Many of us started our love affair with model trains after getting Lionel or American Flyer items, perhaps to circle a Christmas tree. We might have gotten a toy plastic or metal station with people printed on the sides and some fake evergreen trees. It was all the excitement and the reality we needed. I […]
Mention the name, “horseshoe curve,” and your mind will immediately think of the World Famous Horseshoe Curve nestled deep in the Allegheny Mountains west of Altoona, Penn. That shouldn’t be a surprise considering this landmark’s history and engineering marvel that’s been attracting visitors for 170 years, ranging from the curious to the most enthusiastic. […]
Denver Union Station’s predecessor established the city as the transportation hub of the West and the primary gateway to the Rocky Mountains. Opened on June 1, 1881, where 17th Street dead-ends into Wynkoop Street, Denver Union Depot was 504 feet long and 65 feet wide, the largest structure in the West. Within a decade, 100 […]
GARIBALDI, Ore. — The world’s only surviving standard gauge Class A Climax locomotive, Cabin Creek Lumber Co. No. 1, has been donated to the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, the railroad announced today (Oct. 24, 2024). The family of the late Victor C. Monahan donated the locomotive, which Oregon Coast Scenic intends to restore to operating […]
Portable trailer-on-flatcar loading ramps could turn a stub yard track or spur into a loading facility. They were sometimes used in new locations or to handle overflow traffic. This is on the Reading Co. in 1960. Reading photo […]
SILVIS, Ill. — Santa Fe No. 537 sparkled in the paint booth of the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America shops during a Friday night dinner and unveiling of the repainted GE B40-8W at the former Rock Island Railroad Silvis Locomotive Shops. The RRHMA hosted its “Trains & Tractors” event on Friday and Saturday, October 18-19, […]
Atlanta & West Point locomotives were carefully curated alongside those of its sister roads. Although much of the West Point roads’ 20th-century steam locomotive fleet looked like the “Georgian Locomotive” memorialized by H. Stafford Bryant Jr. in his book of the same name — a handsome, elegant group — perhaps the most interesting […]
West Point Route passenger trains: All through October 2024, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of the West Point Route: Atlanta & West Point and Western Railway of Alabama. Please enjoy this photo gallery of West Point Route passenger trains, originally published online in 2017. […]
ROBERTSDALE, Pa. — While the Friends of the East Broad Top volunteers received lots of praise for over-the-top fundraising and aggressive track restoration at the group’s recent Fall Reunion, they’re pressing ahead with a dizzying array of other projects. All of it goes hand-in-hand with the EBT Foundation’s goal of restoring an entire 33-mile narrow-gauge […]
PORTLAND, Ore. — Mt. Emily Lumber No. 1, a three-truck Shay locomotive built in 1923, has been moved into the engine house at its new home, the Oregon Rail Heritage Center. The move came Tuesday, Oct. 15, according to a Facebook post from the Friends of the SP&S 700. The center plans to use the […]
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum has received a $67,500 state grant to be used for building improvements on the museum’s Grand Junction campus. The state Capital Maintenance and Improvement funds, administered through the Tennessee State Museum, will be used for window replacement in the 42-year-old Grand Junction Depot, electrical upgrades in the […]
The 1970s were a time of change. Model railroading was no exception. Modelers tested new techniques and technologies, while the niches of different scales and styles grew into mainstays. During that pivotal decade, these Model Railroaders stood out as pioneers of the hobby and industry. Their contributions have helped shape the hobby we know and […]
