Baldwin-built DS-4-4-660 No. 662 shows off its original Chesapeake Western paint scheme in a 1946 builder’s portrait. It resides today at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke. Baldwin Locomotive Works photo […]
Chesapeake Western
Section: Railroads
Dairyland toehold
Grand Trunk Western owned and operated a small yard and ferry slip in Milwaukee into the 1970s. Here, 1926 Brill boxcab No. 73 works ferry Grand Rapids at Milwaukee in December 1955. Russ Porter photo […]
Decapod action
Pennsylvania Railroad I1 class 2-10-0 No. 1753 pushes on the rear of a freight near Canoe Creek, Pa., near the famed Horseshoe Curve. The railroad had almost 600 such locomotives built in its own shops and by Baldwin Locomotive Works beginning in 1916. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Tennessee Railroad Brill motor car
Brill-built motor car M-2 of the Tennessee Railroad stands at Oneida, Tenn., where the little coal-hauler met the Southern’s CNO&TP line, in May 1952. Edward Theisinger photo […]
Trains Presents: Chesapeake & Ohio steam locomotive No. 2716 goes home in Kentucky
In late July 2019, the Kentucky Steam Heritage Corp. moved its leased former Chesapeake & Ohio 2-8-4 steam locomotive No. 2716 from its home at the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven to its new home at Kentucky Steam’s headquarters in Ravenna. The goal is to restore the locomotive to operation there. Doing the honors […]
Ask Trains: Why and when did rails get their shape?
Rail profiles through time from file: TRN-TC0513 Illustration: Rick Johnson Q: Why and when did rails get their profile? — Rozier Smith A: The basic shape, or profile, of rails that we see today: chucky head, thin web, and wide base, has its roots railroading as early as 1789, according to an illustration Trains printed […]
Ask Trains: Does Norfolk Southern own the yards along its CNO&TP route?
Cincinnati Southern Railway website Q: The city of Cincinnati owns the CNO&TP line running from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, Tenn., which Norfolk Southern leases from the city. Does the city of Cincinnati also own and lease yards along the line to NS, or does NS own these yards outright? — Doug Lathrem, Bowling Green, Ky. A: […]
Ask Trains: How do railroads determine a grade on track charts?
Conrail C36-7 No. 6628 works an eastbound train in New York’s Southern Tier east of Lanesboro, Pa., near the Pennsylvania-New York border in 1985. This section of track has a grade, what percentage that shows up on a track chart is determined by how precise the charts are. TEH-11062-18 Michael S. Murray Q: Some […]
Ask Train: Why did railroads use rotary beacons on locomotives?
Various Santa Fe SF30C units are seen in storage at Argentine Yard, in Argentine, Kan., in 1983. Several of these locomotives have rotary or flashing beacons on their cab roofs for safety. TEH-14212-34 Ivan Abrams Q: Why did some railroads use flashing or rotary beacons atop their diesels? And do any railroads use them anymore? […]
Ask Trains: Why did a railroad remove a connection with another, nearby railroad?
EDITOR’S NOTE: Trains readers aren’t the only ones to wonder about happenings in the railroad world. Trains editors and friends recently shared an email discussion about why two Class I railroads near Trains’ headquarters removed a connection at a diamond crossover. Here’s a condensed, edited version of the best explanation we’ve seen: A: I would […]
Ask Trains: Why do EOTs only flash at night?
EOTs — end-of-train device Q: In track side watching and in videos, I note that end-of-train devices only flash at night. Why is this? — William Carpenter West Chester Township, Ohio The Northeast Operating Rules Advisory Committee (NORAC) rulebook used by most northeastern railroads states that each train occupying a main track or controlled siding […]
Trains Presents: Illinois F unit finale
Follow along for one last chase of the Keokuk Junction F units in western Illinois before their removal from service in early August 2019. Trains‘ videographer Kevin Gilliam follows the train through the agricultural landscape of the region to document another era lost in U.S. railroading. […]
