Looping in Colorado

Colorado & Southern narrow gauge 2-8-0s Nos. 70 and 73 cross the high bridge on the Georgetown Loop with seven cars. The engines are moving at only 5 mph due to the frail nature of the bridge on May 14, 1938. Photo by R. H. Kindig […]

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A friend in time: My railroad watch

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Bought from a pawnshop when the author was a boy, this Hamilton Railway Special 992 watch passed many an official time check during his 44 years on the railroad. Jack O. Elwood I knew I wanted to be a railroad man, specifically a locomotive engineer, when I was about six or seven years old. This […]

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Look buster, get out of my way

Kansas City Southern’s crack passenger train, the “Southern Belle,” ran head on into a standing freight train at Baton Rouge, La., on Dec. 8, 1967. A northbound freight with three GP30s was set to hold the main, and await the passenger train, which would take the siding. The front end brakeman on the freight was […]

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Now departing Cumberland

The lead F-unit of six pulling a westbound Baltimore & Ohio Time Saver train eases along in front of the Cumberland, Md., station on a July 1956 day. The train is bound for points west via Grafton, W.Va. Read more about Cumberland, the shop, and the B&O in the March 2012 issue of Trains. Photo […]

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Trains Express February 2012 PDF

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Iron ore is an important commodity that is best hauled by boat or by rail. TRAINS coverage of iron ore haulage spans more than 50 years. In this month’s Trains Express PDF package, you’ll learn about the classic Minnesota mover, go inside steel mill railroads, and see the locations of steel mills, mini-mills, pellet plants, […]

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Snow Train Parade

FULL SCREEN Trains Magazine Collection Skiers disembark Boston & Maine’s Snow Train at North Conway, N.H. FULL SCREEN Trains Magazine collection Passengers enjoy their ride aboard the Boston & Maine Snow Train. FULL SCREEN John Gruber collection The front cover of Boston & Maine’s 36-page booklet advertising its 1940 season. FULL SCREEN John Gruber collection […]

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To Chicago with Dad

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Grand Trunk Western 4-8-2 No. 6040 on the Maple Leaf stands beside Santa Fe E1 diesel No. 2 on the Kansas Cityan at Chicago’s Dearborn Station. Frank M. Rogers I think I was a railfan by the time I was 5 years old. My father had been a fireman on the Milwaukee Road since he […]

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New twist on intermodal

Motorists on I-94 must have done a double-take when this flatbed truck carrying Flagg Coal Co. No. 75 came rolling past on August 16, 2011. The 0-4-0 tank engine built in 1930 was headed to its home in Indiana after a weekend of operations on the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wis. Photo by […]

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Southern 4501’s first excursion

FULL SCREEN John Gruber Graham Claytor Jr. (left) appears apprehensive as he talks with D. W. Brosnan and Walter Dove on the platform at Asheville, N.C. But the conversation was friendly and the 4501 soon was on its way. FULL SCREEN John Gruber Locomotive 4501 proudly poses at Terminal Station, about ready to leave on […]

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From Sweden to Rhode Island

As a prelude to today’s high speed Acela Express service, Amtrak tested two types of European high speed trains, a German ICE trainset and this tilting X2000 train from Sweden. The demonstration equipment made revenue runs on the Northeast Corridor and toured other parts of the country. Pushed by two Amtrak Tubroliner power cars, the […]

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Big Saturday night

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Frisco 4501, one of the road’s three 4500-series 4-8-4s assigned to passenger service, rolls the Meteor into St. Louis. Ben F. Cutler About midnight on a Saturday in 1944 on the station platform in Neosho, Mo., are 500 guys with suntans, each carrying a one-day pass and probably a railway ticket tucked in his wallet. […]

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Calculated drawbar horsepower curves for 4-8-4s

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This graph shows the calculated drawbar horsepower curves for five classes in the first wave of 4-8-4s: Lackawanna Q-1, Canadian National U-2-a, Northern Pacific A, Santa Fe 3751, and Canadian Pacific K-1. Neil Carlson In the days of steam it was a normal practice to estimate the horsepower potential of a locomotive. Baldwin Locomotive Works […]

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