McCloud River Railroad 2-6-2 Prairie type steam locomotive in California in 2008. Jim Wrinn 2-6-2 •YEARS BUILT: 1900-1909 •MANUFACTURERS: Rogers, Alco, Baldwin, Burlington Route shop forces •OPERATED ON: Burlington Route, Santa Fe, Milwaukee Road, and Northern Pacific •NAME: Prairie •QUANTITY: 1,250 for common carriers; more for loggers and mining roads; Burlington Route had the most […]
A Rock Island DL-series type diesel electric locomotive pulls the Rocket from Des Moines, Iowa, in 1946. Tom Harley DL-series •YEARS BUILT: 1940-1945 •MANUFACTURER: Alco •OPERATED ON: Santa Fe; Milwaukee Road; Chicago & North Western; Rock Island; Gulf, Mobile & Ohio; New Haven; Southern; among other railroads •NAMES: DL103B, 105, 107, 109 •QUANTITY: 78 (includes […]
EMC FT diesel-electric locomotive No. 103 is on display at the Museum of Transport in St. Louis, Missouri. Jim Wrinn FT •YEARS BUILT: 1939-1945 •MANUFACTURER: Electro-Motive Corp. •OPERATED ON: Santa Fe, Atlantic Coast Line, Baltimore & Ohio, Boston & Maine, Chicago & North Western, Burlington Route, Rock Island, Rio Grande, Erie, Great Northern, Lehigh Valley, […]
Southern Railway EMD E8 type diesel electric locomotive No. 6900 once pulled the Southern Crescent passenger train. Jim Wrinn E8 •YEARS BUILT: 1949-1953 •MANUFACTURER: EMD •OPERATED ON: Most major Class I railroads, notably Chesapeake & Ohio; Canadian Pacific; Chicago & North Western; Burlington Route; Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; Erie; Illinois Central; Missouri Pacific; New York […]
Southern Railway EMD GP30 type diesel electric locomotive No. 2601 pulls a passenger train at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. Jim Wrinn GP30 •YEARS BUILT: 1961-1963 •MANUFACTURERS: EMD, GMD •OPERATED ON: Most Class I railroads, notably, Chesapeake & Ohio, Burlington Route, Chicago & North Western, Denver & Rio Grande Western, Great Northern, Louisville & Nashville, […]
Nickel Plate Road PA-1 type diesel electric locomotive No. 190 called the Oregon Rail Heritage Center home. Jim Wrinn PA-1 •YEARS BUILT: 1946-1950 •MANUFACTURER: Alco •OPERATED ON: Santa Fe; Denver & Rio Grande Western; Erie; Gulf, Mobile & Ohio; Lehigh Valley; Missouri-Kansas-Texas; Missouri Pacific; New Haven; Nickel Plate; New York Central; Pennsylvania; Cotton Belt; Southern […]
Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern, SD40-type diesel electric locomotives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. SD40/-2 series •YEARS BUILT: 1966-1988 •MANUFACTURER: EMD •OPERATED ON: Most Class I freight railroads in North America •NAMES: SD40, 40-2, Snoot (for extended nose versions), Tunnel Motor (for SD40T-2), High Hood (for SR and N&W), Wide Nose (for CN), Fast Forties (on UP) •QUANTITY: […]
Sharknose •YEARS BUILT: 1948-1953 •MANUFACTURER: Baldwin •OPERATED ON: Baltimore & Ohio; New York Central; Pennsylvania Railroad; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern •NAMES: DR-6-4-20, RF-16, DR-4-15 •QUANTITY: 187 total A&B units combined •HORSEPOWER: 1,600 for RF-16 and 2,000 for DR-6-4-20 •KNOWN FOR: Distinctive nose/cab design by Raymond Loewy, based on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s streamlined T-1 steam locomotive […]
Josef Lesser, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Railroad Heritage Foundation, died earlier this week at his home in Los Angeles. After 45 years of film production experience, Lesser, working with his wife Jo Ann, founded the organization in 1999 along with Ronald Gustafson. He passionately promoted and expanded the foundation’s mission to diligently […]
The little door below the headlight on an Alco switcher like Grand Trunk Western S4 No. 8090 led to a veritable chamber of horrors for a young roundhouse worker. J. David Ingles I know there are many dangerous occupations. My wife’s ancestors were coal miners in Pennsylvania after coming to America, having mined coal in […]
Residents of Flossmoor, Ill., are unhappy with proposed changes to the Metra Electric schedule. TRAINS: David Lassen More Wednesday morning rail news: — Residents and government officials in the Chicago suburb of Flossmoor, Ill., are balking at proposed changes to the Metra Electric District schedule spurred by positive train control implementation, the Homewood-Flossmoor Chronicle reports. […]
Pullman Foundation President Joe Szabo explains how the transfer pit and manufacturing buildings at the Pullman National Monument, shown in the artist’s rendering, will be rebuilt. Bob Johnston CHICAGO — More than $56 million in public and private fundraising begin transforming the Pullman National Monument on Chicago’s South Side. The goal is to create a […]
