New York Central SW8 8626 stands at the road’s Avon Yard near Indianapolis in 1966. Another EMD switcher powered the E&W Turn some 140 miles to the north. Louis A. Marre As a struggling schoolteacher in northern Indiana in the early 1960s, I worked a few summers as a brakeman on a couple of local railroads, […]
Richard Sparks in his studio painting a railroad book cover. Sparks family collection ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Richard M. Sparks, rail enthusiast, editor, author, historian, photographer, artist, and so much more, passed away May 12, 2019 after a valiant, prolonged bout with metastatic cancer. He was 77 years old. Richard was one of a handful who […]
Question: What do the numbers and letters mean on the side of the cab of Union Pacific Challenger 4-6-6-4 No. 3985? — Ben Fairbank, San Antonio, Texas Answer: 21 – 21 4-6-6-4-4-69 ————— 404 UP […]
Question: What do the numbers and letters mean on the side of the cab of Union Pacific Challenger 4-6-6-4 No. 3985? — Ben Fairbank, San Antonio, Texas Answer: 21 – 21 4-6-6-4-4-69 ————— 404 UP […]
OMAHA, Neb. — There have been all kinds of celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the nation’s first transcontinental railroad this May – from ceremonies at Promontory Summit, Utah, to the Big Boy steaming to and from Ogden, Utah’s, Union Station, to special exhibitions at museums all along the original route — but the […]
PROMONTORY SUMMIT, Utah — For one day on Friday, lonely, windswept Promontory Summit filled with thousands of visitors eager to celebrate the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad 150 years ago today. The morning began with positioning steam locomotive replicas Jupiter and No. 119, representing the Central Pacific and Union Pacific, respectively. Soon afterward, a […]
Cast members from the musical “As One” gather for a group photo on a stage at the Golden Spike National Historic Park on Friday. The musical was the main educational and entertainment event during ceremonies marking the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. TRAINS: Steve Sweeney A sign near a re-enactors’ encampment […]
This and other historic images from the building of the Transcontinental Railroad will be part of a new exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. National Museum of American History WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will mark the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad by opening […]
Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform a free concert on Friday, May 3, 2019, at Chicago Union Station’s Great Hall. Bob Johnston CHICAGO—Union Station’s Great Hall reverberated with music, mostly from the middle of the 19th Century, in a free lunchtime concert performed by six Chicago Symphony Orchestra members on Friday. The ensemble played […]
Parking passes for the May 10 celebration are gone; for May 11 and 12, very limited. Trains: Jim Wrinn PROMONTORY SUMMIT, Utah — If you don’t already have a parking pass for Golden Spike ceremony’s 150th anniversary celebrations next month, better buy one immediately or schedule your visit to the Golden Spike National Historical Park […]
Chinese workers load rail onto a tracklaying car from the piles left by the morning’s supply train. Sixteen rails, a keg of spikes, a keg of nuts and bolts, and 32 splice bars, along with the crew made the load. Horses to pull the car stand ready. The location is Granite Point, Nev., in late […]
Grading on the Central Pacific was done by hand, relying primarily on Chinese using picks, shovels, and horse-drawn dump carts, though black powder was freely used to break hard soil and move rocks aside. This scene is the 170-foot deep excavation at Prospect Hill, Calif. It dates from summer 1866, when more than a thousand […]
