9 oddball diesel locomotives: Just when we think we understand the rationale behind particular railroad locomotive fleets, they like to throw us a ringer or two. Standardization is the key to a streamlined and efficient operating department, and while an endless parade of one particular model may become a little monotonous for fans, railroad accountants […]
Southern Pacific history is made up of many little stories. Each for one of its many distinct mainline routes. Until the supermergers of recent decades, Southern Pacific was one of the largest railroads in the U. S., ranking third behind Pennsylvania and New York Central in operating revenue and second behind Santa Fe in route mileage. […]
Three New York Central Alco FAs lift a westbound freight up Washington Hill on NYC’s Boston & Albany line in western Massachusetts in September 1949. R. E. Toby photo […]
One of the North Shore Line’s two Electroliner trains pauses at the North Chicago station on a southbound run one snowy night in the 1950s. William D. Middleton photo […]
A Southern Pacific PA-PB-PA set leads the westbound City of San Francisco at Davis, Calif., in June 1951. D. W. Johnson photo […]
Second of two parts Two veteran Amtrak employees retired last year after lengthy tours of duty on the New York-Washington-Indianapolis Chicago Cardinal, and a regular on the train reached out to suggest their stories were worth telling. Previously, we spent time with sleeping-car attendant Janice Adams [see “Two ‘Cardinal’ veterans look back …,” Trains.com, Jan. […]
Baltimore & Ohio box-cab electric No. 10 shifts cars on the constricted trackage near the Baltimore waterfront in September 1949. In 1954, after B&O shut down its trolley system, the little fellow retired to the B&O Railroad Museum. H. N. Proctor photo […]
Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history, heritage, and style of the Norfolk & Western Railway all through January 2022. So, please enjoy this photo gallery of Norfolk & Western locomotives selected from the archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Norfolk & Western locomotives served in the coal fields and later on high-speed freight […]
Several baggage carts stand ready to receive mail and express as an Atlantic Coast Line train backs into the Wilmington, N.C., station in 1957. William D. Middleton photo […]
Consolidation No. 22 of the Oahu Railway & Land Co. has a freight train from Honolulu in tow as it skirts the Pacific Ocean en route to Kahuku on the island’s northern tip. The picturesque OR&L was largely abandoned shortly after World War II. Kent W. Cochrane photo […]
Norfolk & Western 4-6-2 No. 578 crosses Bull Run with Bluefield–Norton, Va., train 5 on May 27, 1952. The Pacific now resides at the Ohio Railway Museum. Edward Theisinger photo […]
During 1942–44, the Santa Fe replaced its 1890 through-truss bridge over the Colorado River with a higher-level deck-truss span. Sets of FT diesels pose with west- and eastbound freights during the short time that both bridges were in service. Santa Fe photo […]
