Chicago & Illinois Midland 2-10-2 No. 701, built new for the road by Lima in 1931, works up Petersburg Hill near Havana Ill., in May 1952. Ed Theisinger photo […]
Section: Photos
“TAG Route” freight
The Tennessee, Alabama & Gulf’s entire diesel roster — a GP38, GP18, and three GP7s — heads a freight out of Chattanooga in 1970. The 90-mile TA&G, which linked Chattanooga with Gadsden, Ala., was absorbed by the Southern Railway Jan. 1, 1971. William J. Husa Jr. photo […]
Virginia Blue Ridge at the Southern interchange
Ex-Army 0-6-0 No. 9 of short line Virginia Blue Ridge pulls alongside the Southern Railway’s Washington–Atlanta main line at Tye River, Va., in 1962. William E. Warden Jr. photo […]
Rocket at Denver Union Station
An E7 backs Rock Island’s Rocky Mountain Rocket into Denver Union Station in the early 1950s. Meanwhile, five tracks to the right, a Union Pacific switcher pulls a consist from the station. Donald Sims photo […]
New FTs on the Rio Grande
Denver & Rio Grande Western FT set No. 541, purchased in 1942, hauls a freight up the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains at Arena, later renamed Rocky, Colo. John W. Maxwell photo […]
Frustration on Horseshoe Curve
In position for a shot of Pennsylvania Railroad J1 2-10-4 No. 6427 climbing Horseshoe Curve with empty hopper cars in September 1955, photographer Phil Hastings had to settle for this view when a mixed freight overtook the Texas type on the outside track. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Early SP piggyback train
Southern Pacific train 372, the Advance Overnight, departs the freight terminal at 4th and Berry streets, San Francisco, at the start of its run to Los Angeles in the mid-1950s. SP was a leader in adopting piggyback freight. William D. Middleton photo […]
Southern E6 diesels in Atlanta
With a Seaboard Air Line E unit and a Southern Railway Ps-4 Pacific in the background, SR E6 cab and booster set No. 2902 stands at Atlanta on April 25, 1948. James G. La Vake photo […]
Rock Island’s ‘Golden State Limited’
Mountain type 4040 rolls the Rock Island’s Golden State Limited, bound for Los Angeles via Tucumcari, N.Mex., where the Southern Pacific takes over, near Annawan, Ill. Classic Trains coll. […]
Boy Scout Jamboree on the Reading
Having ridden a GP7-powered train in from the National Jamboree camp at Valley Forge, Pa., Boy Scouts troop down a platform at Reading Terminal, Philadelphia, en route to tour historic sites in July 1957. RDG photo […]
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 […]
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 […]