A string of single-sheathed boxcars awaits coopering at an elevator on the Milwaukee Road in Sisseton, S.Dak., in 1939. Single-sheathed boxcars could be found in grain service into the 1960s. John Vachon, Library of Congress photo […]
Georgia Steam
Gainesville Midland 2-8-0 No. 301 switches at Gainesville, Ga., in the 1950s. The two-story building above its stack is the road’s headquarters and former depot. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Photographs by Charlie Erler
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F is for freight
A northbound Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac freight rolls into Alexandria, Va., almost at its destination of Potomac Yard, on Dec. 29, 1949. The A-B-A set of blue-and-gray F units is nearly brand new. Charles Wales photo […]
Georgetown Loop
A Colorado & Southern train climbs toward Silver Plume, Colo., ducking under Devil’s Gate bridge on the Georgetown Loop shortly before the end of service in 1938. The bridge was restored for tourist trains in 1984. R. H. Kindig photo […]
Remembering Texas & Pacific passenger trains
In June 2020, Classic Trains is celebrating the history, heritage, and splendor of the Texas & Pacific Railway. Enjoy this photo gallery, originally published online in February 2017, as the perfect salute to the T&P. Return each week for another salute to the railroad of the month! See what we did last week for the […]
Remembering the Texas & Pacific Railway
History of the Texas & Pacific What grew to become the 20th century’s Texas & Pacific Railway sprouted from some of Texas’s earliest railroads. The Lone Star State’s pre-Civil War network included 11 operating companies. One of the earliest was the Texas Western Railroad, chartered in 1850 and soon renamed Vicksburg & El Paso. In […]
Remembering the Texas & Pacific Railway
T&P’s 70 2-10-4 Texas type steam locomotives, built by Lima 1925-29, were the road’s biggest, most numerous, and best-known power. No. 636 rolls an extra east near Mineola, 79 miles east of Dallas, in 1951. R. S. Plummer History of the Texas & Pacific What grew to become the 20th century’s Texas & Pacific Railway […]
Sideswipe survivor
The remains of Santa Fe GP38 No. 3552 lie in a ditch following a sideswipe incident at Booth, Texas, on April 14, 1973. A southbound train struck the rear cars of a northbound train. The subsequent derailment and fire destroyed three GP38s. Steve Patterson photo […]
Superlative steam
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific had a fleet of 85 4-8-4 Northerns, largest in the country. Here, No. 5058 leads a westbound freight near Lawrence, Kans., in January 1952. Robert P. Olmsted photo […]
U-boats on the Fall Brook
Snow begins to melt on an early spring day in 1974 as two six-axle General Electric “U-boats” head south along Seneca Lake at Geneva, N.Y., on the former New York Central “Fall Brook” line. Ken Kraemer photo […]
Universal rival
The U23B was General Electric’s competitor to the EMD GP38. The little U-boat has a 12-cylinder FDL engine, necessitating six tall engine access doors on each side. Buyers included Santa Fe, Conrail, Delaware & Hudson, Lehigh Valley, Milwaukee Road (pictured), Monon, Penn Central, Western Pacific, and others. Most rode on AAR type B trucks, but […]