Remembering the Great Northern Railway

Steam locomotive with boxcars on prairie

  In 1857 the Minnesota & Pacific Railroad was chartered to build a line from Stillwater, Minnesota, on the St. Croix River, through St. Paul and St. Cloud to St. Vincent, in the northwest corner of the state. The company defaulted after completing a roadbed between St. Paul and St. Cloud, Minnesota, and its charter […]

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Remembering Lehigh & Hudson River Railway locomotives

Camelback steam locomotive seen from above and behind at a dirt road crossing.

Classic Trains editors are celebrating the heritage, history, and lore of famed (and infamous) railroads. In August 2020, we celebrate the Lehigh & Hudson River Railway. Please enjoy a collection of locomotive images located in the David P. Morgan Library archives at Kalmbach Media that include the L&HRs iconic locomotives and classic scenic photos. […]

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New model trains for the week of August 20, 2020

Bachmann Trains HO scale Pennsylvania RR class K4 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive

HO scale locomotives Pennsylvania RR class K4 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive. Prewar with slat pilot and postwar with modern pilot. Two road numbers each. Dual-mode TCS WOWSound decoder with Keep-Alive capacitor; separate, factory-applied injectors, pump, and piping; metal uncoupling levers; operating headlight; all-metal chassis; die-cast metal trailing truck; blackened-metal side rods; painted engineer and fireman […]

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Accucraft Adams Revival 4-4-2T steam locomotive

Accucraft live-steam Adams Radial 4-4-2T steam locomotive

  The British really got their money’s worth out of many of their steam locomotives. The first copies of the Adams Radial 4-4-2T (denoting it as a tank engine) were produced in 1882. The last ones were retired from service in 1961. It’s named after locomotive designer William Adams. “Radial” refers to the design of […]

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Prairie tanks for the Doughboys

Prairie tanks for the Doughboys

At least eight 60-centimeter-guage 2-6-2Ts of the type used by the U.S. Army on temporary railways in France during World War I are visible in this scene at Fort Benning, Georgia, after the war. Baldwin, Davenport, and Vulcan built some 296 of the diminutive engines. Fort Benning’s 27-mile line moved men and material around the […]

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Mount Clare makes a Mountain

Mount Clare makes a Mountain

Between 1942 and ’48, Baltimore & Ohio’s Mount Clare shops in Baltimore created 40 essentially new dual-service 4-8-2s. The class T-3 Mountain types were “essentially” new because their boilers came from retired Mikados and Pacifics. Here, the first T-3, No. 5555, nears completion. Photo by Baltimore & Ohio […]

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