Hell Gate Bridge

Electric locomotive brings passenger train around curving bridge

Hell Gate Bridge Having just crossed the 1,017-foot Hell Gate Bridge, Penn Central GG1 4913 begins the long descent to ground level with a Boston-bound Amtrak train in February 1973. Diesels will take over at New Haven. Victor Hand photo […]

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Automobile boxcar

Steel boxcar with end doors for automobile loading

Automobile boxcar Northern Pacific no. 4914 is a 50-foot, single-sheathed, double-door car built in the late 1930s and shown here in 1940. Note the Dreadnaught end door. Jay Williams collection […]

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Passenger pioneer

Silver and black diesel locomotive with red nose outside brick building

Passenger pioneer Amtrak No. 583 is a 3,000-hp, six-axle EMD SDP40F. The model was the first new diesel locomotive purchased by Amtrak in the 1970s. It has a different side panel arrangement and lacks the front platform of the earlier FP45. Jim Hediger photo […]

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America’s breadbasket

Grain-handling machinery including a hopper dumping into a conveyor

America’s breadbasket Here’s what it looks like on the lower level of a large concrete terminal grain elevator. Each bin in a row can discharge its contents onto a long conveyor belt, which carries grain to the main building. From here, grain can go up to a rail loading chute. Library of Congress collection […]

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Tickets, please

Tickets, please Passengers riding New York Central’s deluxe 20th Century Limited sleeper-observation car required two tickets, one for rail travel and one for the sleeping accommodations. Don Wood photo […]

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‘Broadway’ streamlined

Streamlined steam locomotive on multiple-track main line

‘Broadway’ streamlined On June 15, 1938 — the 36th anniversary of its launch — the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Broadway Limited was upgraded to a streamlined train, albeit with a rebuilt heavyweight RPO and diner. Given a shroud in 1936, K4s 3468 heads the new equipment’s inaugural eastbound run at Englewood. Rival New York Central completely streamlined […]

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New Haven Railroad locomotives

Black-and-white photo of the noses of two streamlined diesel locomotives.

  All through September 2021, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. This week, editors have selected images from Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library to highlight the locomotives of the New Haven. Included in these are electric, diesel AND steam locomotives. Enjoy! […]

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Steam in snow

Steam locomotive moves freight train along snow-lined tracks

Steam in snow Milwaukee Road 2-8-2 No. 327 rolls south on the Indiana Harbor Belt at La Grange, Ill., in December 1950, bound for Terre Haute, Ind. Robert Milner photo […]

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10-million bushels

Brown boxcars in front of concrete grain elevator

10-million bushels The Santa Fe’s 10-million bushel grain elevator at Argentine (Kansas City), Kan., was among the largest in the country when photographed here in 1943. Jack Delano photo […]

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‘California Zephyr’ preview

Streamlined and heavyweight passenger train on steel trestle

‘California Zephyr’ preview In the months before the California Zephyr’s March 20, 1949, launch, the new train’s cars began filtering into the heavyweight consist of its predecessor on the CB&Q-DRGW-WP route, the Exposition Flyer, seen here on the Western Pacific at Keddie, Calif., with a baggage car and two domes built for the streamliner. Donald […]

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Aluminum Alton

Silver-colored boxcar among tall brick industrial buildings

Aluminum Alton Alton Route was one of several railroads to dabble with experimental aluminum boxcars for express service. Note the steam line (horizontal pipe) and signal line (small hose below the brake hose) for passenger service. Alton photo […]

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