A 1944 photo shows an eastbound Santa Fe freight on the horseshoe curve east of Welch, Ariz. FT diesel 126 (foreground) is on the head end; a steam helper (background) is shoving hard on the caboose. Charles W. Lindenberg photo […]
For Mike Schafer, there’s always a shot
Although I’ve never been great with a camera, I’ve enjoyed a life immersed in railroad photography, thanks to my good fortune at being able to edit railroad magazines for most of the past 40 years. I’ve had my favorites, of course, but I’ve tried to be as neutral as possible when it came to […]
Rio Grande F7s on a freight
An A-B-B-A set of Denver & Rio Grande Western F7s heads west out of Granby, Colo., west of the Moffat Tunnel, with a train heavy with refrigerator cars in 1959. D. J. Davidson photo […]
Milwaukee Road branchline freight
Elderly Milwaukee Road 2-6-2 No. 926 switches cars at Merton, Wis., as it works its way back toward Milwaukee from the end of the North Lake Branch in the late 1940s. Classic Trains coll. […]
Last months of the Rock
Rock Island train 34 rocks and rolls its way into the yard at El Dorado, Ark., in February 1980, a few months before the troubled carrier shut down. Paul D. Schneider photo […]
Union Pacific Armour Yellow: The paint scheme that never always changes
If there’s one thing to be said about the Union Pacific Armour yellow paint scheme, it’s that it hasn’t changed much since it was first introduced in 1934. Or so one would think. The presence of Armour Yellow has been pretty much constant, but everything else has been in a state of subtle and not […]
Bangor & Aroostook locomotives remembered
Let’s celebrate the variety and color of Bangor & Aroostook locomotives! The Bangor & Aroostook didn’t purchase its first diesels (EMD F3s) until 1947, but dieselization then came quickly, with the last steam operations in 1949. The railroad kept its older diesels in good shape for a long time, supplanting them with GP38s in the […]
Last day for a Southern 0-8-0
Southern Railway 0-8-0 1868 works at Appalachia, Va., on May 27, 1952 — its final day of service. Ed Theisinger photo […]
1940s Union Pacific steam locomotives
A childhood memory led me to chasing 1940s Union Pacific steam locomotives around Omaha has a teen. That story had its origin when I was around eight years of age. Like other boys of those times, I was fascinated by the sight and sound of a steam locomotive, but rarely saw one, since there were […]
‘Delaware & Hudson: The Final Years, 1968 to 1991’ book review
Many railroads saw their definitive histories written in the mid-20th century. For the Delaware & Hudson, that was Jim Shaughnessy’s, published in 1967. Delaware & Hudson: The Final Years is a 416-page volume that picks up D&H history where the first one leaves off, taking it through the road’s January 1991 acquisition by Canadian Pacific. […]
L&N’s Humming Bird at New Orleans
Louisville & Nashville E7s 761 and 756 are ready to depart the road’s Canal Street Station, New Orleans, with the Humming Bird for Cincinnati sometime in the 1950s. L&NHS collection […]
Fancy-dress boxcar
This Texas & Pacific express boxcar (note the steam and signal lines) is labeled for mail storage and painted in the road’s passenger colors. Roy C. Meates photo […]