Freight car evolution Auto parts trains were a mixed bag in the mid-1960s. This Wabash train in May 1964 shows an old 50-foot parts car with only the code and car numbers visible, new 60- and 85-foot cars, and an open auto rack. J. David Ingles collection […]
Distinctive duo Electro-Motive’s first two diesel switchers, Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Nos. 425 and 426, were built at General Electric’s Erie, Pa., plant prior to the opening of EMC’s own assembly plant at LaGrange, Ill. The pioneering locomotives, built in 1935, have distinctive cab, hood, and truck designs that wouldn’t be repeated on later EMC […]
All through May 2021, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the style, glamour and grit of the Northern Pacific Railway. Please enjoy this NP locomotive photo gallery sourced from the archives of the David P. Morgan Library at Kalmbach Media. Only from Classic Trains! […]
Iron mule An unseen “iron mule” between the rails propels a coal car, with a brakeman aboard, toward a dumper at Newport News, Va. The C&O, along with rivals Norfolk & Western and Virginian, moved millions of tons of coal to be transloaded to ships in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. Chesapeake & Ohio […]
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp. has added a C30-7 diesel to its collection, a gif from the Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society. The locomotive is one of 44 of the road-switchers ordered by the Louisville & Nashville from General Electric in 1979-80, and spent most of its operating life with CSX Transportation. Retired […]
CSX Transportation has repainted one of its executive fleet F40PH locomotives in a paint scheme inspired by predecessor Baltimore & Ohio. The city of Baltimore chartered the railroad on Feb. 28, 1827, to build west to a suitable point on the Ohio River. Ground was broken on July 4, 1828, at Carrollton, Md. By 1929 […]
Illinois steam survivor Wabash 2-6-0 576 creeps west across the Illinois River at Meredosia, Ill., in September 1954. The bridge famously limited the use of diesel locomotives on the railroad’s branch to Keokuk, making this operation a late era Midwest steam outpost. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Intermodal engineering Wood planks were common for building piggyback ramps. Large planks formed rub rails (well-used judging by the scars) along the edges, with a notch for the flatcar coupler and a steel bridge plate on the right. Classic Trains magazine collection […]
Midwest memories The sun shines down on Northern Pacific-painted S2 705 at Jamestown, N.Dak., on NP S2 705 in early 1970, just eight weeks after the creation of Burlington Northern. J. David Ingles photo […]
Terminal Station Daniel Burnham designed the Southern Railway’s monumental Terminal Station in New Orleans in 1908, just after his Washington Union Station opened. Terminal faced Canal Street at Basin until it was razed in 1956. James G. La Vake photo […]
The Northern Pacific Railway is Classic Trains‘ Railroad of the Month for May 2021. Please enjoy this freight train photo gallery sourced from the archives of the David P. Morgan Library at Kalmbach Media. Only from Classic Trains! […]
Route of the Rockets The 1,600-hp Alco RS3 was an all-time best-selling road switcher with more than 1,200 built from 1949 to 1956. Rock Island No. 492, built in 1951, operated in Chicago area commuter service. Rock Island photo […]
