Louisville & Nashville M-1 2-8-4 1954 (a “Big Emma”) pushes behind the caboose of a northbound coal train on the big Red River bridge south of Winchester, Ky., in May 1952. Ed Theisinger photo […]
“Big Emma” helping a coal train
Section: Photos and Videos
B&O’s Ambassador on Thomas Viaduct
A Baltimore & Ohio P-7 Pacific has the Detroit–Baltimore Ambassador in tow as it crosses famous Thomas Viaduct at Relay, Md., just outside Baltimore, in November 1953. Having pulled into the stub-end Washington Union Station, the train is running “backward” – two sleepers right behind the engine, then two coaches, and a combine on the […]
‘Twin Zephyr’ at Aurora
Diesel locomotive 9901, named Zephyrus, leads Burlington Route’s Twin Zephyr into Aurora, Ill., about 38 miles into the streamliner’s Chicago–Minneapolis run sometime in 1937. L. E. Griffith photo […]
West Side Lumber Co. car shops
This 1950s overview of the West Side Lumber Co. car shops in Tuolumne, Calif., shows the dual-gauge track with the mill switcher — a former narrow-gauge Heisler that was converted to standard gauge. Glenn W. Beier photo […]
Standard-gauge East Broad Top 0-6-0
The 3-foot-gauge East Broad Top had two standard-gauge 0-6-0s to switch the dual-gauge yard at Mount Union, Pa., where EBT interchanged with the Pennsylvania. Here, EBT’s Three-Spot moves a PRR hopper in September 1955. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Rio Grande FT’s at Coal Creek
Four Rio Grande FT diesels labor up the Front Range of the Rockies with a 55-car freight out of Denver in March 1942. Smoke from the train’s 2-8-2 pusher is visible in the distance. This line up to and though Moffatt Tunnel was built by the Denver & Salt Lake but used heavily by Rio […]
Lineup at IC’s Central Station, Chicago
A late afternoon photo from 1951 at Central Station, Illinois Central’s main terminal in Chicago, finds three trains ready to depart. From left: IC’s Panama Limited to New Orleans, New York Central’s Twilight Limited to Detroit, and IC’s Seminole to Jacksonville, Fla. Part of the Seminole’s run was on the Central of Georgia, which assigned […]
Icing station at Laramie, Wyo.
Union Pacific Big Boy 4004 pulls alongside the Pacific Fruit Express icing platform at Laramie, Wyo., in the mid-1950s. Conveyors have pulled the ice blocks into position for the train’s arrival. Union Pacific photo […]
Empire Builder diner
Cut-glass partitions with imagery representing the mining and timber industries decorate the interior of a 36-seat dining car built for Great Northern’s Empire Builder in 1950. Great Northern photo […]
Dansville & Mount Morris 2-6-0
In September 1955, employees of New York short line Dansville & Mount Morris conduct repairs on former Lackawanna Mogul No. 565. D&MM would use one of its two steam engines in one year, the other in the next. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
B&O freight to Rochester
Framed by the road’s trademark color position-light signals, a Baltimore & Ohio freight passes Ashford Junction, N.Y., where B&O’s former Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Railroad lines diverge to Rochester (left) and Buffalo (right). B&O was part of Chessie System at the time of this 1970s photo. Robert E. Gabbey photo […]
Wabash’s heavyweight holdout
The Wabash’s Chicago–St. Louis Banner Blue rolls through Chicago Ridge, Ill., in August 1948. Carrying the markers is a classic open-platform parlor-observation car. The Banner Blue would remain an all-heavyweight train until 1960. Bob Borcherding photo […]
