Nickel Plate yard at Frankfort, Ind.

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Looking west at Frankfort, Ind., in 1944, we see the westbound yard with its east-end ladder angling off to the right, and in the distance the eastbound yard’s east ladder running the other way. Beyond the east yard ladder are the icing platform and the ice plant. Jay Williams photo […]

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A minor adjustment, please

On May 29, 1961, engineer Walter Good tightens the spark arrestor on Cass Shay No. 1 after the engine started a brush fire. The railroad was in transition at the time from logging railroad to tourist attraction. Check out more Cass and West Virginia coverage in the August 2013 issue of Trains magazine. Photo by John P. Killoran […]

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An underrated diesel

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Once a proud hauler of crack passenger trains and fast freights as a DL109 diesel locomotive, New Haven test vehicle PP 716 languishes in Boston in 1968, awaiting its fate: the scrapper’s torch. Bruce Beardsley If Alco’s famous PA diesel is perhaps a bit overrated, as implied in the January 2004 issue of Trains magazine, then the […]

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Historic Union Pacific Big Boy photos

FULL SCREEN Jim Shaughnessy The front half of Big Boy No. 4005 forms a wall of steel above a hostler at the Laramie, Wyo., engine terminal in August 1957. FULL SCREEN Jim Shaughnessy Battling up Sherman Hill, Big Boy No. 4011 exits the north tunnel at Hermosa, Wyo., with an eastbound freight in August 1957. […]

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Richard Steinheimer’s Cajon Pass

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Still the greatest show on earth: What’s changed on Cajon Pass since Trains magazine published Richard Steinheimer’s “Cajon Pass Revisited” in September 1974? Just about everything! Except the drama. In Locomotive 2013, authors David Styffe and Greg McDonnell look back at the classic Steinheimer photos and revisit Cajon today, as exciting a place as ever […]

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Video: Illinois Railway Museum’s 2013 Diesel Parade

Only a few railroads or museums can boast of having operating cab units working on their property. Illinois Railway Museum easily tops them all with Fs, Es, stainless, freight, passenger, and executive cab cousins gathered in tiny Union, Ill. Check out some footage in the video below, showing the museum’s annual Diesel Parade held in […]

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Photo Gallery: Inside Progress Rail’s New Locomotive-Building Plant

Locomotive Editor Greg McDonnell shows readers behind-the-scenes at Progress Rail’s Muncie, Ind., assembly plant. Muncie produces locomotives for both domestic and export markets, including these GT38ACs and SD70ACEs for Australia, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates. Read about the plant in “Made in Muncie” in Locomotive 2013. Order your copy now! FULL SCREEN Greg McDonnell […]

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