Side-door cabooses were sometimes used for delivering less-than-carload shipments to branchline stations. This is at Chicopee, Mo., on the Frisco. Wayne Leeman photo […]
Side-door versatility
Section: Railroads
South Wind
The Chicago–Miami South Wind arrives at Montgomery, Ala., on June 6, 1948. Atlantic Coast Line 4-6-2 No. 1533 does the honors on this day. Launched in 1940, the streamliner ran on Pennsy, Louisville & Nashville, ACL, and Florida East Coast. F. E. Ardrey Jr. photo […]
Take a ride on the Reading
A Reading Company train works at Allentown, Pa., on Jan. 24, 1972, with power from three builders: GE U30C, Alco C424, EMD GP35, and Alco C630. The “Bee Line Service” logo on the lead and last units graced 15 six-axle units built in 1966-1967. Bob Wilt, J. David Ingles collection […]
Mount Shasta memory
Southern Pacific AC-7 class 4-8-8-2 No. 4165 pulls an extra freight near Mount Shasta, Calif., in January 1944. Baldwin built 195 such “cab-forward” locomotives for the railroad, classes AC-4 through AC-12, except for AC-9. Classic Trains collection […]
Nancy Hanks II
The Central of Georgia’s Atlanta to Savanna Nancy Hanks II approaches the station at Macon, Ga., on its exhibition run behind brand-new E7 No. 808 on July 9, 1947. Named for a race horse, the original Nancy Hanks train ran in the 1890s. The railroad, in bankruptcy from 1932 to 1948, became a Southern Railway subsidiary in 1963. Walter […]
New England Alcos
Three Alco RS3s lead a Boston & Maine freight near White River Junction, Vt. The railroad had 26 such units, Nos. 1505-1519 and 1535-1545, numbered around a series of similar RS2s. Jerry A. Pinkepank photo […]
Passenger power
Passenger cab units, like this twin-engine New York Central EMD E8, rode on six-wheel trucks with the center axle unpowered, denoted as A1A-A1A. EMD built 421 E8A units and 39 E8B units making it the second most popular model in the line behind the E7. Pictured is a late production E8, with stamped-metal grill along […]
Pullmans for Penn Station
Heavyweight Pullman cars trail Pennsylvania Railroad train 72, the eastbound Juniata, at Marysville, Pa., in 1952. The train, which is about to cross the famed Rockville Bridge over the Susquehanna River, is en route from Detroit to New York City. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Rocky Mount E units
As three Atlantic Coast Line E units depart Rock Mount, N.C., with the head-end-heavy Havana Special, another E unit waits to back into the station to pick up train 49, the Special’s connection to Wilmington. William D. Middleton photo […]
Englewood engines
The Pennsylvania Railroad liked to double-head K4s Pacifics on heavy passenger trains. Here, the second section of eastbound train 76, the Trail Blazer, leaves Englewood, Ill., in south suburban Chicago in January 1941. Paul Eilenberger, Harold Stinton collection […]
Fast-freight engines
Norfolk & Western’s top fast-freight engines were 43 class A simple articulated 2-6-6-4s. No. 1239, built in 1949 as part of the final A order, couples to time freight 84 at Roanoke. Sister 1218 would rise to fame in the 1980s under successor Norfolk Southern’s steam program. W. A. Akin Jr. photo […]
Going green in Granite City
Illinois Terminal GP38-2 No. 2004 leads two sisters and a Conrail GP38-2 at Granite City, Ill., in August 1980. The IT units display the road’s final scheme, applied in the years prior to the 1982 Norfolk & Western takeover. Paul H. Dalman, J. David Ingles collection […]
