Transcontinental Railroad: Building track

men building Transcontinental Railroad

Transcontinental Railroad Workers who built the first Transcontinental Railroad, by hand, in the late 1860s labored through grueling heat, biting winter cold, snow, attacks from Native American tribes, and long, long work days. Learn how they did it with this excerpt from one of Trains’ DVD’s, Journey To Promontory, available from the Kalmbach Hobby Store. […]

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NKP SD9 returned to as-built appearance by Progress Rail

MUNCIE, Ind. — Nickle Plate Road SD9 No. 358 is nearing the end of a lengthy process of restoration to operation by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, with Progress Rail returning the locomotive to its appearance as built in 1957. The locomotive, donated by Norfolk Southern to the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society in […]

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Fully funded, new firebox work advances on PRR K4s No. 1361

Men discuss work on steam engine behind them

ALTOONA, Pa. — Work to construct a new $425,000 firebox for Pennsylvania Railroad Class K4s steam locomotive No. 1361 (PRR Juniata Shops, 1918) is moving along rapidly, with the inner wrapper sheets scheduled to be assembled late next month or in early September. The locomotive is in the midst of a $2.6 million restoration to […]

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VIA Rail Bombardier LRC diesel locomotives

Yellow-and-blue Bombardier LRC diesel locomotive in front of city skyline

Bombardier LRC diesel locomotives were built for the future using beloved Alco components of old.     “From the tip of its pointed nose to its electric tail-end markers, the LRC locomotive is refreshingly different, but at heart it is nothing more than a third-generation FPA,” wrote Greg McDonnell in the July 1983 issue of […]

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Delaware & Hudson passenger trains remembered

Wooden coaches on Albany–Binghamton train 208 at Albany Union Station, circa 1945–46.

Delaware & Hudson passenger trains     All through July 2023, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the grit and grandeur of the Delaware & Hudson in its bicentennial year. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Kansas City Southern passenger trains selected from the files in Kalmbach Media‘s David P. Morgan Library.   Only from Trains.com! […]

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A to Z: Trains in movies

The Denver and Rio Grande movie

Trains in movies Trains in movies: Looking for a brief retreat that is fun, fairly inexpensive, and easily accessible all year round? Try exploring the world of trains from the comfort of your own home. Enjoy the good, the bad, and the ugly in railroad movies from the past. Robberies, explosions, romance, comedy, suspense … […]

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Phoebe Snow – passenger train advertising icon

Brochure cover showing rear of passenger train

Phoebe Snow as a person was an invention by advertising men a half century before the streamliner. A new management led by William Haynes Trues­­dale had taken charge of Lackawanna in 1899 and was turning the sys­tem from a 19th-century pike into a 20th-century railroad. The makeover included the passenger service. DL&W’s passenger engines used […]

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Delaware & Hudson history remembered

Blue-and-gray diesel locomotives with freight train of Delaware & Hudson history

Delaware & Hudson history dates from 1823, when the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. was chartered to build a canal from Honesdale, Pa., to Rondout, N. Y., on the Hudson River. The canal would carry anthracite coal from mines near Carbondale, Pa., to New York City. The mines would be served by a gravity railroad […]

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Southern Pacific locomotive roster overview

Red-and-gray diesel locomotive with passenger train

The Southern Pacific locomotive roster was expansive. A headlight breaking the horizon in the 1960s meant one thing; you never were sure what the motive power would be. In its latter years, despite having hundreds of Electro-Motive Division Geeps and SDs and General Electric U-Boats of all models, SP would assemble whatever was available on […]

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