The 124 open-platform coaches the Burlington Route used in Chicago–Downers Grove–Aurora commuter service were Spartan conveyances. No. 7165 stands between runs at Aurora in February 1946. Henry J. McCord photo […]
Burlington suburban coach
Section: Railroads
Big Emma on empties
Louisville & Nashville class M-1 2-8-4 No. 1950 — a “Big Emma” — rolls empty coal hopper cars at Hargett, Ky., on May 23, 1952. Ed Theisinger photo […]
St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad remembered
The St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad was a survivor and an innovator. It weathered some very rough times, including at least five bankruptcies. It started running unit coal trains from Fort Smith, Ark., the city across the Arkansas River from my hometown of Van Buren, in the 1930s. It helped move Texas and Oklahoma oil east […]
A Pennsy super Pacific
Pennsylvania Railroad 5698, one of the road’s two class K5 4-6-2s, heads an unidentified passenger train south on the Northern Central line between the Harrisburg, Pa., area and Baltimore in the early 1940s. PRR added the pair of heavy Pacifics to its roster in 1929, after the last of 425 K4’s had been built. Frank […]
Conrail locomotives remembered
Conrail locomotives: Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history, heritage, and style of Conrail all through April 2022. Enjoy this photo gallery of Conrail locomotives selected from the archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Conrail was formed in 1976 with the consolidation of several bankrupt Northeastern railroads: Penn Central, Central of New Jersey, […]
Conrail freight trains remembered
Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of Conrail all through April 2022. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Conrail freight trains selected from the archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Conrail served a variety of customers across the railroad’s territory stretching from St. Louis and Chicago east to Philadelphia, New […]
Diesel locomotive single order units in the mid-20th century
Diesel locomotive single order units: In the modern era, locomotive orders are typically measured in the dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of units. But orders early in the dieselization of North American railroad would often come in much smaller quantities, down to a single unit. It was commonplace decades ago when customers were more plentiful […]
M&StL at Roland, Iowa
Minneapolis & St. Louis 2-6-0 310, power for the Marshalltown–Story City, Iowa, mixed train, switches at Roland, the biggest source of traffic on the 38-mile Story City branch line, in the late 1940s. William F. Armstrong photo […]
Towerman’s view at Berea
The second-trick operator at New York Central’s BE Tower at Berea, Ohio, just west of Cleveland, highballs FA-powered westbound fast freight NC-1 as it passes the tower. Richard J. Cook photo […]
Steam faces diesel at Salida
Denver & Rio Grande Western 2-8-0 1138 watches as four brand-new GP9s bring an eastbound freight into Salida, Colo., on the Tennessee Pass line in December 1955. Trains for the narrow-gauge Monarch Branch operated out of this yard, hence the dual-gauge track. Jim Shaughnessy photo […]
The Ferdinand’s 4-4-0
In southern Indiana, handsome 4-4-0 No. 9 of the 7.4-mile short line Ferdinand Railroad poses in late afternoon sun for photographers visiting from New Jersey in May 1952. Built by H. K. Porter in 1920, she was scrapped in 1953. Ed Theisinger photo […]
Gauley Trolley on CSX Transportation: A Class I local train
Gauley Trolley on CSX: The Gauley Trolley represents the destination community it originally served at Gauley Bridge, W.Va. The trolley is a Class I railroad’s local service, originating in Gauley Bridge, an interchange between the Chesapeake & Ohio and the Kanawha & Michigan. It later became part of the New York Central, later Penn Central, […]
