Dousing the hogs

20161104

Keeping hogs wet in summer heat was vital in keeping them healthy during transit in stock cars. This manual twin-handle pump soaks both decks of hogs on Swift Live Stock Express cars in a New York Central train east of Rome, N.Y. S.K. Bolton Jr. photo […]

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California Zephyr on the SP

20161117

It’s August 1951, and the westbound California Zephyr has left its normal Western Pacific route via the Feather River Canyon to detour over Southern Pacific’s Donner Pass line. Helping the CZ’s usual three WP F units up into the Sierra Nevada is an SP cab-forward. Gordon Odegard photo […]

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B&O F7 helpers

20161116

A four-unit set of EMD F7 diesels leans against a coal drag climbing Baltimore & Ohio’s Cranberry Grade west of Terra Alta, W.Va., in the early 1950s. H. W. Pontin photo […]

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Canadian Pacific 4-4-0s

20141014

Two of Canadian Pacific’s final three 4-4-0s are seen at Chipman, N.B., in November 1953. Engine 136 is getting ready for the daily run to Norton while No. 144, main rods off and stack covered, watches; sister No. 29 occupied a stall in the enginehouse nearby. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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Hot Water Gingerbread Muffins

four muffins with a hand holding one

Hot Water Gingerbread Muffins Classic Trains Editor Brian Schmidt loaned me some old railroad cookbooks recently, and the recipe for “Hot Water Gingerbread” caught my eye. According to the book, this dessert was a favorite on the Sunset Limited in the 1950s and 60s. How would it taste today? With a few tweaks, I made […]

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Central of Georgia passenger trains

Steam locomotive on long passenger train

Central of Georgia passenger trains All through November 2022, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the Central of Georgia Railroad. For this article, please enjoy Central of Georgia passenger trains in images selected from Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. This article was first published in December 2017. […]

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Most expensive 2-8-4s: L&N’s ‘Big Emma’ M-1s

Most expensive 2-8-4 posed for portrait in empty rail yard

The most expensive 2-8-4s were Louisville & Nashville’s “Big Emma” M-1s. Perhaps no latter-day steam locomotive wheel arrangement matched the 2-8-4 for dual service, a term for overall efficiency across multiple assignments. Introduced in 1924 by Lima Locomotive Works as the first exponent of what it called “Super Power” — a promotional phrase to highlight […]

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Best-selling Baldwin diesel locomotives

Baldwin diesel locomotive in red and black

The best-selling Baldwin diesel locomotives are low-horsepower end-cab switchers owing to wartime material restrictions. Baldwin Locomotive Works of Eddystone, Pa., was the country’s largest steam locomotive builder. But it was no stranger to electric and internal-combustion locomotives. It was, however, slow to offer a standard line of diesel road engines. Baldwin’s late entry to the […]

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Central of Georgia locomotives remembered

Colorful Central of Georgia locomotive passing through station without train

Central of Georgia locomotives bought a great deal of variety to the South. When the Central of Georgia Railway was organized in 1895, it had 214 steam locomotives of the 4-4-0, 4-6-0, and 2-6-0 types. The roster was expanded in the early 1900s with 2-8-0s, 2-8-2s, 2-10-2s, 4-6-2s, 4-8-2s, and, briefly, 2-6-6-2s. Many of these […]

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