Freshly washed GG1 No. 4876 leaves Wilmington, Del., with the Executive. On Jan. 15, 1953, the locomotive was involved in a runaway wreck that dropped it into the basement of Washington Union Station. R.H. Braun photo Freshly washed GG1 No. 4876 leaves Wilmington, Del., with the Executive. On Jan. 15, 1953, the locomotive was involved in […]
Read More…
Like some railfan contemporaries, in recent weeks I’ve been going through decades of railroad stuff, seeing what I can get rid of and what I simply can’t live without. Tough choices. In the “can’t live without” category, anything with David P. Morgan’s name on it, or anything labeled “New York Central” or “C&EI.” In the […]
Read More…
Milwaukee Road’s EMD SDL39 diesel locomotives came from the road’s desire to replace aging Alco RSC2 units in branchline service. The Milwaukee Road custom-ordered the lightweight SDL39 specifically for use on its light-rail branch lines. The railroad bought five of the locomotives in 1969, Nos. 581-585. It followed with an order for another […]
Read More…
A Santa Ana freight works upgrade on the eastbound main at Summit, Calif., on Cajon Pass on Dec. 28, 1940. Edwin A. Vail photo […]
Read More…
The Rapido Trains HO Alco RS11 diesel locomotive recently visited our Wisconsin & Southern layout. Join Senior Editor Cody Grivno — who really didn’t pick his shirt to match the locomotive’s paint scheme — as he shares a brief history of Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific No. 3600; highlights the various railroad-specific details on the four-axle […]
Read More…
Seen from the Roosevelt Road viaduct, Soo Line 2-8-0 No. 468 pulls out of Grand Central Station with a transfer run in June 1953. Directly above the engine, across the Chicago River, is the Pennsylvania Railroad’s massive Polk Street freight house. Robert R. Malinoski photo […]
Read More…
Chesapeake & Ohio’s George Washington roars through Mayville, Ky., in an undated photo. No. 491 was an F-19 class 4-6-2 built by Richmond and later rebuilt as a 4-6-4. Lucius Beebe photo […]
Read More…
The 1951 Empire Builder’s “G-bar-N” lounge car featured bovine-themed seat upholstery. Great Northern photo […]
Read More…
The Train Master diesel locomotive holds a unique spot in history. At its introduction in 1953, it was simply a logical extension of Fairbanks-Morse’s locomotive line, yet the Beloit (Wis.) builder recognized that what Trains Editor David P Morgan termed the “fat, robust, gadget-packed 2,400 hp six-motor hood unit” could become something special. Which it […]
Read More…
The 1947 Empire Builder, its E7s already in their second livery, poses for a publicity photo in western Montana. In the distance, a freight waits to follow. Great Northern photo […]
Read More…
Louisville & Nashville J-4 class 2-8-2 No. 1882 rests at Carrolton, Ky., in 1956. Charles B. Castner photo […]
Read More…
At the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Pittsburgh Region desk F (foreground), the dispatcher for the Esplen (south end of the Ohio Connecting Bridge)–Brownsville, Pa., line works with a new style of trainsheet, while his colleague on desk I, Pittsburgh–Gould Tunnel, Ohio, uses the standard type in 1956. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Read More…