Tonopah & Tidewater’s lonely Pullman line

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Begun in 1905, the Tonopah & Tidewater extended from the Santa Fe main line at Ludlow, Calif., 160 lonely miles north into Nevada. In the late 1920s T&T acquired a gas-electric car and began handling, in partnership with Union Pacific, a twice-weekly Pullman car that ran from Los Angeles to Death Valley, pictured here before […]

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SAL piggyback hotshot

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Three GP30s make 60 mph with TT-23, a fast freight composed of 56 piggyback flatcars, at Manson, N.C., in September 1965. Though a normal service, TT-23 was not in the timetable and so ran as an extra, hence the white flags on GP30 517. Curt Tillotson Jr. photo […]

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Rio Grande 4-8-2 on Tennessee Pass

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Denver & Rio Grande Western 4-8-2 1517 emerges from Eagle River Canyon near Redcliff, Colo., on D&RGW’s Tennessee Pass line on July 3, 1941. The Mountain type is heading the second section of train 36, a 50-car freight with 2-8-8-2 helpers at the middle and rear of the consist. J. W. Maxwell photo […]

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NC&StL LCL terminal

Nashville Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway freight station

The Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis freight station in Chattanooga was one of hundreds of terminals around the country where less-than-carload freight (LCL) was transferred and reloaded among boxcars. NC&StL photo […]

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Milwaukee class A Atlantic

Milwaukee Road Class A 4-4-2 at West Milwaukee Shops

Brand-new Milwaukee Road class A 4-4-2 No. 4 stands for a portrait at the road’s West Milwaukee Shops on Sept. 15, 1937. Alco built class As Nos. 1 and 2 in 1935, No. 3 in 1936, and No. 4 — the final one — in 1937. All were for the Hiawathas. Classic Trains coll. […]

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Last J with the Powhatan Arrow

Norfolk and Western Railway J-Class 4-8-4

Norfolk & Western engine 613 — the last-built of the road’s fleet of J-class 4-8-4s, and thus the last of all North American 4-8-4s — wheels the Cincinnati–Norfolk Powhatan Arrow south of Kenova, W.Va., on May 30, 1952. Ed Theisinger photo […]

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L&N heavy Mikado 1852

Louisville and Nashville Railroad J4 2-8-2 in South Louisville

L&N heavy Mikado 1852 A hostler tends to the fire of Louisville & Nashville class J-4 2-8-2 No. 1852 at South Louisville on Sept. 8, 1951. The 165 J-4 and J-4A USRA heavy Mikados of 1918–27 were the backbone of L&N’s freight fleet. Jack Fravert photo […]

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