Lima’s last Shay

20180911

Western Maryland three-truck Shay No. 6 works a coal plant on the Chaffee (W.Va.) Branch not long after delivery in 1945. The 324,000-pound giant was the last of nearly 2,800 Shays built by Lima Locomotive Works. Today she works on the Cass Scenic Railroad. Western Maryland photo […]

Read More…

Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern freight

20180913

Conceived in 1907 as an interurban line, Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern never did electrify. In the diesel era, MN&S favored Baldwin products like this blue-and-silver DRS-6-6-1500, shown switching the yard at Auto Club Junction south of Minneapolis in 1958. William D. Middleton photo […]

Read More…

Morning Hi at Portage, Wis.

20180926

Milwaukee Road’s westbound Morning Hiawatha pauses at Portage, Wis., in October 1965. Tucked behind the E units are several head-end cars, including a Great Northern express boxcar, Milwaukee express boxcar, and GN baggage express car. Tom Hoffmann photo […]

Read More…

CA&E nocturne

20180904

At Wheaton, Ill., the motorman of a westbound Chicago Aurora & Elgin train looks back for the highball while the conductor waits on the platform to assist passengers. CA&E passenger service ended in 1957. Bob Schmidt photo […]

Read More…

Seatrain containers on Penn Central

20180912

Penn Central and Santa Fe teamed up to provide coast-to-coast transport of containers for Seatrain Lines in August 1972. Here, four PC General Electric units are in charge of the train at Perlman Yard in Selkirk, N.Y. Carl H. Sturner photo […]

Read More…

Vol. 334: “Stations”

Rounded, old-style passenger train station in low-angle sunlight at a track diamond.

  This “Trackside with Trains” photo contest result comes from August 2018. The theme was “Stations.” Trackside with Trackside was a regular, periodic contest among Trains website visitors from the earlier 2000s until October 2018. Anyone in the world who wanted to participate, could, and with rare exception, have their images judged by viewers with […]

Read More…

SP’s short-lived Houston station

20180830

Southern Pacific built this structure, which it called Grand Central Station, in Houston in 1934 to replace an 1886 depot. But Grand Central had a short life, being razed after only 25 years to make way for a new central post office. Classic Trains coll. […]

Read More…