Photo of the Day Archives - Page 50 of 151

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 […]

Profile in speed

The rakish front end of a Milwaukee Road F7 4-6-4 hints at the locomotive’s famous potential for speed. MILW photo […]

Publicizing NYC’s Pacemaker service

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 […]