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Southern Railway 4501. You could write a book about this locomotive, and indeed one has been done. If it were a fable, it would be the story of a commoner becoming royalty. This is a brief look at a once-ordinary, freight-hauling 2-8-2 made into a legendary excursion locomotive. Southern 4501 history Baldwin built No. 4501 […]
The 2-8-2 Mikado-type steam locomotive was the first with a firebox behind the drivers and supported by a trailing truck. Originally conceived by Baldwin Locomotive Works and the narrow gauge Interoceanic Railway in Mexico, the first U.S. Mikado was a 50-inch drivered Baldwin built in 1901 for the Bismarck, Washburn & Great Northern. In 1902, […]
My Frisco steam locomotive cab ride came on Sept. 5, 2021. It was a first for me. I knew that it would be fun and that I’d like it, but what I didn’t know was exactly how much. It was a feast for the senses. My photos here may not be great or even capture […]
Milwaukee Road locomotives All through November, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the multi-faceted Milwaukee Road. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Milwaukee Road selected from the image archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. The Milwaukee Road operated with steam, electric, and diesel motive power in its Midwest-to-Northwest service area. There are examples in […]
Here’s our 2022 steam locomotive list. As 2021 may be the best so far in the 21st century to be a steam locomotive enthusiast, 2022 is looking good too! A Big Boy is running on Union Pacific’s main lines, the last Baldwin steam locomotive built is flexing its articulated muscles on a mountain railroad, and […]
All through November, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the multi-faceted Milwaukee Road. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Milwaukee Road freight trains selected from the image archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. In its history, the Milwaukee Road operated freight service from as far as Louisville, Ky., west to Tacoma, Wash., and Portland, […]
North American railroads never found a broad use for freight service diesel locomotives with a hydraulic drive, making them another case of the “diesels that didn’t.” Germany was the early leader in developing and building diesel locomotives that utilized direct-drive transmissions. Those early models in the 1930s incorporated torque converters and gears in lieu of […]
Union Pacific on Cajon Pass in the 1940s: Union Pacific operates on Cajon Pass in Southern California as the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. It uses Santa Fe trackage on a rental basis from Daggett, 8 miles east of Barstow, to Riverside, 9 miles south of San Bernardino. This arrangement has been in effect […]
Baldwin diesel locomotives history Established in the 1830s, Philadelphia’s Baldwin Locomotive Works was one of America’s oldest and largest locomotive builders. Baldwin steam engines were known for their high quality and good looks. But many of its internal combustion efforts could be classified as “diesels that didn’t.” Along with fellow steam builders Alco and Lima, […]
The world’s smallest pacific locomotive — among standard-gauge equipment — is Little River Railroad 4-6-2 No. 110. COLDWATER, Mich. — The world’s smallest standard gauge Pacific, No. 110, is alive and well at age 110. The Little River Railroad 4-6-2 is running in south Michigan, fresh from a 15-year inspection and a rebuild that included […]
Lima-Hamilton locomotives history Lima-Hamilton locomotives were built out of Lima, the youngest and smallest of the Big Three steam builders. The Ohio manufacturer was synonymous with steam at its best, and it upheld the steam standard to the bitter end. Even as legions of diesels were rolling off the erecting floors of competitors, Lima Locomotive […]
Union Pacific’s fascination with large, single-unit freight locomotives did not end when it received the last of its 25 Big Boys in 1944. The railroad fielded fleets of powerful gas-turbine-electric and double-engined diesel locomotives in the 1950s and 1960s. […]
