The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy’s Zephyr was the first diesel streamliner, entering service in 1934. The locomotive, which was articulated with the train set, was powered by a 660-hp Winton 201A diesel engine. Classic Trains collection […]
Brooks-built class Norfolk & Western K2 4-8-2 No. 117 goes for a turntable ride at Schaffers Crossing in Roanoke, Va., in 1954. The locomotive is one of 22 class K1 Mountain types given J-style streamlining in the late 1940s. W.A. Akin Jr. photo […]
In Chicago, an observation car originally built for Great Northern’s 1947 Empire Builder is ready for its first run on the Western Star in June 1951. The trains utilized Chicago, Burlington & Quincy trackage east of Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
A Southern Pacific produce train arrives at Tucumcari, N.M., in June 1951 behind AC-9 class 2-8-8-4 No. 3804. The railroad had 12 such locomotives built by Lima in 1939. W.G. Fancher photo […]
A replica Pioneer coach rides a special flatcar at the Chicago & North Western station in Fond du Lac, Wis., on June 27, 1948. The original operated with Galena & Chicago Union locomotive Pioneer, a C&NW predecessor, in October 1848. Harold Nehls, Lake States Railway Historical Society collection […]
Three Southern Pacific F units lead a Los Angeles-bound piggyback train running as Extra 6368 East past Portrero Tower in San Francisco in 1956. Southern Pacific photo […]
A driver backs a brand-new 40-foot Union Pacific trailer into position on a likewise-new 85-foot flatcar in a 1959 publicity shot. The trailer was one of 10 new insulated trailers from Utility, and the flatcars were among 100 new UP cars equipped with two ACF hitches. Union Pacific photo […]
Amtrak’s Pioneer began as an Amfleet-only train. By June 1981 it had become a hybrid of Amfleet, Superliner, and heritage equipment, as seen here in Pendleton, Ore. Bob Johnston photo […]
An eastbound Rock Island freight, led by a red-and-black F unit trio — FT A-B 99/99B plus an F2 — passes the Joliet (Ill.) Union Station platform, on which several passengers wait. The Will County courthouse rises above the train and station. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
Santa Fe’s Golden Gate, a secondary Bay Area train, pulls into Merced, Calif., in May 1958 as a tour group prepares to board. Jim Neubauer photo […]
Canadian Pacific 4-4-4 No. 2929, last of 20 class F1a Jubilee types received from Canadian Locomotive Co. in 1937–38, sits with a short train at Montreal West station on May 11, 1957, as 4-6-2 No. 2472, last of CP’s 173 G3-class Pacifics, arrives on the next track. Bob Krone photo […]
This 1949 view of the erecting floor at EMD shows a 567 diesel engine, generator (on the deck at the left of the engine), and electrical cabinet (far left) in place on an F7 frame. An FP7 is taking shape in the background. EMD photo […]
