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A Chicago & North Western Baldwin switcher begins pulling cars from the “potato yard” in Chicago as an icing truck services a refrigerator car (middle) and buyers finish unloading cars (left) in 1957. Chicago & North Western photo […]
Transporting finished automobiles in boxcars was inefficient, causing railroads to lose business to highway carriers. Before the development of two- and three-level auto rack cars, railroads tried piggybacking highway trailers loaded with autos on flatcars. Here, a pair of carriers rides an 85-foot car in 1960. J. David Ingles collection […]
Beginning in 1964, the Rio Grande began attaching a car or two of piggyback trailers to the rear of the Salt Lake City–Denver Prospector in order to boost the train’s bottom line, as seen here at East Rocky, Colo., in April 1964. Nevertheless, the train was discontinued in 1967. Richard Steinheimer photo […]
A Pacific Fruit Express mechanical car stands out among Santa Fe and PFE 40-foot ice-bunker cars in this early 1960s train. Mechanical cars were developed for frozen goods but began hauling more fresh produce by the 1960s, eventually pushing ice cars out of service in the 1970s. J. David Ingles collection […]
The fireman of Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 4913 has descended the cab-side ladder to snag a train-order hoop from the operator at Odenton, Md., in October 1953. A blocked track ahead at Baltimore has necessitated orders for the Tuscan red electric, which today is preserved at the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum. H. N. Proctor photo […]
This Milwaukee Road 4-6-4 is an oil-burner — note the lack of an open coal bunker on the tender. The rear stenciling indicates a capacity of 18,000 gallons of water and 7,000 gallons of oil. The engine has been converted from coal-firing for service in Idaho and Washington. Milwaukee Road photo […]
Wabash Railway passenger trains: All through January 2024, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of the Wabash. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Wabash Railway passenger trains, originally published online in May 2019. […]
Thirty miles into its overnight run from Eureka, Calif., to San Rafael on San Francisco Bay, Northwestern Pacific train 3 picks its way along a trestle at the base of Scotia Bluff on June 20, 1953, three months before the end of steam on the Southern Pacific subsidiary. Richard C. Brown photo […]
Perched high above the tracks, interlocking Tower A controlled the many signals and switches at Cincinnati Union Terminal. Wallace W. Abbey photo […]
Seaboard Air Line motor car 2027 (St. Louis Car/Electro-Motive, 1936) leads Savannah, Ga.–Montgomery, Ala., local train 11 near Rochelle, Ga., in 1947. The RPO apartment is part of the motor, and the REA express messenger gets some air in the open door of his car. David W. Salter photo […]
Milwaukee Road Fairbanks-Morse H10-44 shows the high (cab-roof-level) hood needed to clear FM’s tall opposed-piston engine. The roof overhang on the back of the cab was a feature on H10-44s and early H12-44s. Milwaukee Road photo […]
Oahu Railway 2-8-2 No. 70, a 1927 Alco, leads a train for Kahaku beside the Pacific Ocean east of Kaena Point in the 1940s. The railroad’s C-shaped main line extended from Honolulu on the south side of the island clockwise to Kahuku on the north side. Kent W. Cochrane photo […]
