The first Hudson comes to life

Brand-new New York Central J-1a 5200 — the first of the road’s famous fleet of Hudsons, and the first example of the 4-6-4 wheel arrangement in North America — steams through a ceremonial banner at Alco’s Schenectady plant on February 14, 1927. NYC photo […]

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GM’s Train of Tomorrow

GM’s Train of Tomorrow In the blaze of postwar passenger optimism, General Motors and Pullman-Standard produced the Train of Tomorrow — an E7 diesel and four dome cars, all dressed in blue with stainless-steel trim — to showcase the possibilities of rail travel in the future. GM photo […]

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Publicizing NYC’s Pacemaker service

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New York Central’s Pacemaker merchandise service debuted in 1946, with specially equipped and painted (vermillion and gray) boxcars. The railroad even painted five cabooses for the service, one of which trails this consist assembled for publicity photos. NYC photo […]

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Fairbanks-Morse road-switcher

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Virginian Railway H16-44 No. 36 was one of 430 B-B road-switchers Fairbanks-Morse built between 1947 and its 1963 exit from the market. The coal-hauling road dieselized completely with FM B-B and C-C road-switchers, plus one GE 44-tonner. C. R. Huff photo […]

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Ex-Wheeling 2-8-4 on the NKP in Cleveland

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A former Wheeling & Lake Erie 2-8-4, identifiable as such by its inside-bearing pony truck, footboards in lieu of a pilot, and other details, soars above “The Flats” area of Cleveland with a Nickel Plate Road local freight in the 1950s. NKP acquired the Wheeling in 1949. Herbert H. Harwood photo […]

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The first Dreyfuss Hudson

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Among the most recognizable of all steam locomotive designs is the New York Central J-3a Hudson as styled by industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss for the 1938 20th Century Limited. Just-completed No. 5445, the first of the 10 streamlined 4-6-4s, stands outside the Alco plant at Schenectady, N.Y. Classic Trains coll. […]

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