“The Lionel Acela exposed” was originally published in the May 2013 Classic Toy Trains. Noted Kalmbach illustrator Rick Johnson produced numerous cutaway illustrations for various brands during his career, but few were this detailed. Along with text by toy train mechanical expert Matt Troester and based on photography by Bill Zuback, this is a […]
Amtrak inherited a menagerie of power at startup in 1971, but what were the oldest Amtrak locomotives? During the period leading up to the advent of Amtrak in May 1971, it wasn’t uncommon to see passenger train equipment, both locomotives and cars, of significant seniority. Regarding what came behind the locomotives, heavyweight (typically pre-World […]
Spokane, Portland and Seattle freight trains remembered: All through August 2022, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the grit, panache, and charm that was the Spokane, Portland and Seattle. As part of the celebration, please enjoy this freight train photo gallery as the perfect accompaniment. Each month since October 2019, Classic Trains editors have showcase one “Fallen Flag” railroad — […]
Please enjoy this photo gallery of Spokane, Portland and Seattle locomotives selected from files in Kalmbach Media‘s David P. Morgan Library. The principal Spokane, Portland and Seattle locomotive shop was at Vancouver, Washington. Initially a roundhouse, it was supplemented with a four-track, three-level diesel shop in 1949 that replaced the roundhouse after the last […]
The Ingalls Shipbuilding 4S locomotive was a truly unique, one-of-a-kind diesel unit. The business world in general, and railroading in particular, is full of one-hit wonders. The concept is solid, the idea grand, the thinking sound. Yet, despite all the barometers showing the product should be a sales winner, through no fault of […]
Amtrak electric locomotives went through a period of uncertainty early in the passenger railroad’s existence. Not long after its inception, Amtrak began to focus on the fact that its non-Metroliner passenger service in the “Northeast Corridor” would require a replacement for the stalwart GG1 electrics that hauled its “conventional” trains over the electrified […]
In service cab signals: When you watch trains these days just about any locomotive can show up on the point of a train. From run-through agreements to precision scheduled railroading keeping locomotive rosters lean, you just never know what may show up leading the next train. Over the years, a railfan seeking home road power […]
National passenger carrier Amtrak recently turned 50 years old. To mark the occasion, Lionel has released a LionChief 2.0 version of its P42 Genesis locomotive. These engines will run on O-31 curves and they’re loaded with detail. They feature operating couplers front and rear, a nice pilot with MU detail, ditch lights, headlights, a spectacular […]
What locomotive generators do is no secret: They produce electricity. Alternators and generators in locomotives convert mechanical energy from the prime mover to electrical energy to pull the train. They are the main device connected to the prime mover. Advances over the years have improved the type and size of alternators and generators, enabling locomotive […]
Working mountain Alco locomotives: Nestled in the wide rolling hills on the western edge of New York’s Southern Tier lies the formerly two-railroad town of Olean, N.Y. A quaint, unsuspecting town of 13,000 residents located along the placid Allegheny River was once a railfanning destination, that is — until the formation of Conrail. Dozens of […]
Belt Railway of Chicago locomotives: I recently photographed an ex-Belt Railway of Chiacgo Alco in, of all places, Olean, N.Y., on the Western New York & Pennsylvania. That old Alco and I go back to the mid 1980ss when I first laid eyes on her and a stable of other exotic beasts at BRC’s Clearing […]
Cowl locomotives: Six-axle cowl locomotives purchased for freight service have been rostered continuously on Class I railroads since Santa Fe first purchased EMD’s F45 model in 1968. More than a half century later, the industry is down to a single Class I railroad operating this locomotive design, Canadian Pacific. Although cowls have been hauling freight […]
