A westbound Southern Pacific freight from El Paso, Texas, passes through the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico in 1952. SP’s eastward construction reached El Paso in 1881; by 1883, the company had cobbled together a route that reached New Orleans. R.D. McIntyre photo […]
Section: Photo of the Day
Parting shot
The crew of Southern Pacific Extra 6311 East ties up at the Sparks, Nev., yard office, 2 miles east of Reno. The men have moved their train of 5,002 tons 137 miles from Sacramento, including a vertical climb of 6,723 feet and a descent of 2,459 feet. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Paper power
Lettered East Branch & Lincoln, but belonging to Franconia Paper Co., 2-4-2T No. 5 works at Lincoln, N.H., with sister 0-4-0T No. 3. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Narrow gauge twilight
Colorado & Southern 2-8-0 No. 73 follows 3-foot-gauge tracks toward the summit of Kenosha Pass, high above the canyon near Webster, Colo., on July 14, 1938. Soon these tracks of the South Park Line will be abandoned. R.H. Kindig photo […]
Michigan Northern
Michigan Northern RS2 No. 1501 works in the rain on Oct. 7, 1978. Its main line consisted of the former Pennsylvania Railroad route from Grand Rapids to Mackinaw City and it operated from 1976 to 1986. Fred Hamilton photo […]
Merchandise Service
The Pennsylvania Railroad had 100 such 60-foot class X40B boxcars with 7-foot doors for merchandise service, a role made clear by the cars’ paint scheme. Pennsylvania Railroad photo […]
Lehigh legacy
Three Lehigh Valley Alco C420s fly the company flag at Treichler, Pa., in May 1974. The units were delivered in the mid-1960s in gray and yellow. Mike Bednar photo […]
Golden Spike Centennial
The Golden Spike Centennial Limited leaves Kansas City (Mo.) Union Station on May 14, 1969, St. Louis-bound via Norfolk & Western. Don Wood photo […]
Glowing gateway
The clean-lined entrance to the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal features a liberal use of glass and is brilliantly lighted at night. James G. La Vake photo […]
Flexi-Van variety
Although most closely associated with developer New York Central, a number of other roads had Flexi-Van equipment on their rosters. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, for example, had 100 refrigerated Flexi-Van containers equipped with meat rails. New York Central photo […]
Driftwood departure
Coal empties leave Pennsylvania Railroad’s Buffalo Line at Driftwood, Pa., in 1955, bound for the mines. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Double diesel
Union Pacific U50C No. 5000 lays over at the railroad’s North Platte, Neb., shop on Jan. 21, 1975. It was one of 40 such units on the railroad in operation from 1969 to 1978. Bruce Barrett photo […]