A small track gang replaces ties on one of the tracks served by the coal wharf at New York Central’s engine terminal at Rensselaer, N.Y., across the Hudson River from Albany, sometime in the 1930s. NYC photo […]
NYC’s Rensselaer engine terminal
Tag: History
News photos: A PA arrives in Pa. (updated)
SCRANTON, Pa. — Alco PA Nickel Plate 190 has arrived at its new home. Completing its cross-country journey from Portland, Ore., the locomotive is now in Scranton, handed over to new owner Genesee Valley Transportation by Norfolk Southern this evening. GVT and the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad will restore the locomotive, which has an operable prime mover […]
Vintage railcar with Elvis connection at Pullman Railroad Days this weekend
CHICAGO —The Historic Pullman Foundation’s annual “Railroad Days” open house at Pullman National Historical Park on Saturday and Sunday will again host passenger cars that were built at the plant on Chicago’s South Side. Cars displayed this year, at Metra’s 111th Street station, date from 1923 to 1950. Heavyweight business car New York Central #3, […]
Genesee Valley Transportation provides viewing area for PA’s arrival
SCRANTON, Pa. — Genesee Valley Transportation and the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad plan to provide a public viewing area for the arrival of Alco PA Nickel Plate 190, scheduled for today (Friday, May 19). GTV posted Thursday on its Facebook Page that the locomotive is expected to arrive about 5:30 p.m. and the viewing area will be […]
Long Island C-Liner at Mineola
Long Island Rail Road train 233, behind a gray Fairbanks-Morse CPA20-5, pauses at Mineola station on its westbound run from Oyster Bay to Jamaica and Queens in 1950. John Flood photo […]
Alco PA to be publicly displayed at Steamtown
SCRANTON, Pa. — Genesee Valley Transportation’s historic American Locomotive Co. PA-model “Nickel Plate Road 190” locomotive will be temporarily displayed at Steamtown National Historic Site after its long-anticipated arrival from the West Coast, according to GVT President Michael D. Thomas. Over the weekend, National Park Service staff and Steamtown volunteers repositioned GVT’s Lackawanna No. 426, […]
Celebrating the work — and life — of Phil Hastings
Any time the UPS truck drops a new railroad book on my porch, it’s a good day. But “good” is hardly adequate to describe the feeling I had a few days ago when a box from Indiana University Press showed up by the front door. Only superlatives will do when the subject is photographer […]
News photos: Metro-North introduces heritage unit to mark 40th anniversary
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Metro-North Railroad has introduced the first of what it says will be up to five heritage locomotives to mark the commuter operation’s 40th anniversary. GE P32ACDM No. 208 has been vinyl wrapped in a silver, blue, and red design honoring the original paint scheme created in 1983 […]
Critters in the enginehouse
Critters in the enginehouse: There’s a pecking order that governs North American diesel locomotives. At the top of the order are the big high-horsepower locomotives produced by General Electric and Electro-Motive Division. These are followed by medium-horsepower units such as GE’s 2,300 hp Super 7 Series and Republic Locomotive‘s 2,000-hp RD20. Next are medium- and […]
Light duty for a Milwaukee 4-8-4
With a consist of just two freshly painted boxcars, two dead Fairbanks-Morse diesels, and a bay window caboose, Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 No. 261 is westbound at Elm Grove, Wis., in September 1954. The dirty, underutilized S3 looks like she’s at the end of her rope, but remarkably she began a second career in 1993 as […]
An engineer’s life: How ‘Mad Dog’ got his name
What’s in a name? An engineer’s life: Nicknames have long been a part of railroading. This is the story of how I came to be called “Mad Dog.” I hired out at Burlington Northern’s Auburn Yard in August of 1978. Unbeknownst to me, I wasn’t the only Michael Sawyer around those parts. One day, early […]
Hudson carrying the mail
New York Central J-3 Hudson 5437 rushes west with mail train 257 at Millbury Junction, 7.5 miles east of Toledo on the Water Level Route, in September 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
