A visit to Wabtec’s Fort Worth factory

Shiny locomotives outside building

Wabtec’s Fort Worth plant FORT WORTH, Texas — In October 2022, following my attendance at the Railway Supply Institute Expo and Technical Conference, I also had a chance to visit Wabtec’s locomotive assembly plant in Fort Worth. My visit happened to fall on the day Canadian National accepted the first of a series of 50 […]

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Clearing a Rio Grande rotary

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During an epic battle to reopen Cumbres Pass after a late December 1951 storm, a worker uses a shovel to clear the discharge chute of Denver & Rio Grande Western narrow gauge rotary OM of heavy, wet snow. John Norwood photo […]

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BL2 at Muskegon

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EMD’s BL2 of 1948–49 was conceived to be as versatile as a road-switcher yet attractive enough to give passenger trains a respectable appearance. Chesapeake & Ohio 1841 illustrates the BL2’s bi-directionality as it idles at the head of a passenger train at Muskegon, Mich., in the 1950s. David W. Richter photo […]

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B&O tower at Deshler, Ohio

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Baltimore & Ohio’s DR Tower, pictured before daybreak in 1952, guards the crossing of the road’s Chicago and Toledo divisions at the small town of Deshler in northwest Ohio. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]

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‘Olympian Hiawatha’ coach

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Among the cars built for the Milwaukee Road’s 1947 Olympian Hiawatha were 52-seat coaches, produced in the road’s own shops. The interior paneling matched the exterior paint scheme, which was soon modified. MILW photo […]

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NYC 2-6-6-2 in West Virginia

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A long way from the broad, flat Water Level Route, New York Central 2-6-6-2 Mallet 1940 is seen in an undated photo on the road’s line to Charleston and other West Virginia points. Classic Trains collection […]

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Do people wreck train photos?

Do people wreck train photos? A common situation that really irritates a lot of rail photographers is when people get in the way of their picture taking. If you are attempting the perfect “roster shot,” I suppose that could be an irritant. But having railroad employees, passengers, and other fans in your photos should be […]

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