There were more than 200 red-white-and-blue Bicentennial diesel locomotives. Many “Bicens” were specially renumbered, but some (the 76s, 200s, 1776s, 1976s, etc.) were not. Bicentennials roamed the rails in every state (beyond the “lower 48” were two Alaska Railroad FP7s and a rail historical group’s tiny GE in Hawaii); in Panama (a 5-foot-gauge Alco RSC3); […]
Delaware & Locomotive locomotives demonstrated some of the greatest variety for a railroad its size. Steam locomotives on the D&H were distinctive. Its roster was dominated by 2-8-0 and 4-6-0 types, but it also had notable fleets of 4-6-2s, 4-8-4s, and 4-6-6-4s. After World War I, the road stuck with the 2-8-0 long […]
Pennsylvania 6200 turbine locomotive was an experimental locomotive that served on passenger trains in Indiana and Ohio. But it is perhaps best known as the Lionel No. 671 Pennsylvania Turbine. The first of several turbine projects the Pennsylvania considered was also the only one that produced an actual locomotive: steam-turbine-mechanical No. 6200. Pennsy […]
Ask someone to associate a railroad with the heaviest 4-6-4 Hudsons and they’ll likely guess “New York Central.” After all, it was NYC and its supplier, American Locomotive Co., that first developed the 4-6-4 in 1927, and it was NYC that gave the engine its famous name: Hudson, named for the river the Central’s main […]
The three railroads that shared Deramus red locomotives also shared the leadership of William N. Deramus III. He began working on the Wabash in 1939 and served in the U.S. Army Transportation Corps in British India before becoming general manager of the Kansas City Southern after the war. He died Nov. 15, 1989, at age […]
Was the Blue Streak Merchandise the last Great American Freight Train? “You define a passenger train by its cars, its menu, its route — even its patrons,” says railroad historian Fred W. Frailey in his 1991 book on the Blue Streak. “But the Blue Streak defined the railroads over which it runs — seized […]
Family road trips usually involve self-inflicted detours to see park steam engines, “stuffed and mounted” for the sake of local posterity. They’re usually easy to find, thanks to J. David Conrad’s standard reference “Steam Locomotive Directory of North America, Vols. I and II,” which I’ve consulted for decades, or, in a pinch, Google. A […]
The last Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad train out of Baltimore crosses the trestle at Sharon, Md., on Aug. 5, 1958. Lawrence W. Sagle photo […]
The Meridian & Bigbee Railroad “possessed all the credentials required for admittance to the Typical Southern Short Line Club,” wrote J. Parker Lamb in Trains’ July 1959 issue. Those included secondhand steam locomotives, a leisurely schedule, and insufficient revenue tonnage. Yet, the road was able to overcome those deficiencies to become a sought-after bridge route […]
MADISON, Wis. — The Center for Railroad Photography & Art has unveiled its online archive of digital images from the center’s expansive collection. Odyssey, the CRP&A’s new online portal, is now available here. A downloadable search guide PDF is available here. The image management system was selected by the CRP&A staff in June 2022, and […]
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — South Carolina’s legislature has set aside an additional $10 million for development of the Saluda Grade Rail Trail, the Spartanburg Post and Courier reports. Lawmakers had already earmarked $5 million for the project before Norfolk Southern agreed to sell the dormant 31-mile, two-state rail route, once the steepest main line in the […]
MOORESTOWN, N.J. — The National Railway Historical Society has awarded almost $125,000 to 25 organizations as part of its 2023 Railway Heritage Preservation Grants, supporting preservation of railroad-related artifacts and media. The awards total $124,950, and range from $2,500 to $10,000. The largest single grant this year, $10,000, was received by the Center for Railroad […]
