Trona Railway The California desert is different from the rest of the state. Remote, vast, and lonely, it is a world apart from the California coast or California north. Punctuated by cactus, brush, and fast-moving little creatures, it is seemingly geographically flat, yet is actually a series of undulating ups and downs that can create […]
A primary selling point At the time, gensets seemed like a good idea. Efficient, small, and imminently capable, they would be able to do everything an industrial switcher or small road unit could, but while using less fuel and producing fewer emissions. In environmentally conscious areas, and those with legitimately bad air quality, anything that […]
The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, commonly known as the Burlington Route, had many Zephyrs. But out of all the streamlined trainsets and services famously named after the Greek God of the West Wind, which of the five where considered the most prestigious? Pioneer Zephyr Rolled out on April 7, 1934, by the […]
Diesel-electric locomotive technology has advanced significantly since World War II. Experience leads me to list these eight technological breakthroughs as the most important in the postwar period. Important technology developments preceded World War II, but we began with the era after General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division introduced “The Diesel that Did It,” the FT [see “FT […]
For railroading, the EMD SD40, was a stellar standout. Between January 1966 and August 1972, more than 1,250 units were built, with orders coming from most major railroads. Through upgrades and rebuildings, many are still working today, some still on mainline trains, others rebuilt and earning their keep on short lines. So well […]
Electrification of railroads North American freight trains are powered by diesel locomotives. Before the diesels, steam engines did the work. Electric trains have a niche hauling passengers in the Northeast. Everyone knows this short history of motive power development, but it’s not quite the whole story. Early electrification of railroads “Diesels,” of course, are properly […]
If there’s one thing you could never accuse the late Jerry Joe Jacobson of, it was thinking small. At every turn in his remarkable career as a railroader and preservationist, he went big. Really big. When he got started in the shortline business 40 years ago, he began with a modest 35-mile former New York […]
On February 2, 1949, 75 years ago, a train arrived in New York harbor. It was not on the rails serving some dock, but rather small boxcars tucked into the hold of the S.S. Magellan. The ship docked at Weehawken, N.J., amid great fanfare — scores of U.S. Air Force planes saluted in a flyover, […]
Canadian National’s roster Among the half dozen Class I railroads in North America, one stands out among them in terms of locomotive variety, Canadian National. The contrast of motive power on its roster is unique, with many models only found on CN. There is over six decades’ difference between the oldest and newest models on […]
Five forgotten locomotives no one wanted: Producing a locomotive is a massive endeavor. From design to testing to production, each model is the summation of thousands of hours of labor from dedicated engineers, builders, and everyone in between. However, in spite of the scale of this undertaking, sometimes it just doesn’t work out. Maybe the […]
Amtrak’s Hilltopper What had a locomotive on each end, two coaches in the middle, a crew of six, few passengers, and ran backwards for 30 of its 1,674-mile route between Boston, Mass., and Catlettesburg, Ky.? Amtrak’s Hilltopper — my first regular assignment as a passenger trainman, employed by the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, which operated […]
West Side Freight Line New York Central’s West Side Freight Line, more formally named the 30th Street Branch, was the only direct freight railroad into Manhattan. It was just 10 miles long but maintained to mainline standards, and was even electrified for three decades. Vital for freight, mail, and express into the 1960s, it afterward […]
