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Magazine: Classic Trains

Online Bonus: “The case of the elusive C-Liners”

The Spring 2005 issue of Classic Trains includes two stories regarding Fairbanks-Morse’s C-Line diesels: “A new dress for opposed pistons” (page 52) and “Why to C-Line fell on its face” (page 56). As an online bonus, we’ve scanned an article from the July 1972 issue of TRAINS magazine called “The case of the elusive C-Liners”. […]

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Post-World War II East Broad Top timeline

EBT12

East Broad Top 2-8-2 No. 12 pulls into Orbisonia station for another load of riders on Oct. 14, 1960, during the narrow-gauge’s reopening weekend. Don Wood photo June 24, 1951 Last of seven chartered railfan trips, dating to 1936, operates on EBT. Jan. 1, 1952 C. Roy Wilburn, who eventually would lead the railroad’s day-to-day […]

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Louisville & Nashville: Still reliable after all these years

Classic Trains logo

It was on March 5, 1850, that the Kentucky legislature approved a charter for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company. The first through train operated between L&N’s namesake end points in 1859. Had it not been for dynamic leadership, vision, money, and some luck, the L&N might not have matured beyond this original route and […]

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The Berkshire: Fast-Freight Legend

Pittsburgh & Lake Erie A-2a 2-8-4 Berkshire

In 1920, when American railroads emerged from 26 months of government control, the prevailing philosophy of freight-train operation was to hang as many cars as possible behind a locomotive and send it out to drag its way along the line. Three locomotive types were ideal for drag freight: 2-10-2, 2-6-6-2, and 2-8-8-2. The 2-10-2 and […]

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Online video extra: P&LE’s Unwanted Berkshires

Herron Rail Video archive In his The Unwanted Berkshires in the Spring 2004 issue of Classic Trains magazine, Jack Polaritz looks at the genesis and careers of Pittsburgh & Lake Erie 9401-9407, the last 2-8-4 design in America. After P&LE dieselized, the engines were stored, then reactivated in 1955 when another New York Central subsidiary, […]

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