The silver and gold bonanza of the late 19th Century led to a boom in narrow gauge railroad startups across Colorado. But out of the plethora that’ve come and gone, which left an impact in the Centennial State and sparked our enthusiasm to visit what’s left today? Let’s find out by reminiscing about five prolific […]
Burlington Route diesel locomotives showed a strong loyalty to Electro-Motive Division, located in the online community of LaGrange, Ill. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy was a diesel pioneer with its Zephyr passenger trains in the 1930s, and the railroad began dieselizing mainline freight trains with EMD FTs in 1943. The CB&Q continuing dieselizing with a […]
CHESTERTON, Ind. — The group that has preserved a former Norfolk & Western business car is now seeking to save and restore former N&W sleeping car Hollins College. The N&W Business Car 300 Preservation Society says it is working with Norfolk Southern, the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, and the Morristown & Erie Railway to preserve […]
A General Electric U25B leads EMD, Alco, and Fairbanks-Morse units on Norfolk & Western train KB6 near Hull, Ill., in October 1964, just weeks after N&W leased the Wabash. J. David Ingles photo […]
Burlington Route passenger trains are part of Classic Trains‘ editors’ celebration of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy all through December 2024. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Burlington Route passenger trains selected from Firecrown Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Since October 2019, Classic Trains’ editors have celebrated a different Fallen Flag, that is, […]
SPARKS, Nev. — Union Pacific is planning to tear down a 120-year-old machine shop in Sparks, Nev., to the disappointment of preservationists, but will offer residents a chance to retain a piece of the historic building. The city and railroad have announced that UP will make bricks from the structure — older than the city of […]
We all have “near misses” in our lives, and one of the biggest for me was the steam program of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, known best by the numbers of its two star locomotives, 4-8-4 No. 5632 and 2-8-2 No. 4960. Both were among a few saved after the Q dieselized and subsequently […]
I used to get a bit of grief when I was a new hire from co-workers for being a railfan. Railroaders can sniff out a rail enthusiast from 100 miles away — but I know I was not alone. Personally, I think there are more out there than would ever admit to it. I was […]
Okay let me be the first to say, I am childless. However when a friend of mine told me that he and his wife were expecting, I immediately started to wonder what they would name the child. The next day I brought up the idea to a colleague and said that I thought Norfolk would […]
Years ago, it was not unknown for railroads to promote themselves via railroad models. This actually began in the toy train sphere of model railroading. Scale model railroading as a hobby emerged from toy trains, which began to come to prominence in the early 20th century. As evidence, I’ll cite the fact that Al […]
Burlington Route history begins with the Aurora Branch Railroad, chartered on Feb. 12, 1849, to build a line from Aurora, Ill., to a connection with the Galena & Chicago Union (forerunner of the Chicago & North Western) at Turner Junction (West Chicago). Service began with G&CU’s first locomotive, the Pioneer. In 1852 the road […]
Make building signs from polyester labels: In our hobby, the little things can make a big difference. When adding buildings to our railroads, it’s details like signs that help us determine if it’s the local drug store or the donut shop. Signs also clue us in to what era the railroad is set in. I […]
