C&O E8’s on “the George”

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Two brand-new E8’s are in charge of the westbound George Washington at Hampton, Va., on Sept. 12, 1951. C&O bought 31 E8’s from EMD between 1951 and ’53, the first 10 of which wore the blue-and-yellow “freight” livery seen here. Bill Taub photo […]

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Santa Fe RDC on the Reading

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En route from Philadelphia’s Budd Co. to its owner, Santa Fe Railway Rail Diesel Car DC-192 is added to the rear of the Reading’s Harrisburg Special at RDG’s Outer Station in Reading, Pa., in May 1952. At right, a Reading G-3 Pacific stands with another passenger train. George W. Gerhart photo […]

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Big Boy Chase PHOTOS, Day 2 through California’s Mojave Desert

The union pacific train passing by

On Tuesday, April 29, Trains’ live streaming video crew of Brian Schmidt and Drew Halverson chased Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 through the depths of California’s Mojave Desert. Along the way, they got great shots of the 4-8-8-4 locomotive — what is quickly becoming the most famous steam locomotive restoration project in the world. […]

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C&O at Elkhorn City

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The Chesapeake & Ohio and Clinchfield met end-to-end at this yard at Elkhorn City, Ky. In this misty 1973 scene, a C&O train is ready to head north with a string of hopper cars from the Clinchfield. Tony Koester photo […]

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Yard duty

CSX GP40-2 No. 6204 and B36-7 No. 5875 work a maintenance extra at Cedar Hill Yard in North Haven, Conn., on June 15, 2009. Photo by Thomas Mik […]

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The working class

Union Pacific GP38-2 No. 648 switches customers on an industrial spur in New Berlin, Wis. The engine, built for Missouri Pacific in 1977, may no longer head road freights, but performs meaningful work nonetheless, providing service to local warehouses and factories. Photo by Matt Van Hattem […]

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Foreigner

Canadian National grain train G884 heads back east with three CSX locomotives on Jan. 19, 2014. The train is operating on trackage rights over BNSF Railway’s Aurora Subdivision from East Dubuque to Portage, Ill. Photo by Matt Krause […]

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San Francisco Chief connection

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Santa Fe trains 93, the West Texas Express, and 94, the Eastern Express, were the Amarillo–Lubbock connection for the San Francisco Chief. Between 1955 and 1965, the trains looked like this: an E8M (rebuilt from an E1), baggage-express car, coach, and sleeper. Fred M. Springer photo […]

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Santa Fe FT’s on Tehachapi

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An A-B-B-A set of Santa Fe FT diesels leads a westbound freight just below famous Tehachapi Loop in 1949. This train met an eastbound Southern Pacific freight at Walong siding on the Loop itself; steam from the SP train’s cab-forward helper is visible in the distance. Linn H. Westcott photo […]

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Waiting game

CSX intermodal train Q124 rolls northbound on the main line at Lineville, Ala., as a Herzog ballast train awaits in the siding on Sept. 30, 2011. Photo by Bradley Bates […]

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