Seatrain Georgia Seatrain Georgia, built in 1951 as one of the last two 1928-style rail car ships, is on the Hudson River at the start of a voyage. The vessels carried mostly boxcars, with tank cars and gondolas a distant second and third. Her colors are gray and white, with red funnel markings. U. S. […]
Throughout the 1960s, my grandfather owned a filling station in the tiny town of Lanagan, south of Joplin in the southwestern corner of Missouri on the Kansas City Southern main line. Every weekend I would be at the station, and once my chores were done, I was free to wander about the area. The KCS […]
History of the Northern Pacific Railway In 1864 Abraham Lincoln signed the charter of a railroad to be built from the Great Lakes to Puget Sound — the Northern Pacific Railroad. The Philadelphia banking house of Jay Cooke & Co. undertook to sell the bonds, which were to yield 7.3 percent interest, and sold $30 […]
Sunset Limited station stop Southern Pacific 4-8-2 4326 has just entered Arizona from California as it brings the Sunset Limited into the station at Yuma sometime in the 1940s. Seated on the platform are local Indians with souvenirs to sell to passengers. Classic Trains collection […]
Grain train on the prairie A Canadian Pacific GP9 switches the grain elevator at Headingley, Manitoba, in August 1980. In this time of transition, the cars to be loaded are a mix of cylindrical covered hoppers and boxcars. John Uckley […]
Flexi-Van flexibility A driver loads a New York Central Flexi-Van container from a truck bogie onto a flatcar in 1958. No overhead crane was needed, just a flat area next to the track. The NYC had more than 7,000 Flexi-Van containers in service by the mid-1960s. Photo by New York Central […]
Extra 6311 East A westbound freight, led by an F7 quartet, coils past Extra 6311 East near Alta, Calif., in October 1957. The eastbound’s helpers are just visible up ahead. Photo by Philip R. Hastings […]
Santa Fe No. M-190 was possibly the most unusual gas-electric car ever manufactured. Measuring 90 feet long, it consisted of two articulated sections riding on three trucks. An Electro-Motive power plant and the operating cab were in the front section, and the rear portion was for baggage. When delivered in June 1932, M-190 had a […]
Windy City excursion A Michigan Railroad Club special from Detroit to Chicago pauses for a crew change at Battle Creek, Mich., in February 1967, following a 28-inch snowfall. The two locomotives, Nos. 4900 and 4901, were the GTW’s first passenger diesels, acquired as Nos. 1750-1751 in 1954. Photo by J. David Ingles […]
Newsworthy New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal’s newsstand is centrally located in the facility’s main room. The $25.5 million facility had 12 tracks and opened in May 1954. Photo by James G. La Vake […]
Automobile unloading Ramps at many early auto-handling facilities were permanently mounted. This Buck ramp on the Louisville & Nashville in 1962 has a full-width platform and can be adjusted to any deck height. Photo by Louisville & Nashville […]
Steam superlative The Rock Island had a fleet of 85 4-8-4s, largest in the United States. Here, No. 5058 leads a westbound freight near Lawrence, Kans., in January 1952. Photo by Robert Olmsted […]
