Last and heaviest 2-10-2

20180508

The Reading’s 20 class K-1sb locomotives, constructed by Baldwin in 1931 and tipping the scales at a whopping 451,000 pounds, were the last-built and heaviest 2-10-2s in North America. Here, No. 3012 leads a train of anthracite down the Schuylkill River near Tamaqua, Pa., in July 1953. Classic Trains coll. […]

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Baldwin DT-6-6-2000: Remembering a dinosaur

Two orange Baldwin DT-6-6-2000 diesel locotives with freight train

A friend asked me recently what was the first locomotive I clearly remember. The answer might be surprising: it was huge (to a 4-year-old, anyway), it was rare, it was a little scary, and it was orange. And to use the accepted sound nomenclature, it “burbled.” I’m referring, of course, to Elgin, Joliet & Eastern’s […]

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Inside a CN caboose

20180813

Safe from the frigid weather outside, the conductor of a Canadian National freight train examines his wheel reports as his brakeman takes a break for tea inside their caboose in New Brunswick in 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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GG1 with the Keystone

GG1 north of Aberdeen

North of Aberdeen, Md., in about 1957, a Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 speeds toward Washington with the new Budd-built Keystone consist. GG1s normally operated with the rear pantograph raised, so this view is rather unusual. James P. Gallagher photo […]

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D&NE brass and steam

20180817

Duluth & Northeastern Vice President and General Manager E. A. Blinn walks down the platform of the short line’s station and general offices at Cloquet, Minn., followed by Superintendent E. A. Kruger. In the background of this September 1954 scene, 2-8-0 No. 14 takes water. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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Clifton Forge hump yard

20180829

A string of coal hoppers crests the hump at Chesapeake & Ohio’s yard in Clifton Forge, Va., in June 1955. The cars are bound for C&O’s Atlantic Ocean docks at Newport News. W. A. Akin Jr. photo […]

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Big city, big station

20180806

A view east down Clybourn Street in Milwaukee in the 1940s is dominated by the Milwaukee Road’s depot on the south edge of downtown. An engine crewman climbs into the cab of an F7 Hudson on a westbound train as its tender is filled with water. Classic Trains coll. […]

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B&O 2-8-0 on a short line

20180809

The Castleman River Railroad ran 13 miles from Bittinger, Md., to a connection with the Baltimore & Ohio at Worth, Pa. The road’s lone engine, a Consolidation leased from the B&O, rests at Grantsville, Md., while men unload a boxcar in September 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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