How the ‘Golden Spike Centennial Limited’ came to be

End of blue passenger train with sign highlighting railroad spikes

The Golden Spike Centennial Limited was born, in promoter Ross Rowland Jr.’s mind, as a reaction to the Association of American Railroads’ not planning anything special to mark the 100th anniversary of the nation-uniting event on the new transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah, in 1869. The apathy was perhaps typical of the Class I railroads […]

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Lou Sassi’s HO scale Moving Coal on the C&O layout

An illustration of Lou Sassi’s HO scale Moving Coal on the C&O layout.

  Facts & features Name: C&O Monroe Division Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 21 x 23 feet Prototype: C&O, Chessie System Locale: Appalachia Era: late 1960s-early ’70s Style: walk-in Mainline run: 150 feet Minimum radius: 30″ (main), 24″ (other tracks) Minimum turnout: no. 6 (main), no. 4 (other tracks) Maximum grade: 2.5 percent Benchwork: L-girder Height: […]

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Nashville’s REA terminal

Railway Express Agency Nashville terminal

Baggage-express cars are spotted at Railway Express Agency’s Nashville terminal in 1962. Several of REA’s distinctive delivery trucks can be seen on the other side of the building. Railway Express Agency photo […]

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General Electric passenger U-boats — Diesels that didn’t

Three red-and-silver diesel locomotives pull a passenger train through an urban canyon

The General Electric passenger U-boats filled a niche in the 1960’s locomotive market. Santa Fe, like many Class I railroads at the time, was still proud of its passenger service. But its roster of suitable diesel locomotives was getting old and any thought of Amtrak was still years away. Keeping its aging fleet of silver […]

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Remembering Norfolk & Western Railway locomotives

Men polishing streamlined steam locomotive

Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history, heritage, and style of the Norfolk & Western Railway all through January 2022. So, please enjoy this photo gallery of Norfolk & Western locomotives selected from the archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Norfolk & Western locomotives served in the coal fields and later on high-speed freight […]

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Wabash’s Banner Blue

Wabash Railroad

Hudson type 706 leads the Wabash’s Chicago–St. Louis Banner Blue through Chicago Ridge, Ill., in August 1948. The train retained its heavyweight equipment – including open-platform observation car – until 1960. Bob Borcherding photo […]

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A rare 0-10-2 Union type

Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway

Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range 605 simmers at Proctor, Minn., on a September 1954 night. She’s a rare 0-10-2, of which only nine were built, all for Pittsburgh’s Union Railroad, in 1936-37. They came to sister U.S. Steel road DM&IR in 1949. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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David Arrell’s HO scale Street Life & Streetcars layout

Track plan of David Arrell's HO scale model railroad

Facts & features Name: Street Life & Streetcars Scale: HO Size: 2 x 6 feet Prototype: Homage to streetcar service in and around Philadelphia Locale: Philadelphia and suburbs Era: Late 1950s Style: island Mainline run: approximately 16 feet Minimum radius: 6 1⁄4″ Minimum turnout: none Maximum grade: none Benchwork: open grid Height: 48″ Roadbed: Homabed/cork […]

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