Soo Line 4-6-2 2718 is at Sussex, Wis., with Minneapolis–Chicago local train No. 2 in a view from the late 1940s or early ’50s. Classic Trains coll. […]
Pacific on a Soo Line local
Type of Train: Steam Locomotive
Santa Maria Valley No. 205 at Work
Newly restored Santa Maria Valley 2-6-2 number 205 is under steam at the Albany and Eastern Railroad shops as the crew readies the locomotive for a photo charter the following day. We’ll follow the 205 as she is pressed into revenue freight service for a day, March 17, 2022. The Albany and Eastern operates 64 […]
N&W Y6 eastbound
One of Norfolk & Western’s powerful homebuilt Y6-class 2-8-8-2 Mallets drifts downgrade along the New River with eastbound freight at Narrows, Va., in mid-1954, when the N&W was still unsullied by diesels. W. A. Akin Jr. photo […]
Brass engine disassembly basics
Brass engine disassembly basics: When I was a kid, I’d go to the local hobby shop and drool over the brass steam locomotives in the glass display case near the cash register. I’d seen most of them in the Pacific Fast Mail advertisements that used to grace the back cover of Model Railroader, and here […]
Western Maryland locomotive 1309 is a steam standout
Name: Western Maryland locomotive 1309 Builder: Baldwin Locomotive Works Wheel arrangement: 2-6-6-2 Mallet (Articulated) Build date: November 1949 Why it’s important: The 1309 is one of the largest regularly operating steam locomotives in the United States. The big 2-6-6-2 originally belonged to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, where it was one of 10 class H-6 compound articulated […]
Silvis update: UP passenger cars being repaired
SILVIS, Ill. – Railroading Heritage of Midwest America reports it is making significant progress on repairs to former Union Pacific passenger rolling stock at its Silvis, Ill., shop complex. In an email to donors, RRHMA President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Sandberg said in the coming weeks former Southern Pacific business car Stanford will be sandblasted […]
Pacific with Santa Fe mail and express
A mail-and-express train running as the second section of Santa Fe train 20 descends Edelstein Hill west of Chillicothe, Ill., around 1950. Six express reefers trail the locomotive, followed by several baggage express cars. The locomotive, Pacific No. 3434, has its smokestack extension raised. T. H. Cole Jr. photo […]
Fire-fighting 4-6-0
Southern Pacific 4-6-0 No. 2248, built in 1896, remained active into the 1950s providing motive power and pumping capacity for a fire train in the Sierra Nevada. Since the early 1990s, No. 2248 has been in tourist service around Fort Worth. SP photo […]
Kitbash an inexpensive flag stop station
Kitbash an inexpensive flag stop station: I stopped by a garage sale last year that had children’s toys piled up on a table. I found several items I thought I could use, including what looked to be a horse stable building. The seller was asking 50 cents for it and the other items I picked […]
Soo Line No. 1003 Photo Special
In coordination with the Kalmbach Media sponsored TrainFest hobby show in Milwaukee, Wisc., the Steam Locomotive Heritage Association used the opportunity to fire up their 1913-built American Locomotive Company, Class L-1 2-8-2 steam engine, Soo Line No. 1003. This photo special routed over the tracks of regional railroad Wisconsin & Southern — all to the […]
EBT No. 16 limbers up for Winter Spectacular
ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. – East Broad Top’s 1916 Baldwin 2-8-2 Mikado steam locomotive, under restoration for nearly three years, stretched its legs Thursday (Feb. 9) in preparation for the narrow gauge railroad’s annual Winter Spectacular railfan weekend. Expanded to a two-day event this year, it is scheduled for Feb. 18-19. The 81-ton engine has created […]
Early Texas type
Texas & Pacific was the first road to adopt the 2-10-4 type, hence the name “Texas” for the wheel arrangement. T&P amassed a fleet of 70 nearly identical 2-10-4s, Nos. 600–669, built by Lima between 1925 and 1929. Classic Trains coll. […]
