Southern Pacific narrow gauge 4-6-0 No. 18 stands in the weed-grown yard at Laws, Calif., in April 1956. Wendell Mortimer photo […]
Section: Photo of the Day
Southern F7s on a freight
Looking sharp despite a coating of road dirt, a matched A-B-B-A set of Southern Railway F7s leads freight train 54 north at Austell. Ga., in 1959. Ron Flanary coll. […]
SAL piggyback hotshot
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 […]
Rio Grande 4-8-2 on Tennessee Pass
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 […]
President Truman on the Ferdinand Magellan
Harry Truman relaxes behind armor plate and bulletproof glass in the lounge of Pullman car Ferdinand Magellan, specially outfitted for presidential service, at Fort Worth during the 1948 campaign. Texas & Pacific photo […]
NYC’s Cincinnati Special comes home
J-1 Hudson 5270 brings New York Central’s Cincinnati Special from Cleveland into Cincinnati Union Terminal in September 1954. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
NC&StL LCL terminal
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 […]
Missabe 2-8-8-4s in the shop
Shopmen minister to a pair of giant 2-8-8-4s in Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range’s shop at Two Harbors, Minn., in September 1954. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Milwaukee class A Atlantic
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. […]
Last J with the Powhatan Arrow
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 […]
L&N heavy Mikado 1852
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 […]
Helping hand from a Hippo
Pennsylvania Railroad class I1 2-10-0 1753 shoves on the cabin car of a westbound iron ore train at Alexandria, Pa., on PRR’s Hollidaysburg & Petersburg Branch in September 1955. The I1s’ chunky appearance earned them the nickname “Hippo.” Philip R. Hastings photo […]