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Southern Pacific 2864 was one of eight 2-8-0s transferred to California from SP affiliate Cotton Belt in 1956. Built during 1920–23, SSW’s 36 700-series engines were the road’s top freight power until 4-8-4s came in 1930. SP 2864 stands at San Francisco in April ’56. D. S. Richter photo […]
News & Products for the week of May 30th 2023 Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. The following are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of May 30th 2023. […]
STRASBURG, Pa. — Norfolk & Western J-class 4-8-4 streamlined steam engine No. 611 (Roanoke Shops, 1950) wrapped up a two-year stay at the Strasburg Rail Road tourist and short line over the weekend, and will soon be headed back to its home state of Virginia. Owned by the Virginia Museum of Transportation, the engine had […]
Locomotives are the power of railroading and the industries’ most potent and popular symbols. The major types that have been used in North America are steam (now confined to museums, tourist lines, and the occasional excursion), diesel-electric (the standard of the industry), and straight electric (always a tiny minority). Steam locomotives burn coal, oil, or […]
New York Central J-3a Hudson 5435 with a centipede tender departs Ann Arbor, Mich., with the Chicago–Detroit Twilight Limited in mid-1948. Stanley E. Yoder photo […]
In the early 1950s, Union Pacific F3 units in A-B-B formation lead freight train 257 west up the nearly 2 percent grade to Reverse, Idaho, on the road’s main line to Portland, Ore.; 107 cars to the rear, two 2-8-8-0s assist the diesels. Henry R. Griffiths Jr. photo […]
Great American Steam Locomotives: Articulateds DVD | 16126 The Articulateds are the largest steam locomotives ever built. Starting as slow speed monsters hauling heavy trains over mountain ridges, they became a regular feature of many of the largest Class 1 railroads, handling everything from slow drag freights, to fast time freights, and even were able […]
Watch trains steaming through the builder’s depiction of coal operations in Virginia and West Virginia in the 1950s. On this layout, mirrors and a cathedral ceiling make the mid-sized HO scale (1:87.1) layout feel much larger! To learn even more about the builder and layout details, be sure to read the July 2023 issue of […]
A ghost from the past is staging to return! In the spring of 2023, the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad announced that No. 722 would be going into the shops for a return to operational service. Let’s take a look back to see how this historic Southern Railway 2-8-0 steam locomotive arrived at this point. […]
Watch trains steaming through the builder’s depiction of coal operations in Virginia and West Virginia in the 1950s. On this layout, mirrors and a cathedral ceiling make the mid-sized HO scale (1:87.1) layout feel much larger! To learn even more about the builder and layout details, be sure to read the July 2023 issue of […]
Southern Pacific 2-8-0 3406 works mixed train No. 1 on the Nacozari Railroad between Douglas, Ariz., and Nacozari, Mexico, in spring 1958. Steam lasted on the SP subsidiary until January 1959, two years after diesels took over the rest of the SP system. Donald Duke photo […]
Santa Fe 5000, built by Baldwin in 1930, was the road’s first 2-10-4 designed as such. (One member of the road’s 3800 class of 2-10-2s was built in 1919 with a four-wheel trailing truck.) Nicknamed “Madam Queen” after a comic strip character, No. 5000 laid the groundwork for the greatly enhanced 5001 class of 1938. […]
