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Some careers are more than just a way to make a living. Sometimes they represent history itself. The trick is to recognize that about yourself and plan appropriately. Anyone who cares about railroading in general over the past half-century, or about motive-power technology in particular, can be grateful that Preston Cook came to that realization […]
On June 18, 1950, the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s Silverton enters Animas Canyon near its namesake Colorado town. In 1981 the route became the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. R.W. Richardson photo […]
Milwaukee train No. 6, the Morning Hiawatha, passes Tower A20 near Northbrook, Ill., on July 29, 1969. Ahead lies Chicago Union Station. Jim Scribbins photo […]
A seven-car Illinois Central Gulf piggyback train heads north through Springfield, Ill., for Chicago in September 1975. At Springfield the ICG’s one-time Gulf, Mobile & Ohio route split for Kansas City to the west and St. Louis and points south. Walter A. Peters photo […]
Southern Pacific Mt-3 class 4-8-2 No. 4344 helps the Overland Limited through Clipper Gap, Calif., in May 1949. For decades, the Overland was the flagship train on the original transcontinental route. David G. Edwards photo […]
Two Nickel Plate Road GP9s handle a local freight through the tabletop landscape near Madison, Ill., in 1958. EMD built 4,257 of the 1.750-h.p. model beginning in 1953. M.L. Powell, J. David Ingles collection […]
A Chicago, Burlington & Quincy freight hugs the Mississippi River north of Davenport, Iowa, in 1966. Lead GP7 No. 204 lacks dynamic breaks, while trailing SD7 No. 313 is so equipped. R. Ball photo […]
Northern Pacific heavily promoted Yellowstone National Park, building a branch from Livingston, Mont., to Gardiner in 1883 to deliver passengers to the park. In 1956, its Livingston station still promoted its connection to the park. Donald Sims photo […]
Chesapeake & Ohio hopper No. 47859 gives up its coal load in the rotary dumper at Newport News, Va., in June 1955. The car traveled 512 miles from a West Virginia mine to the Tidewater. W.A. Akin Jr. photo […]
Final Spike Steam Tour On Thursday, May 9, 2024, Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railroad’s Class H-1b Hudson No. 2816 continued its Final Spike Steam Tour operating over former Milwaukee Road trackage into Iowa following a display day in Franklin Park, Ill. The 4-6-4 and the CPKC executive train rolled west across the old Milwaukee Road […]
An eastbound Toledo, Peoria & Western local behind olive-green-and-gold Alco RS2 No. 204 rolls across a steel bridge near Forrest, Ill., on Feb. 27, 1960. At the time, the road operated between Effner, on the Indiana-Illinois border, and Keokuk, Iowa, on the Mississippi River. J. Parker Lamb Jr. photo […]
Harvey House restaurants were a staple of Santa Fe stations in the west, celebrated for quality food no matter the location, as well as for their “Harvey Girls.” Mabel Wells collection […]
