One moment sooner!

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Rare CPA-24-5 4500 (partially hidden by a signal box) and an F3B lead NYC’s James Whitcomb Riley north at Illinois Central’s 115th Street station; second car is a C&O Newport News–Chicago sleeper. Gordon E. Lloyd What makes a perfect photo? Perhaps first and foremost, “perfect” is an abstraction, perfection being generally defined in the mind […]

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The big engine that couldn’t

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PRR J1 2-10-4 No. 6480 crests the hill in Irvington, heading east from downtown Indianapolis with a freight during the switchmen’s strike at Hawthorne Yard in the winter of 1951-52. Martin E. Biemer The winter of 1951–52 brought a new thrill for us railroad-crazy boys in the Indianapolis neighborhood of Irvington: Freight trains! Irvington, a […]

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Toledo Central Union Terminal

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One of the last big-city stations to be built was Toledo Central Union Terminal, completed in 1950. Owned by New York Central, by far its heaviest user, TCUT also hosted B&O, Wabash, and C&O trains. Amtrak’s Capitol Limited and Lake Shore Limited still use it. Classic Trains coll. […]

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CB&Q Northern at Mendota

20141219

Burlington Route 4-8-4 No. 5621 on a westbound freight clatters across the Illinois Central diamonds at Mendota, Ill., as it slows for a coal and water stop in September 1954. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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History According to Hediger: Interlocking insights

Man with model interlocking machine

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Model Railroader magazine’s senior editor Jim Hediger returns to the MRVP studio! In this episode, he first explains how a real plant works, before describing how former MR editors Paul Larson and Gordon Odegard engineered a model for use on an HO scale […]

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Seaboard Coast Line’s Silver Meteor

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The New York–Miami Silver Meteor heels to a curve near Sebring, Fla., on March 30, 1970, nearly 3 years after the Seaboard + Atlantic Coast Line merger. At 17 cars, the train is a testament to the enduring strength of the New York–Florida rail travel market. William T. Morgan photo […]

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Pennsy P5a in the snow

20141212

Pennsylvania Railroad P5a electric 4737 brings a freight into Philadelphia from the west after a heavy snowfall in early 1958. The motor is passing the station at Overbrook, easternmost of the suburban stops on the Main Line to Paoli. Aaron G. Fryer photo […]

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IC’s original Green Diamond

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Illinois Central’s first streamliner, delivered in 1936, was the Green Diamond, a fully articulated aluminum train built by Pullman-Standard and powered by Electro-Motive with a Winton diesel engine. It is pictured at 47th Street, Chicago, near the end of its regular run from St. Louis. Philip Korst Jr. photo […]

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