News photos: The Empress needs a raincoat

Steam engine and tugboat on Mississippi River

Canadian Pacific Railway Class H1-b Hudson No. 2816 continued its Final Spike Steam tour on Thursday,  May 9, operating over former Milwaukee Road trackage into Iowa following a display day in Franklin Park, Ill., on Wednesday. The 4-6-4 and the CPKC executive train rolled west across the former Milwaukee Road D&I (Dubuque and Illinois) Division […]

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News photos: ‘Empress’ in Illinois

CP 4-6-4 No. 2816 and the "Final Spike Steam Tour" train arrives at Bensenville Yard on May 6, 2024. Mark Llanuza

BENSENVILLE, Ill. — Canadian Pacific No. 2816 and the ‘Final Spike Steam Tour’ have reached Chicago. Well, technically, Bensenville, Ill., the home of CPKC’s yard west of the city and adjacent to O’Hare Airport. That’s where the locomotive is laying over after its two-day trip from St. Paul, Minn., prior to Wednesday’s display in Franklin […]

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1954

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The year and locomotive number are the same – 1954 – as one of Louisville & Nashville’s big M-1-class “Big Emma” 2-8-4s leads an Atlanta-bound freight out of Decoursey Yard in Kentucky, a few miles south of Cincinnati. Louisville & Nashville photo […]

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PRR T1 Trust to hold open house for its new-build 4-4-4-4 frame

ALTOONA, Pa. — A series of events, including a public open house, will be held next weekend to show the progress on building a 21st-century recreation of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s T1-class 4-4-4-4 streamlined steam locomotive. The nonprofit Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Steam Locomotive Trust will display its 64-foot-long, 35-ton fabricated frame at the Blair County Convention […]

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The 2-8-2 Mikado-type steam locomotive

Steam locomotive standing in rail yard

Versatility is a single word that sums up the Mikado-type steam locomotive. This 2-8-2 wheel arrangement became the “one size fits all” in terms of mass usage across North America’s railroads. When it also came to bridging the gap in advanced steam technology at the turn of the 20th century, this locomotive type delivered.   […]

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CPKC adds June stop in Winnipeg to steam tour

Three-quarter shot of 4-6-4 steam locomotive with maroon trim and tender

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — CPKC has added a Winnipeg stop during the return leg of its Final Spike Steam Tour with 4-6-4 No. 2816, the railroad announced late Monday. The railroad said in a Facebook post that the locomotive would make a “special stop” in Winnipeg on June 30. The engine will be on display at […]

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Tower A-2

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Milwaukee Road 4-6-4 No. 135 passes Tower A-2 at Western Avenue in Chicago with a suburban run to Elgin in June 1953. Robert R. Malinoski photo […]

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