Big Boy versus Allegheny

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This C&O 2-6-6-6 strains mightily to get her 70 loads of eastbound coal moving at Thurmond, W. Va., in 1956. The Balky 1624 had slipped down, then cut off and run ahead to put down sand, and is now trying again. A full third of her tremendous engine weight rests on her lead and trailing […]

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Where to find Big Boy locomotives

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With clouds overhead mimicking steam, Big Boy No. 4004 sleeps in October 2013 at Cheyenne’s Holliday Park, just a few blocks from UP rails. Jim Wrinn No. 4004 • Holliday Park, Cheyenne, Wyo. BUILDER’S DATE: September 1941 SERIAL NUMBER: 69575 HISTORY: The fifth Big Boy constructed seems to have had an uneventful career. LIFETIME MILEAGE: […]

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Twenty-four hours at Supai Summit

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On May 23, 1996, Santa Fe train P-CHLA1-21, a 5,338-ton, 7,133-foot train, at Supai Summit in northern Arizona. John C. Lucas Have you read Fred W. Frailey’s October 2017 “Commentary,” “24 hours at Supai Summit?” He spills all of the details of a 1996 visit to Kaibab National Forest 4 miles east of Williams, Ariz., […]

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Classic Chicago passenger trains

FULL SCREEN John Bjorklund, collection of Center for Railroad Photography and Art Santa Fe passenger train No. 1, the westbound ‘San Francisco Chief,’ is seen at Dearborn Station in Chicago in December 1970, just a few months before the creation of Amtrak. FULL SCREEN John Bjorklund, collection of Center for Railroad Photography and Art A […]

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Classic Chicago freight trains

FULL SCREEN John Bjorklund, collection of Center for Railroad Photography and Art The Chicago & North Western switches newsprint cars in downtown Chicago in September 1981. FULL SCREEN John Bjorklund, collection of Center for Railroad Photography and Art The Chicago & North Western switches newsprint cars in downtown Chicago in September 1981. FULL SCREEN John […]

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Classic Chicago commuter trains

FULL SCREEN John Bjorklund, collection of Center for Railroad Photography and Art A Burlington Northern commuter train arrives at Chicago Union Station in July 1971, as seen from Roosevelt Road. FULL SCREEN John Bjorklund, collection of Center for Railroad Photography and Art A Burlington Northern commuter train arrives at west suburban Riverside, Ill., in July […]

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Early Amtrak trains in color

FULL SCREEN John F. Bjorklund, Collection of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art In its early days, Amtrak relied solely on equipment provided by its member railroads. The passenger carrier is barely two months old in this Independence Day view from Chicago in 1971, where train No. 18, the eastbound Super Chief-El Capitan, still […]

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Railroad Reading: Blue-chip investment

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The cover of Yanosey’s first Lehigh Valley book, one of Morning Sun’s early titles. Editor’s note: This story first appeared in the August 2006 issue of Trains Magazine in the “Railroad Reading” section. Recently one of my authors at Morning Sun, who is writing a Lehigh Valley book, came here and immediately stated, “I didn’t […]

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Providence & Worcester Railroad’s history

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In Trains’ April special on short lines and regionals, author Scott A. Hartley brings us up to date on where Providence & Worcester Railroad is today. The now 516-mile system in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York has a rich history, which Hartley also wrote about it in the June 1994 issue. Click the […]

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Early catalogues from the Baldwin Locomotive Works

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Here are some additional interesting details from three early Baldwin catalogues in my collection, plus some more info about the facsimile I made of the rare and elusive 1885 Illustrated Catalogue of Narrow-Gauge Locomotives. Note: Click on any of the images to enlarge. The covers of three early catalogues from Baldwin Locomotive Works. The large […]

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