A boxcar rolls though a retarder in the Pennsylvania’s vast Enola Yard near Harrisburg, Pa., in the early 1950s. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Section: Railroads
East Broad Top’s Mount Union Yard
Railfans mill around the East Broad Top’s dual-gauge yard at Mount Union, Pa., as Mikado No. 14 waits with their excursion train in the 1950s. The “Timber Transfer” overhead crane was used to lift standard-gauge cars so their trucks could be changed for passage over the EBT. Charles Small photo […]
DSS&A at St. Ignace, Mich.
A Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic RS1 pulls cars off the car ferry Chief Wawatam at St. Ignace, Mich., in September 1951. The Chief has crossed the Straits of Mackinac with cars that came into Mackinaw City on PRR and NYC trains; they’ll depart St. Ignace as DSS&A train 1 to Marquette, Mich. A. C. […]
CP’s routes over Kicking Horse Pass
This perspective drawing shows Canadian Pacific’s two routes over Kicking Horse Pass on the west slope of the Continental Divide. The original route with a 4.5 percent grade opened in 1886; it was replaced in 1909 by a line with two spiral tunnels, still in use today. Classic Trains coll. […]
Circus in Milwaukee
Crews unload wagons from flatcars as the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus sets up on Milwaukee’s lakefront sometime in the 1940s. RB&BB, the last circus to travel by train, will close for good in May 2017, ending a long rail and entertainment tradition. C. P. Fox photo […]
C&EI’s ‘Dixie Express’ departs Chicago
Chicago & Eastern Illinois 4-6-2 No. 1016 dashes through the South Side of Chicago with the outbound Dixie Express in 1946. R. R. Malinoski photo […]
Baltimore & Annapolis fan trip
Railfans fill the five cars of a Philadelphia Chapter, NRHS, excursion on the Baltimore & Annapolis. The train is southbound between Baltimore and Linthicum Jct. on Apr. 7, 1940, a decade before the interurban ended passenger service. William M. Moedinger photo […]
B&O EM-1 and Big Six
In the Potomac River narrows west of Cumberland, Md., on Baltimore & Ohio’s main line to Pittsburgh, EM-1 2-8-8-4 7613 and 2-10-2 6222 doublehead on a westbound freight in May 1952. Edward Theisinger photo […]
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad history remembered
Is there a more dignified railroad name than “Lackawanna?” Certainly, Lackawanna history evokes many images. In the days of steam, the name meant meticulous track supporting well-proportioned, dual-service “Pocono” 4-8-4s, hefty hogs in the form of three-cylinder 4-8-2s and ponderous 2-8-2s, speedy commuter 4-6-2s, and gorgeous 4-6-4s that even long-time Trains Editor David P. Morgan […]
Southern Pacific locomotives remembered
Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history, heritage, and style of the Southern Pacific Lines all through February 2022. So, please enjoy this photo gallery of Southern Pacific locomotives selected from the archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Southern Pacific locomotives were among the most distinctive in North America. The SP was one of the only […]
B&O Steam DVD review
You’ll relive the glory years on the Baltimore & Ohio steam operations in Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. A wide area of the B&O is covered during the steam era including Cincinnati to North Vernon, Ind.; Cincinnati to Pittsburgh via Columbus; and around Wheeling, W.Va. Also shown are scenes at Cincinnati Union Terminal, including […]
Texas in Texas
Trackmen stand back to let a Texas & Pacific 2-10-4 pass with a freight climbing Baird Hill, about 15 miles east of Abilene, Tex. T&P photo […]