The 1951 Empire Builder’s “G-bar-N” lounge car featured bovine-themed seat upholstery. Great Northern photo […]
G-bar-N
Magazine: Classic Trains
Fledgling museum
Rolling stock of the Colorado Railroad Museum huddles on a few tracks in Golden. A Galloping Goose is visible at far left along with a selection of narrow gauge steam and Burlington Route 4-8-4 No. 5629. Across the street is the Coors brewery. Classic Trains collection […]
Fairbanks-Morse Train Master diesel locomotive
The Train Master diesel locomotive holds a unique spot in history. At its introduction in 1953, it was simply a logical extension of Fairbanks-Morse’s locomotive line, yet the Beloit (Wis.) builder recognized that what Trains Editor David P Morgan termed the “fat, robust, gadget-packed 2,400 hp six-motor hood unit” could become something special. Which it […]
Fan trip photo stop
A Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville fan trip pauses in front of the Gloversville, N.Y., headquarters building. The fine October 1950 day made for great roster photos of S2 diesel No. 20 (Alco, 1945). Cabooses 1 and 2 and combine 21 made up the rest of the train. Edward Theisinger photo […]
Empire Builder
The 1947 Empire Builder, its E7s already in their second livery, poses for a publicity photo in western Montana. In the distance, a freight waits to follow. Great Northern photo […]
Dixie Mikado
Louisville & Nashville J-4 class 2-8-2 No. 1882 rests at Carrolton, Ky., in 1956. Charles B. Castner photo […]
Dispatchers’ workday
At the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Pittsburgh Region desk F (foreground), the dispatcher for the Esplen (south end of the Ohio Connecting Bridge)–Brownsville, Pa., line works with a new style of trainsheet, while his colleague on desk I, Pittsburgh–Gould Tunnel, Ohio, uses the standard type in 1956. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
The great freight paint schemes: Classy hues from the 1940s to the 1980s
Freight paint schemes When public image was a big deal for railroads, many of them went out of their way to put together great looking freight locomotive paint schemes. Passenger locomotives were an obvious choice, but for many, just as much care went into a suitable freight scheme After all, a train stopping traffic at […]
Departing SPUD
Three F units start Great Northern train No. 27, the Fast Mail for Seattle, out of St. Paul Union Depot in June 1953. Robert R. Malinoski photo […]
Delayed in transit
Delayed in transit Grain cars in transit were stalled by a brief strike in 1946. To keep grain from overheating and spoiling, cars were opened and a few (the Missouri Pacific car at left) had some grain removed. This was on the Missouri-Kansas-Texas in Oklahoma. Preston George photo […]
Ed King’s book canonizes N&W steam
Rumors of the death of railroad fiction are greatly exaggerated. The veteran railroad journalist Fred Frailey made that clear a year ago with his “Seldom Willing,” an absorbing tale of an ambitious 1980s Midwestern regional railroad that outmaneuvered a far larger rival. When Fred told me his novel was coming out soon, I wasn’t sure […]
Cleveland crossing
Conrail train COSY-4 eases through Berea, Ohio, on Aug. 14, 1979. The train came up the old Big Four route from Columbus and will continue east to Syracuse, N.Y. Albert D. Saleker photo […]
