Early unit grain train

Early unit grain train

In 1968, the Great Northern loaded 50 of its new Big Sky blue covered hoppers in Wolf Point, Montana, in an experimental unit train move to an export elevator in Portland, Oregon. In this posed photo, a crewman signals from the train’s modern wide-vision caboose. Photo by Great Northern […]

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East Broad Top: America’s Oldest Narrow Gauge Railroad

A steam locomotive sits inside a roundhouse

Time capsule When construction of Pennsylvania’s iron ore and coal-hauling East Broad Top began in 1872, more than 150 years ago, its builders decided it would be a narrow gauge line, with rails set 3-feet apart instead of the North American standard gauge of 4-feet, 8.5-inches. Narrow gauge offered significant advantages, as the smaller locomotives […]

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Doubleheaded C&O Mallets

Doubleheaded C&O Mallets

Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 Mallets 1309 and 1302 are departing Scarlet, West Virginia, in June 1950 with a loaded coal train. The 10 members of C&O’s H-6 class were the last steam locomotives built for domestic use by Baldwin Locomotive Works (1949). Engine 1309 is being restored for service on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad […]

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Model Railroader Photo of the Day: The Sail & Rail

A model train passes a bar with letting on the side of the bar which reads "The Sail & Rail" on a model railroad layout

The Sail & Rail is a popular spot with sailors, railroaders, and dock workers on the south side of Milwaukee, Wis. Like many of the buildings on the late John Franzen’s 28 x 28-foot no. 1 gauge (1:29 and 1:24 proportion) layout, the corner tavern represents an actual Milwaukee business. William Zuback took the photo. […]

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Discover the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad

Sideview of an old steam locomotive being looked over by a crewman wearing bib overalls

Steam over Cumbres Pass On a sunny June morning in Antonito, Colorado, Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad’s 4-6-0 No. 168, built by Baldwin in 1883, is readied for another run over the mountains. Its relatively tall 46-inch drivers made it suitable for fast passenger service. Carl Swanson The 64-mile-long Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is […]

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South Shore Baldwin

South Shore Baldwin

Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic DRS-6-6-15 road-switcher No. 201 stands with a bulkhead flatcar of pulpwood, a major commodity in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The South Shore had 4 of the 82 six-motor, 1,500-horsepower units that Baldwin Locomotive Works built between 1948 and 1950. Photo by A. C. Kalmbach […]

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Model Railroader Photo of the Day: Soo Line caboose

A red caboose on a model freight train in a forested setting on a model railroad layout

Soo Line double-sheathed caboose no. 573 marks the end of a passing freight. Dave Rickaby photographed the train on the Rhinelander (Wis.) Railroad Association’s HO scale Pelican Rapids, Roosevelt & Satuit layout. The model railroad features the operations of several former railroads that ran in the Badger State. Model Railroader‘s Photo of the Day features […]

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