Soo Line 2-8-2 Mikado type steam locomotive appears in Wisconsin. Jim Wrinn 2-8-2 •YEARS BUILT: 1901-1949 •MANUFACTURERS: Alco, Baldwin, Lima, Canadian, Montreal, a few homemade •OPERATED ON: Every North American railroad •NAME: Mikado •QUANTITY: 10,000; New York Central had almost 1,400 •BOILER PRESSURE: 190-200 psi •KNOWN FOR: Well-designed, smooth-running engine used mostly in freight service […]
4-4-0 THE TEXAS WAS RESTORED IN 2017 FOR THE ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER. Jim Wrinn 4-4-0 •YEARS BUILT: 1836 to 1928 •MANUFACTURERS: Rogers, Baldwin, Danforth, Mason, Hinkley •OPERATED ON: Nearly all North American railroads during the mid-1800s •NAMES: American, Eight Wheeler •QUANTITY: 25,000 •BOILER PRESSURE: 175 psi •KNOWN FOR: Served North American railroads during the 19th century. […]
Blue Mountain & Reading Pacific-type 4-6-2 No. 425 in Pennsylvania. Jim Wrinn 4-6-2 •YEARS BUILT: 1902 to 1948 •MANUFACTURERS: Alco, Baldwin, Lima, Santa Fe, Baltimore & Ohio, Canadian Locomotive Co., Chicago Great Western, Milwaukee Road, Delaware & Hudson, Great Northern, Illinois Central, Lehigh Valley, Louisville & Nashville, New York Central, Norfolk & Western, Pennsylvania, Reading, […]
Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 Challenger type steam locomotive No. 3985 pulls an excursion in Iowa in 2002. Jim Wrinn 4-6-6-4 •YEARS BUILT: 1936 to 1947 •MANUFACTURERS: Alco, Baldwin •OPERATED ON: Union Pacific; Northern Pacific; Spokane, Portland & Seattle; Clinchfield; Delaware & Hudson; Western Pacific; Western Maryland; Denver & Rio Grande Western •NAME: Challenger •QUANTITY: 252; Union […]
Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 No. 611 pulls an excursion in Virginia. Jim Wrinn 4-8-4 •YEARS BUILT: 1926 to 1950 •MANUFACTURERS: Baldwin, Lima, Alco, Canadian Locomotive Co., Canadian Pacific Railway, Montreal, Norfolk & Western •OPERATED ON: Most sizable railroads that provided fast freight and passenger service •NAME: Northern •QUANTITY: 1,115; Canadian National had more than 200 […]
Union Pacific Big Boy type steam locomotive No. 4011 ross west at Granite, Wyoming, in 1956. Jim Ehernberger 4-8-8-4 •YEARS BUILT: 1941 to 1944 •MANUFACTURER: Alco •OPERATED ON: Union Pacific •NAME: Big Boy •QUANTITY: 25 •BOILER PRESSURE: 300 psi •KNOWN FOR: Among the heaviest and most powerful reciprocating-piston steam locomotives ever built •STATUS: Eight preserved: […]
Rio Grande Scenic 2-6-0 No. 1744 at Laveta Pass, Colorado, in 2002. Jim Wrinn 2-6-0 •YEARS BUILT: 1852-1929 •MANUFACTURERS: Lima, Southern Pacific, Baldwin, Pennsylvania Railroad, others •OPERATED ON: Chicago & Western Indiana, Baltimore & Ohio, Green Bay & Western, Boston & Maine, Southern Pacific, Canadian National, short lines •NAMES: Mogul, Valley Mallet •QUANTITY: 8,000; Canadian […]
A train dispatcher supervises the movement of trains over a designated portion of a railroad and also supervises the other employees involved in that movement. The dispatcher’s first responsibility is safety, to see that each train gets over the road without trying to occupy the same piece of track at the same time as any […]
Model Railroader magazine remains the leading source of information for our great hobby. You can get access to all of the more than 1,000 issues of Model Railroader from January 1934 to the present day by signing up for the exclusive online archive. Check out this classic story from the April 1988 issue. […]
East Broad Top Railroad Mikado-type 2-8-2 locomotives Nos. 12 and 15 appear at the Orbisonia, Pennsylvania, station as part of a nighttime photo shoot in October 2011. Alex Mayes East Broad Top Railroad map The East Broad Top was the last narrow gauge common carrier in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. It was […]
On June 10, 1993, a Burlington Northern SD60M and SD40-2 take an eastbound freight along the Missouri River and into Lombard Canyon just east of Toston, Mont. Tom Danneman Learn about Trains Art Director Tom Danneman’s favorite Burlington Northern Railroad Company diesel locomotives, presented in no particular order. The story of Burlington Northern has been […]
The Cold hard tracks Crystal Lake was once used for harvesting ice. Blocks of ice were cut from the lake in winter, then stored in warehouses along the shore. The ice was shipped in refrigerator cars to Chicago via the “Ice Track,” a 2-mile branch that ran from the C&NW main line through the west […]
