Frisco freight trains remembered

Man prepares to catch papers hung out by man on passing freight train caboose

Frisco freight trains: Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad all through May 2022. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Frisco freight trains selected from the archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. At its heart, the Frisco was a regional Class I railroad, an X-shaped system with lines from […]

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Remnant of the Danville Flyer

Louisville and Nashville Railroad

Louisville & Nashville No. 3, the Chicago–Danville, Ill., train formerly named the Danville Flyer, stops at Milford, Ill., in August 1970. The last passenger train on the former Chicago & Eastern Illinois, it will expire with the advent of Amtrak. William M. Scott photo […]

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POTUS on Penn Central

Penn Central President Nixon

A special Metroliner carries President Nixon and Mrs. Nixon out of Washington on the evening of Jan. 24, 1970. The President and First Lady were en route to Philadelphia for an orchestra concert. The Metroliners had entered service 12 months earlier, and Nixon wanted to ride one. Don Phillips photo […]

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NP stock train being loaded

Northern Pacific Railroad

In 1936, this Northern Pacific stock train is loading at the cattle pens at Medora, N.Dak. When the drovers are done loading the car, the train will move additional cars into position. Library of Congress photo […]

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Missabe passenger train

Duluth Missabe and Iron Range Railway

Plow-equipped Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range 4-6-2 1110 waits to depart Virginia, Minn., with train 14 for Iron Junction and a connection with Hibbing–Duluth train 2 on Aug. 22, 1947. Harold Nyberg photo […]

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Baldwin Centipede locomotives — Diesels That Didn’t

Children watch along a fence as a freight train passes

Baldwin Centipede locomotives were an oddity of mid-century railroading that just couldn’t compete with more mundane offerings from rivals Alco or Electro-Motive. What is a Centipede? Officially, this gargantuan diesel is the Baldwin DR-12-8-1500/2. That’s a mouthful. Broken down, it stood for Diesel Road, 12-axles, eight of which were connected to traction motors, with two […]

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Last word in NYC Mohawks

New York Central Railroad

New York Central class L-4 3137 brings the Queen City from Detroit into Cincinnati Union Terminal in September 1954. The 50 L-4 engines, built by Lima 1942–44, were the final group of 4-8-2s acquired by the Central, which had more of the type — 600 — than any other road. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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Hudson at Harmon

New York Central Railroad

New York Central J-1 4-6-4 5249 eases off the turntable at Harmon, N.Y., the point 33 miles up the Hudson River from Grand Central Terminal where for decades NYC exchanged steam for electric locomotives. Ed Nowak photo […]

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End of the line for a Southern 2-8-8-2

Southern Railway

Southern Railway 2-8-8-2 4021, running boards and driving wheels trimmed in white, looks sharp at Appalachia, Va., on the afternoon of May 27, 1952. But a close look reveals that her main rods have been taken down in preparation for being hauled away for scrap. Ed Theisinger photo […]

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St Louis-San Francisco passenger trains remembered

GP1511021

St. Louis-San Francisco passenger trains are part of Classic Trains‘ editors’ celebration of the Frisco all through May 2022. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Frisco passenger trains selected from Kalmbach Media‘s David P. Morgan Library. Since October 2019, Classic Trains’ editors have celebrated a different Fallen Flag, that is, a Class I railroad that […]

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