Characteristic of the indignities suffered by steam in its final years, Reading G-3 Pacific 215, built in 1948 as a top-flight passenger engine, loafs along with a single coach on the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines in September 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
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Mikados, an 0-8-0, and an ex-Pennsylvania Railroad Consolidation are arrayed around the turntable at Detroit, Toledo & Ironton’s Flat Rock Yard near Detroit on the day before Labor Day, 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
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As a crossing watchman stands guard, Reading Camelback 4-6-0 No. 608 brings a Newtown, Pa.–Philadelphia local into Fox Chase station in 1948. Leslie R. Ross photo […]
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A worker shovels salt into a reefer via a rolling chute at the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy’s icing dock in Denver in 1949. The conveyor chain on the platform at right carries block ice along the platform. Earl Cochran photo […]
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An interior view at Tower 19 near Dallas (Texas) Union Terminal shows the track diagram (“model board”) of the territory controlled by the tower and some of the levers that controlled the switches and signals. This is an electro-pneumatic interlocking, in which switches are operated by compressed air. Historic American Engineering Record photo […]
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In this PBS Tracks Ahead segment, watch a number of vintage steam-powered locomotives and machines come to life on this working railroad ranch. […]
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New York Central E8 diesels idle at La Salle Street Station, Chicago, awaiting departure with two sections of the 20th Century Limited in November 1953. Robert W. Carper photo […]
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The sight of an approaching Seaboard E7 signaled adventure: a boy’s first train ride. Wiley M. Bryan I don’t know how my fascination for trains began, but ever since I could remember, I had been drawn to their mystique. I like tracks, switches, sidings, and depots. I like everything associated with trains. So, in November […]
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Classic Trains Subscription Plans Choose the Plan Best for You Digital Subscription Send me digital issues – Save 32%! Only $26.95. Subscribe Print + Digital Subscription Send me print + digital issues – Save up to 24%! Only $29.95 Subscribe Trains.com Unlimited Membership Sign me up for 12 months Unlimited Membership! Only $6.99/mo, plus a […]
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About Us Classic Trains unabashedly celebrates North American railroading from the 1940s to the formation of Conrail. First published as Trains Classic in 1999, Classic Trains emerged as a regular publication in Spring 2000 and has since delighted railfans and rail historians each quarter with photos and stories that command attention. Besides publishing a cascade […]
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Welcome – Never stop learning Head End – A potpourri of railroad history, then and now Fast Mail – Letters from our readers True Color – Rush hour at Kansas City The Way It Was – Tales from railfans and railroaders Looking Back – Santa Fe all the way […]
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