It’s a great day to be railfanning at Tug Tower in Welch, W.Va. As a westbound Norfolk Southern unit coal train comes downgrade, NS General Electric units prepare to ascend the grade. Lou Sassi took the photo on Scott Teague’s N scale layout in Granite Falls, N.C. Model Railroader‘s Photo of the Day features images […]
Rare elsewhere, the 4-8-0 was Norfolk & Western’s top freight engine until 1910, when the first articulateds arrived. Out of an original fleet of 286 Twelve-Wheelers, by 1954, three dozen remained, including 1906-built 475, switching at Potts Valley Junction on the Radford Division. Today this engine hauls tourists, and sometimes freight, at the Strasburg Rail […]
Louisville & Nashville GP40 no. 3002 and U23B no. 2737 pass over the Powell River on John Wilkes’ HO scale L&N Thornhill Division. John models the railroad’s coal operations in eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia between 1968 and 1978. Paul Dolkos photo Model Railroader‘s Photo of the Day features images from our archives, celebrating decades […]
Boston & Maine train 58, the eastbound Minuteman, approaches North Pownal, Vt., in August 1940. Pacific 3658 has milk cars tucked in behind its tender. John P. Ahrens photo […]
The Chesapeake & Ohio was known for its large steam locomotives and tried to head off converting to diesels with three massive M-1 class coal-fired steam-turbine electrics. Here we see one of the turbines taking on coal at Clifton Forge, Va. Jeb Kriigel of Palmyra, Va., scratchbuilt the coal tower and photographed the O scale […]
At Works Tower in Altoona, Pa., a fresh crew gets ready to take Chicago-bound Pennsylvania Railroad piggyback train TT1 west. Unseen, car inspectors check for loose tie-down bracing on the trailers. GP9 No. 7000 is preserved at the Cape May Seashore Lines in New Jersey. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe was the first railroad to order Electro-Motive Corp. FTs, and four of them are seen here leading an extra (note the white flags on the lead unit) through Starkville, Colo. The scene was on the late David Haines’ N scale AT&SF layout. Bill Pearce took the photo. Model Railroader‘s […]
Alabama, Tennessee & Northern No. 11, a General Electric 45-ton center-cab diesel, switches high-pressure tank cars for a refinery on Blakely Island at Mobile, Ala. The railroad, which otherwise consisted of about 200 miles up the west side of the state, operated a car ferry and docks to reach this trackage. It was merged into […]
With the sun just about to set, Charlie Comstock photographed a Southern Pacific local switching cars in Jallen. The workload is pretty light, so SD7 no. 5327 will be sufficient power for today’s train. Charlie, of Hillsboro, Ore., took the photo outdoors on his HO scale Timesaver switching layout. Model Railroader‘s Photo of the Day […]
Four red-and-white GP40s lead fast freight train 33, the Texas Special, into Valley Park, Mo., on Nov. 25, 1980, four days after merger with Burlington Northern. […]
Working its way upgrade, Union Pacific Alco RS-2 no. 1293 leads a local near Beaver Creek, Idaho. The train will cross the Continental Divide twice before reaching Butte, Mont. Bob Johnson photographed the scene on his HO scale Butte Line layout. Model Railroader‘s Photo of the Day features images from our archives, celebrating decades of […]
Virginia & Truckee 2-8-0 No. 5 brings the daily-except-Sunday mixed train across the highway crossing at Washoe, Nev., on Aug. 7, 1948. The railroad ended service on its 46-mile route on May 31, 1950. Fred H. Matthews Jr. photo […]
