South Shore Baldwin

South Shore Baldwin

Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic DRS-6-6-15 road-switcher No. 201 stands with a bulkhead flatcar of pulpwood, a major commodity in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The South Shore had 4 of the 82 six-motor, 1,500-horsepower units that Baldwin Locomotive Works built between 1948 and 1950. Photo by A. C. Kalmbach […]

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“Modern” reefer of the 1920s

“Modern” reefer of the 1920s

Pacific Fruit Express was co-owned by Union Pacific and Southern Pacific. This 40-foot class R-30-12 car, built in 1923, had a wood body and steel underframe. It was typical of the thousands of “modern” refrigerator cars through the 1930s. Photo by Standard Steel Car Co. […]

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Workaday Baldwins

Workaday Baldwins

Chesapeake Western, a 54-mile T-shaped west central Virginia road, employed three 1946 Baldwin DS-4-4-660s, two of which drill cars at Harrisonburg, site of the Southern Railway interchange, on November 5, 1958. CW, under Norfolk & Western control after 1954, also reached C&O at Staunton. Bob Krone photo […]

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Early Amtrak GE Locomotives

A gray locomotive with wide red, white, and blue stripes sits in a large and brightly lit factory building. A similar engine is in the background.

Most railfans will not dispute this statement: The most iconic General Electric locomotives to be employed by Amtrak were the Genesis series. These streamlined, monocoque-body (single shell) workhorses have been everywhere along the passenger carrier’s regional and long-distance services since the 1990s. The impact of the Genesis series locomotives can make it easy to forget […]

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Taking it to the streets

Taking it to the streets

Led by 1936 power unit 9905 Zephyrus, the Twin Cities Zephyr rolls down Second Street in La Crosse, Wis., circa 1939. The slow street running was an obstacle when competing with Chicago & North Western and Milwaukee Road for Chicago to Twin Cities traffic. Elden H. Hunter photo […]

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Streamline steam

Streamline steam

The Canadian National’s 4-8-4 U-4s were striking machines from any angle. Colors were black with green stripes, cab, and tender, accented by gold trim and white tires. This scene is at Spadina roundhouse in Toronto, on March 10, 1957. Jim Shaughnessy photo […]

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Lionel’s 1938 remote control automatic couplers

Classic Toy Trains magazine logo

I found this manuscript from the late John Grams in our manuscript files. There was no date on the envelope but it’s likely from the early 1990s. The article discusses 12 Lionel products that, while great inventions, were fraught with problems or didn’t work exactly as advertised. He included the following disclaimer: Lionel trains were […]

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SD45 hood comparison

SD45 hood comparison

Erie Lackawanna bought both EMD’s standard SD45 (No. 3602, right) and the lengthened version designated SDP45 (3639, left). The extra space at the rear of the SDP45 was intended to house a steam generator for passenger service, and the additional space between the trucks accommodated a tank for fuel oil and one for water for […]

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