Experimental gas-turbine-electric No. 101, built at General Electric’s Erie, Pa., plant in 1948, heads a dynamometer car and a freight at Blasdell, N.Y., during a test run on the Nickel Plate Road. Franklin E. Gnau photo […]
Gas-turbine demonstrator
Section: Railroads
Early Conrail at Conway Yard
This view inside a hump control tower at Conway Yard, the giant former Pennsylvania Railroad facility on the north bank of the Ohio River west of Pittsburgh, dates from the early months of Conrail. Conrail photo […]
Past meets future on the L&N
Three-decade-old Mikado 1540 stands with spanking new GP7 500 at Louisville & Nashville’s South Louisville Shops in 1951. Jack Fravert photo […]
Ma & Pa 0-6-0
Maryland & Pennsylvania 0-6-0 No. 6 gets a spin on the turntable at the beloved little road’s Baltimore roundhouse in March 1955. H. N. Proctor photo […]
Mikado on an M&E train
In December 1949, a Burlington Route mail-and-express train rolls west near Keenesburg, Colo., with an express boxcar (a rebuilt troop kitchen car), Railway Post Office, two baggage express cars, another RPO, and a single rider coach for the crew. Mikado 5075 provides the motive power. Joe Schick, Jim Seacrest collection […]
Bath for a BN E8
Burlington Northern E8 No. 9900 eases through the wash rack west of Union Avenue interlocking, Chicago, about 1980. Paul D. Schneider photo […]
Chicago Great Western Railroad history
Chicago Great Western Railroad history introduction Chicago Great Western Railroad history traces its roots to A.B. Stickney, who early in his adult life entered the railroad business, set to link St. Paul with Chicago. He took the legal assets of the moribund Minnesota & Northwestern Railroad, and in 1884 pushed a line under that banner […]
Preparing a K4
At the Pennsylvania’s South Amboy, N.J., engine terminal in the mid-1950s, a hostler shovels coal into the firebox of a K4s Pacific in preparation for its next run. Don Wood photo […]
B&O 2-8-2 at rest
Baltimore & Ohio 2-8-2 No. 4858 stands with a caboose at the road’s terminal at Cowen, W.Va., in May 1952. B&O adopted the name “MacArthur” for its 2-8-2 Mikado types during World War II and referred to them as such until the end of steam. Ed Theisinger photo […]
Remnant of a dream
The Kansas City, Mexico & Orient was conceived to connect Kansas City with the nearest Pacific Ocean port — Topolobampo, Mexico. Although major portions of the route were built on both sides of the border, the dream was never realized. The Santa Fe bought the KCM&O in 1924, then sold the Mexican portions. In this […]
Akron, Canton & Youngstown action
Akron, Canton & Youngstown H20-44 No. 503, a 2,000 h.p. end-cab road-switcher built by Fairbanks-Morse, crosses the Big Four (NYC) main line at New London, Ohio, with a westbound freight in 1949. The 171-mile AC&Y ran between Akron and Delphos, Ohio, but never reached Canton or Youngstown. Vaughn K. Neel photo […]
Seaboard RS3 road-switchers
Two Seaboard Air Line RS3 road-switchers work at Madison, Fla., in 1965, two years before the road merged with the Atlantic Coast Line. Alco introduced the RS3 in 1950, producing some 1,370 of the 1,600 h.p. units. Harry L. Juday photo […]
