Throughout the 1960s, my grandfather owned a filling station in the tiny town of Lanagan, south of Joplin in the southwestern corner of Missouri on the Kansas City Southern main line. Every weekend I would be at the station, and once my chores were done, I was free to wander about the area. The KCS […]
History of the Northern Pacific Railway In 1864 Abraham Lincoln signed the charter of a railroad to be built from the Great Lakes to Puget Sound — the Northern Pacific Railroad. The Philadelphia banking house of Jay Cooke & Co. undertook to sell the bonds, which were to yield 7.3 percent interest, and sold $30 […]
While the Russians were staging their annual parade in Moscow’s Red Square on May Day 50 years ago, Amtrak was born at Washington’s L’Enfant Plaza. The company came into the world under a death sentence known only by a select few in the railroad industry and the Nixon White House. The plan was to create […]
All through April 2021, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history, heritage, and grit of the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railroad. Please enjoy this photo gallery of DM&IR locomotives selected from the files of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Only from Classic Trains! […]
Chicago & North Western Historical Society archives bound for IRM The archives of the Chicago & North Western Historical Society are bound for the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Ill. The archives will be located at a new building, to be formally known as the C&NWHS Archives Research Center, to be located on the museum’s […]
R. R. Wallin was trackside in Wyoming with his 8mm movie camera to capture Big Boys in their final two summers of service. […]
R. R. Wallin was trackside in Wyoming with his 8mm movie camera to capture Big Boys in their final two summers of service. […]
Around 1940, give or take a little, I was firing Southern Railway Ps-4 Pacifics heading the eastern leg of the Carolina Special between Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C. This little rural train served towns like Mocksville, Cooleemee Junction, Woodleaf, Bear Poplar, Davidson, Mooresville, and the tobacco center of Winston-Salem. We met the Special’s Asheville connection at […]
From its launch in 1902, New York Central’s 20th Century Limited was arguably the most prestigious train in America. With its all-first-class passenger accommodations, the Century was the way to travel between New York and Chicago. By 1938 the train’s reputation was well established when it was completely re-equipped with new streamlined Alco locomotives and […]
STB prepares for passenger rail oversight, will consider office, advisory group for passenger issues The Surface Transportation Board has created a staff working group to prepare the board for its oversight of passenger rail issues, board chairman Martin J. Oberman has announced. Under a recently enacted Federal Railroad Adminstration rule, the STB oversees standards for […]
Non-powered slugs help diesel locomotives move trains at lower speeds. Trains move at various speeds for different reasons. Moving trains from coast to coast requires high-horsepower locomotives to maintain high speeds. Local trains serving online customers or switch jobs in yards can use lower horsepower locomotives, since their top speed is much lower than a […]
All through April 2021, Classic Trains editors are celebrating, the history, heritage, and grit of the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railroad. Please enjoy this freight train photo gallery of images selected from the files of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Only from Classic Trains! […]
