A Rock Island DL-series type diesel electric locomotive pulls the Rocket from Des Moines, Iowa, in 1946. Tom Harley DL-series •YEARS BUILT: 1940-1945 •MANUFACTURER: Alco •OPERATED ON: Santa Fe; Milwaukee Road; Chicago & North Western; Rock Island; Gulf, Mobile & Ohio; New Haven; Southern; among other railroads •NAMES: DL103B, 105, 107, 109 •QUANTITY: 78 (includes […]
EMC FT diesel-electric locomotive No. 103 is on display at the Museum of Transport in St. Louis, Missouri. Jim Wrinn FT •YEARS BUILT: 1939-1945 •MANUFACTURER: Electro-Motive Corp. •OPERATED ON: Santa Fe, Atlantic Coast Line, Baltimore & Ohio, Boston & Maine, Chicago & North Western, Burlington Route, Rock Island, Rio Grande, Erie, Great Northern, Lehigh Valley, […]
Southern Railway EMD E8 type diesel electric locomotive No. 6900 once pulled the Southern Crescent passenger train. Jim Wrinn E8 •YEARS BUILT: 1949-1953 •MANUFACTURER: EMD •OPERATED ON: Most major Class I railroads, notably Chesapeake & Ohio; Canadian Pacific; Chicago & North Western; Burlington Route; Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; Erie; Illinois Central; Missouri Pacific; New York […]
Southern Railway EMD GP30 type diesel electric locomotive No. 2601 pulls a passenger train at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. Jim Wrinn GP30 •YEARS BUILT: 1961-1963 •MANUFACTURERS: EMD, GMD •OPERATED ON: Most Class I railroads, notably, Chesapeake & Ohio, Burlington Route, Chicago & North Western, Denver & Rio Grande Western, Great Northern, Louisville & Nashville, […]
Nickel Plate Road PA-1 type diesel electric locomotive No. 190 called the Oregon Rail Heritage Center home. Jim Wrinn PA-1 •YEARS BUILT: 1946-1950 •MANUFACTURER: Alco •OPERATED ON: Santa Fe; Denver & Rio Grande Western; Erie; Gulf, Mobile & Ohio; Lehigh Valley; Missouri-Kansas-Texas; Missouri Pacific; New Haven; Nickel Plate; New York Central; Pennsylvania; Cotton Belt; Southern […]
Dakota, Minnesota, & Eastern, SD40-type diesel electric locomotives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. SD40/-2 series •YEARS BUILT: 1966-1988 •MANUFACTURER: EMD •OPERATED ON: Most Class I freight railroads in North America •NAMES: SD40, 40-2, Snoot (for extended nose versions), Tunnel Motor (for SD40T-2), High Hood (for SR and N&W), Wide Nose (for CN), Fast Forties (on UP) •QUANTITY: […]
Sharknose •YEARS BUILT: 1948-1953 •MANUFACTURER: Baldwin •OPERATED ON: Baltimore & Ohio; New York Central; Pennsylvania Railroad; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern •NAMES: DR-6-4-20, RF-16, DR-4-15 •QUANTITY: 187 total A&B units combined •HORSEPOWER: 1,600 for RF-16 and 2,000 for DR-6-4-20 •KNOWN FOR: Distinctive nose/cab design by Raymond Loewy, based on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s streamlined T-1 steam locomotive […]
The little door below the headlight on an Alco switcher like Grand Trunk Western S4 No. 8090 led to a veritable chamber of horrors for a young roundhouse worker. J. David Ingles I know there are many dangerous occupations. My wife’s ancestors were coal miners in Pennsylvania after coming to America, having mined coal in […]
Southbound manifest train 26, three F unit diesels, pauses by the Borden Textile Mill in Kingsport, Tennessee, in March 1967 to add a three-unit rear-end pusher for the 42-mile climb to Erwin. C. K. Marsh Jr. History and major events of the Clinchfield Railroad The Clinchfield was different. It was conceived by men who had […]
Chinese-built Iowa Interstate Railroad’s 2-10-2 Santa Fe type steam locomotive pulls a passenger train at Rock Island, Illinois. Jim Wrinn 2-10-2 •YEARS BUILT: 1903 to 1931 •MANUFACTURERS: Baldwin, Lima, Brooks, Canadian, Montreal, China •OPERATED ON: Burlington Route; Baltimore & Ohio; Wabash; Atlantic Coast Line; Boston & Albany; Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range; Southern Railway; among […]
Chesapeake & Ohio Allegheny-type 2-6-6-2 steam locomotive No. 1622 pulls freight in West Virginia in the 1940s. B.F. Cutler 2-6-6-6 •YEARS BUILT: 1941 to 1948 •MANUFACTURER: Lima •OPERATED ON: Chesapeake & Ohio, Virginian Railway •NAMES: Allegheny on C&O, Blue Ridge on Virginian •QUANTITY: 68 •BOILER PRESSURE: 260 psi •KNOWN FOR: Hauling freight on steep mountain […]
Pere Marquette 2-8-4 Berkshire type steam locomotive No. 1225 steams near Owosso, Michigan. Jim Wrinn 2-8-4 •YEARS BUILT: 1924 to 1949 •MANUFACTURERS: Lima, Alco, Baldwin •OPERATED ON: Multiple large railroads •NAMES: Berkshire, Kanawha (Chesapeake & Ohio) •QUANTITY: 611; C&O had the most with 130 on the roster in 1947 •BOILER PRESSURE: 240 psi •KNOWN FOR: […]
