Algoma Central locomotives remembered

Gray-and-maroon diesel Algoma Central locomotives

Algoma Central locomotives provided a bit of variety in northern Ontario railroading.     For a railroad its size, ACR owned a variety of steam power. The first engines were secondhand, including 11 acquired in 1899: four Lehigh Valley 4-6-0s and seven ex-Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 0-4-0s. ACR’s first new power, four Baldwin 2-8-0s, arrived […]

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Boston & Albany’s J2 Hudsons

Example of Boston & Albany’s J2 Hudson steam locomotive on a passenger train

Boston & Albany’s J2 Hudsons provided subtle variety to the greater New York Central System.     From the moment the New York Central absorbed the Boston & Albany Railroad via lease in 1900, you can imagine the company’s executive team vowing to hang on to as much independence as possible. The B&A was a […]

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Amtrak Floridian service remembered

Red-and-black diesel locomotive with Amtrak Floridian passenger train in street

Amtrak Floridian service provided direct service between Florida and the Midwest for almost a decade. The train was first known as the South Wind, a name inherited from predecessors Pennsylvania Railroad, Louisville & Nashville, and Seaboard Coast Line. With the issuance of Amtrak’s first in-house timetable on Nov. 14, 1971, the name was changed to […]

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Preview September 2023 Classic Trains content

Green-and-yellow diesel locomotive

Preview Classic Trains‘ 2023 content   Here’s a preview of what’s coming in the next month. Become a Trains.com member so you don’t miss any of this great content! If you have a story suggestion, email editor@classictrainsmag.com   A good and unique ‘Family’ member In character, the Georgia Road was both a Class 1 hauler […]

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Milwaukee Road Hiawatha fleet stands out

Streamlined diesel locomotive with Milwaukee Road Hiawatha fleet passenger train

The Milwaukee Road Hiawatha fleet stands out among mid-century passenger operators.     Of all the major U.S. railroads that fielded impressive fleets of passenger trains between the end of World War I in 1918 and the arrival of Amtrak in 1971, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific — more commonly known as the […]

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Diesel assists steam on the Central

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Two Fairbanks-Morse diesels, a five-axle “C-Liner” and an older “Erie-built,” doublehead with J-1 Hudson 5273 on eastbound mail train 32 at Millbury Junction, Ohio, 7.5 miles east of Toledo on New York Central’s old LS&MS main line, in September 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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Mike Schafer’s Milwaukee Road

Yellow passenger trains' front and rear

Even as he handed it to me the other night at a Milwaukee slide show, I couldn’t quite believe what Mike Schafer was telling me. “Hey, this is my first railroad book! Maybe you’ll write about it?”     Mike Schafer’s first railroad book. That didn’t sound quite right. I’ve been reading Mike’s name on […]

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Bangor & Aroostook Geeps

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Bangor & Aroostook 94, one of five former Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines GP38s BAR acquired in 1983, leads GP7 74 and GP38 88 on a southbound freight at Chapman, Maine, in September 1985. Jim Shaw photo […]

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Rio Grande 4-6-6-4

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Freshly-shopped Denver & Rio Grande Western 4-6-6-4 No. 3708 is at Wolhurst, Colo., 13.5 miles south of Denver, on a freight bound for Pueblo and Alamosa on the road’s “Joint Line” in June 1949. Ross B. Grenard photo […]

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Pennsy and Monon crossing at Limedale, Ind.

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An interlocking tower and station are nestled between the tracks where the Monon crosses the two tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Limedale, Ind., in May 1944. A Monon local freight is switching the station and interchange tracks in the distance. Linn H. Westcott photo […]

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