New York’s Hell Gate Bridge

Passenger cars curve around large bridge

The imposing size, look, and name of New York City’s Hell Gate Bridge fits perfectly in a metropolis where one must “dress to impress” and “go big or go home.” According to Victor Hand in Classic Trains’ Fall 2021 issue, the name can be composed of three separate bridges that are connected by two viaducts […]

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Illinois Terminal locomotives remembered

Diesel Illinois Terminal locomotives pull maroon passenger cars

  Illinois Terminal locomotives included steam, electric, and diesel over its existence.   The Illinois Terminal was an electric interurban line serving western Illinois down to the St. Louis area. In the mid-1950s the railroad abandoned its electric operations, moving to all-diesel operation — the last steam ran in 1950, and dieselization had begun with […]

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Secondhand 2-8-2 in West Virginia

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Mikado 482 was built by Alco’s Schenectady plant for the Mobile & Ohio in 1928. It went to West Virginia short line Cherry River Boom & Lumber after the GM&O merger. It’s resting at Jerryville, W.Va., southwest of Elkins, in May 1952. Ed Theisinger photo […]

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U.S. Sugar 148 enjoys the spotlight

A color photograph of a steam locomotive pulling more modern passenger cars

I haven’t counted every last owner one time or another of Florida East Coast 4-6-2 No. 148, but it must be close to a record. For a mainline-size engine, the Pacific was incredibly peripatetic, sort of like former Burlington 2-8-2 No. 4960 before it landed at the Grand Canyon Railway. The 148 emerged from Alco’s […]

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NC&StL F units

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Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis considered its 52 F3 and F7 units (32 cabs, 20 boosters) to be dual service locomotives, although only the B units had steam generators. Linn H. Westcott photo […]

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N&W 0-8-0 boiler

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Norfolk & Western built 0-8-0 switchers until 1953, the last conventional steam locomotives built for U.S. service. Devoid of all fittings, a new 0-8-0 boiler is upside down at N&W’s Roanoke, Va., shops. W. A. Akin Jr. photo […]

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Budd Slumbercoaches

A black and white photograph depicting two men standing on a passenger platform in front of a budd slumbercoach passenger car

Budd Slumbercoaches were born of a desire to serve budget-conscious leisure travelers in the mid-20th century.     As economic conditions improved during the 1920s and more people could afford to travel, there was demand for a less costly but more comfortable means of travel, particularly for the long-haul routes between Midwest and West Coast […]

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