2022 steam locomotive list spring update

photo of black steam locomotive pulling a short freight, Spring 2022 steam locomotive list

2022 steam locomotive list spring update: It’s time for the active steam list update. Since we debuted the list last fall, we’ve gotten great feedback, updates, and added to the list. New to the list is Southern Railway 2-8-0 No. 154 at the East Tennessee tourist carrier, Three Rivers Rambler, a part of Gulf & […]

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Tennessee Ten-Wheeler

Chicago, Memphis and Gulf Railroad

Chicago, Memphis & Gulf 4-6-0 No. 2, built by Rogers in 1884, was first owned by Chesapeake & Ohio, then Illinois Central, and then, after 1906, CM&G, a 52-mile short line between Dyersburg and Hickman, Ky. The Ten-Wheeler, missing a cylinder head, is pictured at Dyersburg in 1912. C. W. Whitbeck coll. […]

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Ship-to-train transfer

Canadian Pacific S.S. Helene

In a 1953 view from Canadian Pacific’s S.S. Princess Helene docked at Digby, Nova Scotia, after a trip over the Bay of Fundy from Saint John, New Brunswick, a CP 4-6-2 backs the head-end cars of train 98 out onto the pier to receive baggage and mail from the ship. Another engine will bring 98’s […]

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Saluda in the rain

Southern Railway 2-8-2

Southern Railway 2-8-2 No. 4505 — sister to excursion star 4501 — tramps up Saluda Grade in the pouring rain on Aug. 3, 1950. You can bet there’s another engine shoving hard on the rear to get the train up the 4.7 percent grade. August A. Thieme Jr. photo […]

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Southern Pacific freight trains photo gallery

Train navigates curve and crosses road away from camera

Southern Pacific Freight Trains: Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history, heritage, and style of the Southern Pacific all through February 2022. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Southern Pacific freight trains selected from the archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Southern Pacific freight trains carried many commodities. Famously, the SP hauled sugar beets on […]

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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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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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Southern Pacific passenger trains remembered

GL130801-1

All through February 2022, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of the Southern Pacific Lines. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Southern Pacific passenger trains selected from the image files in Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. This gallery was first published in January 2019. […]

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Narrow gauge electric line

Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad

The 3-foot-gauge Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn was built in 1875 and in 1928 electrified its double-track line along the shore north of Boston. Business was brisk at first, as attested by this scene at Crescent Beach, Mass. Nevertheless, the BRB&L was abandoned in 1940. General Electric photo […]

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What’s in Chase Gunnoe’s camera bag?

Camera gear inside a bag.

Fifteen years ago, when entering the rail photography scene capturing photos of Norfolk Southern trains switching freight cars on the old West Virginia Secondary in Nitro, W.Va., my resources involved a Kodak EasyShare C433 and a Walmart-bought Case Logic case. The camera’s rectangular dimensions were smaller than today’s smartphones and a quick eBay search determines […]

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