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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Steve Favale has a number of 25-ton cranes on his layout, and the hooks swing around when he runs them. He’s wondering how he should secure the hooks. Hal Miller shares some photos that may hold the answer! […]
Steve Favale has a number of 25-ton cranes on his layout, and the hooks swing around when he runs them. He’s wondering how he should secure the hooks. Hal Miller shares some photos that may hold the answer! […]
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 […]
Lee Ramsburg wants to know what’s the most number of engines an engineer can operate in a train. Steve Sweeney is in the studio with the answer. […]
Lee Ramsburg wants to know what’s the most number of engines an engineer can operate in a train. Steve Sweeney is in the studio with the answer. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Jim Harward writes in to ask what Amtrak carries in its new baggage cars. He also wants to know if employees ride in them and who loads and unloads them. Steve Sweeney did some research, so tune in to learn the answer! […]
Jim Harward writes in to ask what Amtrak carries in its new baggage cars. He also wants to know if employees ride in them and who loads and unloads them. Steve Sweeney did some research, so tune in to learn the answer! […]
The location is Union Avenue interlocking at the east end of Burlington Northern’s “racetrack” to Aurora in about 1980. Amtrak train 380 from Carbondale, Ill., comes off the St. Charles Air Line (left) as a BN “dinky” from Aurora in push mode heads for Chicago Union Station (right); between them, is a BN E unit […]