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 […]
Minuteman
Subscription: Subscription - CTR
Man and machine
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 […]
High-pressure short line
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 […]
Frisco fast freight
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. […]
Daily except Sunday
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 […]
Cumbres Pass
Denver & Rio Grande Western Mikados Nos. 497 and 488 lift an eastbound narrow gauge train up Cumbres Pass in June 1963. Under Rio Grande management such sights would last only five more years. Cornelius W. Hauck photo […]
Classic conveyance
The plain 40-foot, general-purpose boxcar was the standard method of hauling bulk grain through the 1960s. Adding temporary grain doors to the door openings made a boxcar a rolling storage tub. This steel Chicago Great Western-marked car carries a load of corn at Milwaukee in the 1970s. Its replacements, high-capacity covered hopper cars, are already […]
West Virginia coal
Baltimore & Ohio 2-8-8-4 No. 7609 carries a coal train to the summit at Altamont, W.Va., in June 1945. The locomotive is one of 30 EM1-class engines built by Baldwin. H.W. Pontin photo […]
Center Flow
Early ACF Center Flow cars were nearly cylindrical. This 100-ton Union Pacific car, built in 1964, has three trough hatches and a 3,700-cubic foot capacity. Introduced in 1961, the Center Flow design had no center sill and instead relied on the curved sides for strength. Union Pacific photo […]
Totally Tubular
A man reads a book on the main level of a Budd-built Tubular coach while people relax in the smoking lounge above and behind him. Note the dark-colored ramp up to the end door. The train entered regular service on the Pennsylvania Railroad in June 1956 on the New York–Washington Keystone. Pennsylvania Railroad photo […]
Monsters of Mingo
Six-axle units from three Conrail predecessors mingle at Mingo Junction, Ohio, in April 1976, the month of Big Blue’s creation. Visible left to right are former Erie Lackawanna GE U33C No. 3302, Lehigh Valley Alco C628 No. 628, and Penn Central C630 No. 3626. Jay Potter photo […]
T&P steam revival
Texas & Pacific ended regular steam operations in 1952. When Red River flooding near Boyce, La., became too deep for diesels to wade through in 1957, T&P borrowed a 2-8-2 from the Fort Worth & Denver to haul trains in the high water. In January 1958, T&P bought a different FW&D Mike, No, 410, and […]
