Super Power premier The era of modern steam power dates to Lima’s development of Super Power and the Boston & Albany Berkshire (2-8-4), which hauled freight through its namesake mountains. But the B&A locomotive’s small (63-inch-diameter) drivers failed to take advantage of its boiler to generate steam fast enough for high-speed service. Number 1421 is […]
Train Topic: Fallen Flags
Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway: A History
No. 231, one of Missabe’s famous 2-8-8-4s, passes two brand-new successor SD9s at Proctor Yard in May 1959. Marvin Nielsen History of the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range From 1938 until it was purchased by Canadian National in 2004, the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway was “King of the Iron-Ore Haulers.” Its job was […]
Pride of the fleet
Pride of the fleet The Super Chief, which originated the Warbonnet paint scheme, quickly became Santa Fe’s signature passenger offering after its introduction in 1936. Here, it meets the Pekin Express at Chicago’s 15th Street Tower in an undated photo. Photo by Wallace W. Abbey […]
Remembering Seaboard Air Line locomotives
All through March 2021, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the stylish passenger trains, gritty freights, history, and now, hard-working locomotives of the Seaboard Air Line. Please enjoy this photo gallery of SAL images selected from Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Only from Classic Trains! […]
Landmark former PRR tower facing demolition
MG Tower, a landmark on the former Pennsylvania Railroad Pittsburgh Line through the Allegheny Mountains, is reportedly facing demolition by current owner Norfolk Southern 27 years after its closure. The tower was built to help the Pennsylvania deal with the increased demand to transport war materials, troops, civilian passenger trains, and regular freight shipments. In […]
RailSmith Models N scale lightweight coach, ScaleTrains.com SD45, new Tony Koester book, and more!
Cody shares the new RailSmith Models N scale Great Northern lightweight coach, ScaleTrains.com’s HO scale EMD SD45, Tony Koester’s new book from Kalmbach Media, Applying Lessons from the Prototype, a modeling tip and viewer mail. […]
RailSmith Models N scale lightweight coach, ScaleTrains.com SD45, new Tony Koester book, and more!
Cody shares the new RailSmith Models N scale Great Northern lightweight coach, ScaleTrains.com’s HO scale EMD SD45, Tony Koester’s new book from Kalmbach Media, Applying Lessons from the Prototype, a modeling tip and viewer mail. […]
Remembering Seaboard Air Line freight trains
Join Classic Trains editors in celebrating the hustle and muscle showed in Seaboard Air Line Railroad freight trains. We hope you enjoy this photo gallery of images selected form the files of the David P. Morgan Library at Kalmbach Media. […]
Martinsburg, W.Va., roundhouse receives locomotive, seeks funds for move
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The Berkeley County Roundhouse Authority has been given a former Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Alco S-2 switcher for display and interpretation at the former B&O roundhouse in Martinsburg. The non-profit authority is seeking funds to transport the locomotive from West Chester, Pa., to Martinsburg. Due to several factors, the locomotive must be […]
Study will consider conversion of Milwaukee Road 261 to burn oil
MINNEAPOLIS – The Friends of the 261, the non-profit organization that owns and operates Milwaukee Road S-3 class 4-8-4 No. 261, has launched a study to consider converting the locomotive from coal to oil firing. Friends of the 261 President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Sandberg said the group is conducting a feasibility study and […]
Sudbury-bound, a Classic Trains photo of the day
A Canadian Pacific FP7-F7B set picks its way out of Toronto with a 13-car unnamed train No. 11 for Sudbury, Ontario, in 1964. The 260-mile run took just shy of six hours and 50 minutes to complete. Photo by J. David Ingles […]
Museum volunteers return Northern Pacific SD45 to operation
DULUTH, Minn. — Volunteers at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum have returned Northern Pacific SD45 No. 3617 to operating condition. The locomotive was started up and moved under its own power at the museum on Feb. 27, the first time it has operated in more than 14 years. The locomotive was donated to the museum […]