M-10001 In the late 1930s, the Union Pacific’s streamliner M-10001 is serviced between runs in Chicago; although dirty, the streamliner stands out from older steel and wood cars in the yard. Alexander Maxwell photo […]
M-10001
Era: 1920 - 1945
Steam queen
Steam queen For a few years in the late 1930s, the steam queens of New Haven’s Shore Line were 10 class I-5 4-6-4s. The handsome Hudsons’ wheel-balance woes prompted NH to begin acquiring a fleet of 60 DL109 diesels in 1941. Here, an I-5 roars west with the Merchants Limited at Sharon, Mass. Wayne Brumbaugh […]
Shipping container
Shipping container New York Central (and subsidiary Michigan Central) had a large fleet of steel auto cars by the early 1920s. These had 10-foot door openings with 6- and 4-foot platesteel doors. New York Central photo […]
Distinctive duo
Distinctive duo Electro-Motive’s first two diesel switchers, Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Nos. 425 and 426, were built at General Electric’s Erie, Pa., plant prior to the opening of EMC’s own assembly plant at LaGrange, Ill. The pioneering locomotives, built in 1935, have distinctive cab, hood, and truck designs that wouldn’t be repeated on later EMC […]
Terminal Station
Terminal Station Daniel Burnham designed the Southern Railway’s monumental Terminal Station in New Orleans in 1908, just after his Washington Union Station opened. Terminal faced Canal Street at Basin until it was razed in 1956. James G. La Vake photo […]
Twin Cities Zephyr
Twin Cities Zephyr Led by 1936 power unit 9905 Zephyrus, the Burlington’s Twin Cities Zephyr swings into the downtown La Crosse, Wis., depot circa 1939. Slow street running was an obstacle in the speed war with rivals Chicago & North Western and Milwaukee Road. Elden H. Hunter photo […]
Sunset Limited station stop
Sunset Limited station stop Southern Pacific 4-8-2 4326 has just entered Arizona from California as it brings the Sunset Limited into the station at Yuma sometime in the 1940s. Seated on the platform are local Indians with souvenirs to sell to passengers. Classic Trains collection […]
The story behind developing smoke for toy-train locomotives
The evolution of miniature locomotives has been long and steady for more than a century. The beginning, of course, involved using electricity to enable them to move without being touched. Next came the introduction of functioning lights to models of steam and electric engines as well as to trolley and motorized units. Everything that had […]
The Hole Yard
The Hole Yard Here’s how the Missouri Pacific’s Hole Yard lead at North Little Rock, Ark., looked in March 1921. The Fort Smith crossing is in the foreground, with the yard office at right and shops and roundhouses in the distance. Photo by Missouri Pacific […]
Produce to the people
Produce to the people Chicago and other large cities had produce yards and team tracks where dozens or hundreds of cars would arrive each day for auction and sale to local buyers. Photo by Chicago & North Western […]
Pioneer passenger diesel
axle passenger diesels built in 1935. EMC had no factory of its own yet, so this one was assembled at General Electric’s plant at Erie, Pa. The Winton-engined pioneer is preserved at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. General Electric […]
Cresting Tennessee Pass
Rio Grande’s California Fast Freight departs Tennessee Pass station, crest of the Continental Divide, in April 1938. Big 2-8-8-2 3606 will keep the train in check on the 3 percent grade down to Minturn, Colo. H. Kindig […]
