Mountain railroading always gave the opportunity for a runaway train. In 1949, I was working out of the small town of Avery, Idaho, on the Milwaukee Road. The railroad crossed the Bitterroot Mountains on a 1.7% grade through St. Paul Pass. The grade began just east of the Avery depot. Avery was a crew-change, engine-change, […]
I was working as a relief railroad tower operator on the Lehigh Valley in the late steam era. It was a beautiful late-summer evening when I left an Athens, Pa., diner and began walking along North Main Street. It was quiet as there was little traffic on this main artery that connected the Wilkes-Barre area, […]
This softcover, perfectbound, 570-page reference book is an index for modeling Baltimore and Ohio locomotives. So, there are no photos therein, and only text. This is not a history book about the B&O, so it’s not the type of publication you’d sit down with a good cup of coffee and immerse yourself in B&O passenger […]
Four events highlight the history of the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway: two spectacular accidents, a visiting steam locomotive, and a murder. Remarkable is that the TP&W rebounded from the negative incidents to last through 1983, when it was merged into the Santa Fe Railway. After three years, though, Santa Fe wanted out, and the […]
Carl Donald works the CTC board in the tower at Deshler, Ohio, in 1952. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
Among the most recognizable of all steam locomotive designs is the New York Central J-3a Hudson as styled by industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss for the 1938 20th Century Limited. Just-completed No. 5445, the first of the 10 streamlined 4-6-4s, stands outside the Alco plant at Schenectady, N.Y. Classic Trains coll. […]
Amtrak Hiawatha service highlights Amtrak runs daily trains called the Hiawatha Service between Milwaukee and Chicago. This service provides easy access for those living in Southeastern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois to the downtown centers of both cities. There are six daily trains in both directions, an additional train at peak morning commute times during weekdays, […]
Spokane, Portland and Seattle freight trains remembered: All through August 2022, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the grit, panache, and charm that was the Spokane, Portland and Seattle. As part of the celebration, please enjoy this freight train photo gallery as the perfect accompaniment. Each month since October 2019, Classic Trains editors have showcase one “Fallen Flag” railroad — […]
Please enjoy this photo gallery of Spokane, Portland and Seattle locomotives selected from files in Kalmbach Media‘s David P. Morgan Library. The principal Spokane, Portland and Seattle locomotive shop was at Vancouver, Washington. Initially a roundhouse, it was supplemented with a four-track, three-level diesel shop in 1949 that replaced the roundhouse after the last […]
Pennsylvania RR class K4 4-6-2 from Bachmann Senior Editor Cody Grivno hosts this Product Review video featuring the Pennsylvania RR (PRR) class K4 Pacific steam locomotive from Bachmann Trains. The 4-6-2 paid a visit to our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy staff layout, where it led a short train of heavyweight passenger cars. Details on the […]
Pennsylvania RR class K4 4-6-2 from Bachmann Senior Editor Cody Grivno hosts this Product Review video featuring the Pennsylvania RR (PRR) class K4 Pacific steam locomotive from Bachmann Trains. The 4-6-2 paid a visit to our Milwaukee, Racine & Troy staff layout, where it led a short train of heavyweight passenger cars. Details on the […]
A crewman climbs aboard Chicago & North Western class H No. 3017 on Nov. 17, 1929, six days after the 4-8-4 arrived from Baldwin. The engine is being broken in on the main line west of Chicago. A. W. Johnson photo […]
