Narrow gauge twilight

20191025

Colorado & Southern 2-8-0 No. 73 follows 3-foot-gauge tracks toward the summit of Kenosha Pass, high above the canyon near Webster, Colo., on July 14, 1938. Soon these tracks of the South Park Line will be abandoned. R.H. Kindig photo […]

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Michigan Northern

20191030

Michigan Northern RS2 No. 1501 works in the rain on Oct. 7, 1978. Its main line consisted of the former Pennsylvania Railroad route from Grand Rapids to Mackinaw City and it operated from 1976 to 1986. Fred Hamilton photo […]

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Merchandise Service

20191001

The Pennsylvania Railroad had 100 such 60-foot class X40B boxcars with 7-foot doors for merchandise service, a role made clear by the cars’ paint scheme. Pennsylvania Railroad photo […]

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Lehigh legacy

20191016

Three Lehigh Valley Alco C420s fly the company flag at Treichler, Pa., in May 1974. The units were delivered in the mid-1960s in gray and yellow. Mike Bednar photo […]

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Glowing gateway

20191017

The clean-lined entrance to the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal features a liberal use of glass and is brilliantly lighted at night. James G. La Vake photo […]

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Flexi-Van variety

20191029

Although most closely associated with developer New York Central, a number of other roads had Flexi-Van equipment on their rosters. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, for example, had 100 refrigerated Flexi-Van containers equipped with meat rails. New York Central photo […]

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The Milwaukee, Racine & Troy: a retrospective gallery

Milwaukee Racine & Troy retrospective gallery: A man clad in orange high visibility gear stands next to a model tank car on a model railroad layout

Model Railroader’s famed 28 x 54-foot, HO scale staff layout, the Milwaukee, Racine & Troy, is no more. The layout, which celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2024, began as a concept in Kalmbach Media’s downtown Milwaukee offices in 1975. I won’t attempt to write the full history of the layout; indeed, there is likely no […]

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Double diesel

20191002

Union Pacific U50C No. 5000 lays over at the railroad’s North Platte, Neb., shop on Jan. 21, 1975. It was one of 40 such units on the railroad in operation from 1969 to 1978. Bruce Barrett photo […]

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Class of their own

20191015

In early 1954, Union Pacific 4-12-2 No. 9028 brings a train into North Platte, Neb., from the east. Only UP had 4-12-2s, 88 built during 1926–30, which led to the wheel arrangement being called the Union Pacific type. Art Stensvad photo […]

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California commerce

20191004

The Southern Pacific had large trailer-on-flatcar ramps in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Multiple trains could be loaded and unloaded at the same time. This view is from the early 1960s. Southern Pacific photo […]

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