Big Boy’s story We all know the old tried and sometimes true saying, “bigger is better.” Yes, a significantly enlarged bowl of ice cream on a hot summer day is better. Finding out that your car repair bill is larger than anticipated … well, not so good. In the eyes of the Union Pacific Railroad, […]
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Union Pacific 2-8-2 2250 assists 2-8-8-2 3572, acquired from the Chesapeake & Ohio to move wartime freight, up Sherman Hill in Wyoming sometime in 1946. R. H. Kindig photo […]
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Preview Garden Railways July and August 2023 content While we may no longer be printing Garden Railways magazine, we’re adding new content to Trains.com every week! Here’s a few recent items, and 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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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In November 1953, Canadian Pacific 4-6-0 No. 1105, being prepared for a day’s work at Chipman, New Brunswick, steams ahead of 4-4-0 No. 29, which the Ten-Wheeler had just pulled out of the enginehouse. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
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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 […]
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The Lionel turbine locomotive has gone down in history as one of the model maker’s iconic products. From its success, reputation as a great runner, and longevity, you’d think the locomotive it’s based on was one of the greatest of all time. It wasn’t. The Pennsylvania RR S2 Lionel’s 6-8-6 is based on the Class […]
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Ex-Monon 2-8-2s face each other in the Tennessee Railroad’s yard at Oneida, Tenn., where the coal-hauling short line met Southern’s CNO&TP main, late one afternoon in September 1954. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
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UNION, Ill. — The Illinois Railway Museum on Saturday played host to “Shay It Forward,” a preservation fundraising event held to honor the memory and legacy of late Trains Magazine editor Jim Wrinn, who died March 30, 2022, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Fundraising activities included throttle time with the museum’s three-truck Shay locomotive, J. […]
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David returns to the task of pulling the painted parts and pieces together…all in manner that ensures the passenger car will operate as well as it looks. But before he puts a lid on this project, David also shows how to add the most important component – the paying passenger figures! Before he gets away, […]
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