Dubuque depot In 1916, the Illinois Central’s Dubuque, Iowa, freight house had three tracks, including one that passed through the building. Photo by Illinois Central […]
Dubuque depot
Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range: Passenger trains
All through April 2021, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railroad. This week, we offer a photo gallery of the Missabe’s passenger trains selected from Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library files. Only from Classic Trains. […]
The Hole Yard
The Hole Yard Here’s how the Missouri Pacific’s Hole Yard lead at North Little Rock, Ark., looked in March 1921. The Fort Smith crossing is in the foreground, with the yard office at right and shops and roundhouses in the distance. Photo by Missouri Pacific […]
Produce to the people
Produce to the people Chicago and other large cities had produce yards and team tracks where dozens or hundreds of cars would arrive each day for auction and sale to local buyers. Photo by Chicago & North Western […]
Interurban legacy
Interurban legacy Seaboard Coast Line GP30s hustle 16 cars through Greer, S.C., on July 10, 1974, on former Piedmont & Northern trackage. SCL merged the P&N, which dropped its last mainline wires in 1954, 15 years later in 1969. Photo by Curt Tillotson […]
Things that go bump on third trick
Third trick — the midnight to 8 a.m. shift — could be a long, quiet time for railroad telegraph operators. Although during the summer months it gets light long before third trick is over, in winter, most of the shift is worked in darkness. One night during World War II at the isolated station of […]
Stainless savior
Stainless savior Northern Pacific began replacing trains on its secondary routes with RDCs in 1955, and eventually had a fleet of six of the Budd-built cars. This Fargo-Winnipeg train takes on passengers at Hawley, Minn., in 1966. The NP’s last RDCs ran in 1969. Steve Glischinski collection […]
Super Power premier
Super Power premier The era of modern steam power dates to Lima’s development of Super Power and the Boston & Albany Berkshire (2-8-4), which hauled freight through its namesake mountains. But the B&A locomotive’s small (63-inch-diameter) drivers failed to take advantage of its boiler to generate steam fast enough for high-speed service. Number 1421 is […]
Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway: A History
No. 231, one of Missabe’s famous 2-8-8-4s, passes two brand-new successor SD9s at Proctor Yard in May 1959. Marvin Nielsen History of the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range From 1938 until it was purchased by Canadian National in 2004, the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway was “King of the Iron-Ore Haulers.” Its job was […]
Pride of the fleet
Pride of the fleet The Super Chief, which originated the Warbonnet paint scheme, quickly became Santa Fe’s signature passenger offering after its introduction in 1936. Here, it meets the Pekin Express at Chicago’s 15th Street Tower in an undated photo. Photo by Wallace W. Abbey […]
Trains Master on a Wabash freight
Wabash’s Decatur, Ill.–Hannibal, Mo., “West Local” slows to do some work at Jacksonville, Ill., on July 9, 1962. In charge are Fairbanks-Morse H24-66 Train Master 554 and EMD GP7 475. David Ingles […]
Pioneer passenger diesel
axle passenger diesels built in 1935. EMC had no factory of its own yet, so this one was assembled at General Electric’s plant at Erie, Pa. The Winton-engined pioneer is preserved at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. General Electric […]
