The engine runs only a few times a year, mostly for Santa Claus trains, pulling […]

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GG1 and P70s

20181219

Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 4907 leads a southbound train at Aberdeen, Md., in about 1949. The six-car consist contains four modernized P70 coaches, a diner, and a parlor car. Robert A. Hadley photo […]

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Big Emma at rest

20181210

Louisville & Nashville class M-1 No. 1988, one of 42 “Big Emma” 2-8-4s Baldwin and Lima built for the road during 1942–49, rests between runs at Corbin, Ky., in May 1952. Ed Theisinger photo […]

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The Missouri-Kansas-Texas logo’s heritage

Woman with hand outstretched next to Missouri-Kansas-Texas logo

Missouri-Kansas-Texas logo underwent subtle changes throughout the railroad’s history. But its origin is more interesting than these iterative changes. In his history of the Katy, J. Parker Lamb mentions the different incarnations of Katy’s corporate herald over the years, but where did the road’s uniquely shaped emblem come from? According to Freeman Hubbard in his […]

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Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad remembered

Red-and-yellow Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad diesel locomotive on passenger train in station

The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad is perhaps best summed up by two words: deterioration and reconstruction. Seldom has a railroad managed to survive the number of disasters, both natural and contrived, that befell the Katy. Its 1865 charter was for the Union Pacific Southern Branch. Although it connected with the Kansas Pacific (merged by UP in 1880) […]

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Rare New York Central electric locomotives still threatened

Drone view of two electric locomotives and one diesel sitting vandalized in woods

GLENMONT, N.Y. — Red tape, a gas pipeline utility, and a lawsuit have combined to delay and further threaten the rescue of two historic New York Central electric locomotives stranded for three decades along the Hudson River south of Albany. The Danbury Railway Museum of Danbury, Conn., has been working for nearly a year to […]

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Now arriving, Wally Abbey’s magnum opus

Book cover with blue-and-yellow diesel locomotive under blue sky

Some books seem to have a will of their own. Nothing, not the passing of decades, not even the passing of the author, will keep them down. If the story is compelling enough — and if it is blessed with passionate believers — the story will win out. That’s how I feel about “The Diesel […]

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