One of the Chicago & Illinois Midland’s distinctive green-and-red cabooses trails 85 empty coal hoppers heading south at Atterbury, Ill., in May 1952. Edward Theisinger photo […]
Section: Photo of the Day
Terminal tower
Just out of New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal, Kansas City Southern E8 leads the Southern Belle past Clara Street tower in 1954. The tower was situated between the terminal to the south and the coach yard and diesel shop to the north. James G. La Vake photo […]
Streamlined steam
In the late 1930s and early 1940s the venerable Lehigh Valley streamlined several of its named passenger trains. This is the John Wilkes, decked in Cornell red, near Glen Onoko, Pa., in 1939. Wayne Brumbaugh photo […]
Story City steam
Minneapolis & St. Louis G6-24 class 4-6-0 No. 226, built by Baldwin in 1909, backs a train into Story City, Iowa, in February 1947. The town, at the end of a branch from Minerva Jct., near Marshalltown, also saw service from the Chicago & North Western. William F. Armstrong photo […]
Silverton
On June 18, 1950, the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s Silverton enters Animas Canyon near its namesake Colorado town. In 1981 the route became the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. R.W. Richardson photo […]
Rondout action
Milwaukee train No. 6, the Morning Hiawatha, passes Tower A20 near Northbrook, Ill., on July 29, 1969. Ahead lies Chicago Union Station. Jim Scribbins photo […]
Revenue run
A seven-car Illinois Central Gulf piggyback train heads north through Springfield, Ill., for Chicago in September 1975. At Springfield the ICG’s one-time Gulf, Mobile & Ohio route split for Kansas City to the west and St. Louis and points south. Walter A. Peters photo […]
Overland Limited
Southern Pacific Mt-3 class 4-8-2 No. 4344 helps the Overland Limited through Clipper Gap, Calif., in May 1949. For decades, the Overland was the flagship train on the original transcontinental route. David G. Edwards photo […]
Nickel Plains Road
Two Nickel Plate Road GP9s handle a local freight through the tabletop landscape near Madison, Ill., in 1958. EMD built 4,257 of the 1.750-h.p. model beginning in 1953. M.L. Powell, J. David Ingles collection […]
Riverside running
A Chicago, Burlington & Quincy freight hugs the Mississippi River north of Davenport, Iowa, in 1966. Lead GP7 No. 204 lacks dynamic breaks, while trailing SD7 No. 313 is so equipped. R. Ball photo […]
Entrance to Yellowstone
Northern Pacific heavily promoted Yellowstone National Park, building a branch from Livingston, Mont., to Gardiner in 1883 to deliver passengers to the park. In 1956, its Livingston station still promoted its connection to the park. Donald Sims photo […]
Inversion
Chesapeake & Ohio hopper No. 47859 gives up its coal load in the rotary dumper at Newport News, Va., in June 1955. The car traveled 512 miles from a West Virginia mine to the Tidewater. W.A. Akin Jr. photo […]