Telegrapher at Wilbur

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Although author Dinsmore’s territory was some 1,500 miles to the west, this 1966 scene inside Northern Pacific’s depot in South Superior, Wis., would be familiar to him. William D. Middleton When I picked up Classic Trains’ Summer 2008 issue, the cover blurb about the “Kid Telegrapher on NP’s Idaho Division” caught my eye. I searched out the […]

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Illinois Railway Museum restores Santa Fe No. 92 NEWSWIRE

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A submitted image of Santa Fe FP45 No. 92 which Illinois Railway Museum donors helped to mechanically restore. Illinois Railway Museum UNION, Ill. — One of Santa Fe’s last locomotives to haul the Super Chief is now running again at the Illinois Railway Museum. In a Tuesday news release, museum officials say they’ve restored and […]

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Watermelon Extra

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Russell Tedder’s 16-hour 70-tonner ride occurred in July 1955, when he was dispatching for the Live Oak, Perry & Gulf and South Georgia, two affiliated short lines recently acquired by the Southern Railway. Watermelons were an important source of revenue for the Live Oak, Perry & Gulf and South Georgia in the early 1950s. The […]

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Earliest recollections

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“Wee Jimmie” Brown examines a Canadian Pacific switch stand beside the Don Mills Road crossing in North Toronto. His fascination soon turned to fear when a doubleheaded freight came along. Alvin Brown Despite his son’s concern for their safety, Alvin Brown managed to photograph an eastbound freight coming and going at the crossing. Two photos, […]

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Polishing the rails for General Electric

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New York Central S3 No. 9363 stands on the West Side line in Manhattan in 1967. Thirteen years earlier and 150 miles to the north, the road used another Alco switcher in a novel attempt to capture special-train business. Elliot Kahn, Louis A. Marre coll. In a lifetime of reading about railroading, I’ve seen the […]

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Fallen flag logos appear on former CSX diesel NEWSWIRE

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PRLX SD70ACe No. 4834 featuring Chesapeake & Ohio’s “C&O for Progress” logo leads NS train 36T at Attica, N.Y., on March 29, 2018. The C&O-patched locomotive is a former CSX unit on lease to NS by Progress Rail. BUFFALO, N.Y. – A leased locomotive is roaming Norfolk Southern rails with Chesapeake & Ohio logos this […]

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PRR Congressional observation car

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During a preview trip, members of the press enjoy one of the new parlor-lounge-observation cars the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired from Budd for the March 1952 re-equipping of the Congressional and Senator. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]

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The “middle” order

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Baldwin road-switcher 1615 passes the Hertford, N.C., depot with Norfolk Southern freight 88 in January 1965. A few months later, removal of a siding here would cause some confusion. Harry Bundy Telegraph operators working from the extra list rolled with the punches. They were on call 24/7, as they say now, to fill vacancies created […]

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