50 years ago in railroad history: April 1959

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50 years ago in railroad history … A supplement to the Classic Trains Online Look Back e-mail newsletter TRAINS magazine devotes its April 1959 issue to an investigation titled “Who Shot the Passenger Train?” The landmark issue examines the (mostly unhealthy) state of the rail passenger business and proposes solutions. . . . [All feature […]

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50 years ago in railroad history: March 1959

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50 years ago in railroad history … A supplement to the Classic Trains Online Look Back e-mail newsletter The U.S. Supreme Court on March 2 upholds a lower court’s ruling not to interfere in the discontinuance of New York Central’s Weehawken-Cortland Street Hudson River ferries, paving the way for their last runs on March 24; […]

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Railroad story of the month: February 2009

A supplement to the Classic Trains Online Look Back e-mail newsletter Outfits I have known By Michael J. McLaughlin One of the most memorable aspects of my career in railroad maintenance of way is the “outfit.” An outfit was usually a collection of old revenue cars–both passenger and freight–converted to sleeping, cooking, shower, supply, tool, […]

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Video Extra: Action at Englewood Union Station

In the Spring 2009 issue of Classic Trains, Hal Lewis presents photos from his “Spring Break” trip to Chicago in 1950. One of his stops was Englewood Union Station, where trains of the Pennsy, NYC, Rock Island, and Nickel Plate mingled. Here, from the Herron Rail Video [www.herronrail.com] program “Glory Machines, Vol. 3,” are some […]

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Video Extra: Long Island Rail Road steam action

In the Spring 2009 issue of Classic Trains, a retired stationmaster looks back at his career with the Long Island Rail Road. Here, from the Herron Rail Video [www.herronrail.com] program “Pennsylvania Glory, Vol. 1,” are some scenes filmed by Benjamin T. Young of LIRR steam in action. […]

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A look back in time: January 1959

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50 years ago in railroad history … A supplement to the Classic Trains Online Look Back e-mail newsletter Pullman car Ferdinand Magellan, modified to haul the President of the United States in 1942 and in POTUS ever since, is donated to the Florida Development Commission for display at the University of Miami; it later moved […]

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A Window in Thrums

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A window in Thrums By Steven Duff Thrums is a name that somehow resonates above most others, a name, as we say these days, that has Attitude. It is a Scottish word, immortalized in Sir James Barrie’s novel, A Window in Thrums, and is perpetuated in Canada by a small town in British Columbia. In […]

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A look back in time: November 1958

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Rock Island buys GM’s two Aerotrains for suburban service out of Chicago, where they join RI’s own Jet Rocket Talgo train, powered by an Aerotrain-style locomotive. . . . Illinois Central buys eight sleeping cars (four 10-5’s, four 4-4-2’s) from New York Central for City of Miami service. . . . Pullman-Standard’s first 85-foot flatcar […]

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