Grand Trunk Western steam: America’s last real show

Grand Trunk Western steam locomotive with passenger train in city

Grand Trunk Western steam provided a last look for many Midwest railfans.     Despite having a large population with sizeable cities, Michigan has hovered just above the nation’s busy paths of commerce. Except for Detroit, the state tends to be out of sight, out of mind — no offense to Grand Rapids, the state’s […]

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Budd streamliners

A streamlined passenger train in a mountainous setting

  Prior to the time of the streamliners, North American passenger trains were not particularly colorful. Most sleeping cars were Pullman green, although there were exceptions; both the Pennsylvania and Canadian Pacific utilized shades of red on their passenger equipment, for example.   With the arrival of streamlined lightweight equipment as of the late 1930s, […]

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PRR K4s 1361 restoration moves past halfway point

Drivers for steam locomotive in shop building

ALTOONA, Pa. – With the inspection, cleaning and conditioning of the drivers of former Pennsylvania Railroad Class K4s 4-6-2 steam engine No. 1361 by Strasburg Rail Road’s mechanical department, the locomotive’s $2.4 million restoration has moved symbolically past the halfway point, according to the engine’s owner, the Railroaders Memorial Museum. The six 80-inch drivers made […]

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F7, undressed

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This 1949 view of the erecting floor at EMD shows a 567 diesel engine, generator (on the deck at the left of the engine), and electrical cabinet (far left) in place on an F7 frame. An FP7 is taking shape in the background. EMD photo […]

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Illustrator Bob Wegner was the go-to guy for railroad maps

Men working at desks in windowless room

It was my bittersweet duty last week to write an obituary for illustrator Bob Wegner, one of the all-time greats from the heyday of Kalmbach Publishing Co. He was a versatile illustrator and (best of all from my perspective) a railroad mapmaker extraordinaire. Bob put in more than 40 years at KPC, turning out hundreds […]

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