Train time at Canton, S.Dak.

Milwaukee Road Midwest Hiawatha at Canton, South Dakota station

The Milwaukee Road’s station at Canton in the southeast corner of South Dakota is bustling with activity as cars off the Midwest Hiawatha from Chicago are switched into the Sioux Falls section of the Sioux. The year is about 1944; note the sign on the depot: “Canteen. Service men and wives only.” Henry J. McCord […]

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Switching stock cars at Omaha

South Omaha Terminal Railway switcher

A switchman signals a South Omaha Terminal Railway switcher as the diesel adds cars onto the meat train transfer at the Terminal yard on a darkening October evening in 1957. The cars will soon become part of Illinois Central’s hot CC-6 Council Bluffs–Chicago perishable train. William D. Middleton photo […]

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Loading livestock at Silverton

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad livestock cars in Silverton

The narrow-gauge Denver & Rio Grande Western did a lot of livestock business. Here, several stock cars are loaded with sheep in Silverton, Colo., in 1942. K-28 Mikado will lead the train back down to Durango. William Moedinger photo […]

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Double departure from Baltimore

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Camden Station

In a 1947 view at Baltimore & Ohio’s Camden Station in Baltimore, a Baltimore & Annapolis interurban train departs for Annapolis while a B&O 4-6-2 heads out with a train for Washington. B&A was a tenant at Camden until it shut down in 1950. Herbert H. Harwood Jr. photo […]

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L&N celebrity Pacific

Louisville and Nashville Railroad

Louisville & Nashville heavy 4-6-2 No. 295 was mechanically and cosmetically upgraded in 1940 for duty on the new South Wind streamliner. Some years later, No. 295 rests between runs at Louisville. Jack Fravert photo […]

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Dome car in the Rockies

California Zephyr dome cars in Rocky Mountains

In a view from one of the California Zephyr’s five regularly assigned dome cars, another dome curves through the Rocky Mountains during the streamliner’s trip over the Denver & Rio Grande Western. Gordon Odegard photo […]

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Decapod on Helmstetter’s Curve

Western Maryland Railway 2-10-0 at Helmstetter's Curve

Western Maryland 2-10-0 1109 rounds famous Helmstetter’s Curve west of Cumberland, Md., with a westbound freight in May 1952. Unseen, two more Decapods at mid-train and a fourth on the rear help lift the train upgrade. Ed Theisinger photo […]

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Coast Line doubleheader

Atlantic Coast LIne Railroad near Vienna, Virginia

Atlantic Coast Line 2-8-2 7230 and 4-8-2 7372 team up on a northbound freight near Vienna, Va., in 1947. Both engines formerly worked for the Atlanta, Birmingham & Coast, which ACL acquired in 1945. David W. Salter photo […]

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Camelback on Starrucca

Camelback locomotive crossing Erie Railroad's Starrucca Viaduct

In an early 20th century photo, a Camelback locomotive, probably a 2-8-0, crosses the Erie Railroad’s Starrucca Viaduct with a westbound freight. Completed in 1848 at Lanesboro, Pa., on the Erie’s main line west to Binghamton, N.Y., the 1,200-foot stone structure is still carrying trains in 2017. Erie photo […]

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