Fuel train on the Tonopah & Goldfield

Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad

Built during the gold rush years of 1904-05, Nevada’s Tonopah & Goldfield ran 100 miles southeast from an SP connection in the desert near the California border. An Air Force base near Goldfield brought traffic to the road during World War II — these two slide-valve 2-8-0s are hauling aviation fuel — but the boom didn’t […]

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Flexi-Vans on the IC

Illinois Central Railroad Flexi-Van flat cars

Flexi-Vans on the IC The Illinois Central was one of several roads that used Flexi-Vans for mail. Here, two Flexi-Van flatcars (four containers) are tucked behind the engines, and a third flatcar with a single container brings up the rear, on the Land O’ Corn at Rockford, Ill., in March 1967. Mike Schafer photo […]

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Switching scrap metal, stopping for coal, heading into a tunnel, and more Trackside Photos

A steam engine switches a gondola of baled scrap metal next to an old-fashioned downtown scene

Send us your Trackside Photos Trackside Photos is a showcase for the work of Model Railroader readers. Send your photos (digital images 5 megapixels or larger) to: Model Railroader, Trackside Photos, P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612; or upload them to fileupload.kalmbach.com/contribute. For our photo submission guidelines, contact senior associate editor Steven Otte at sotte@kalmbach.com. […]

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Early Pennsy piggyback

Pennsylvania Railroad Keystone Merchandise Service

A single-axle Pennsylvania Railroad trailer with the “Keystone Merchandise Service” logo on the front is positioned on a flatcar in Chicago in 1954. Soon the PRR led the formation of Trailer Train, known today as TTX. Pennsylvania Railroad photo […]

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Doubleheaded Pennsy 2-10-4s

Pennsylvania Railroad coal train

Pennsylvania class J1 Texas types 6486 and 6488 move Lake Erie-bound coal north out of Columbus, Ohio, in September 1955. PRR’s 125-strong J1 fleet of 1942–44, based on a Chesapeake & Ohio design, accounted for more than a quarter of all 2-10-4s built. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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CB&Q and PRR diesels in Chicago

Burlington Route Railway Express terminal

A Burlington Route switcher prepares to move several baggage-express cars at the Railway Express terminal near Chicago’s Union Station in 1961. In the foreground, a Pennsy switcher moves motive power — two E8As and an E7B — for a train into position at the station. J. David Ingles photo […]

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An engineer and his steed

Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway Mogul 304

A Minneapolis & St. Louis engineer poses with his engine, Mogul 304, in mid-1946. He’s waiting at Minerva Junction, Iowa, to take his mixed train off the Story City Branch and on to the main line for the return to Marshalltown. William F. Armstrong photo […]

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The Chief at Dearborn

Santa Fe Railway Chief

In October 1950, Santa Fe’s Chief awaits the highball for Los Angeles at Chicago Dearborn Station as an RS1 of Chicago & Western Indiana, Dearborn’s owner, stands at right. Bob Borcherding photo […]

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