TH&B Geeps on a freight

20161110

Although its tracks didn’t reach the first and last places in its name, the 110-mile Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo served several important points in southern Ontario. Here, maroon-and-cream GP7 No. 76 and GP9 No. 402 lead a Toronto–Coburg freight on the rails of TH&B parent Canadian Pacific in April 1976. A. J. Sutherland photo […]

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SP’s Lucin Cutoff

20161101

The Southern Pacific’s original transcontinental line north of Ogden, Utah, and around the top of the Great Salt Lake via Promontory was operationally difficult. In 1904, SP opened the 102-mile Lucin Cutoff, a shorter, flatter, straighter route that included a 12-mile trestle across the lake. Classic Train coll. […]

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Porter 0-4-0T

20161108

A diminutive Porter 0-4-0T works in the great north woods of Minnesota. Although not powerful, small Porters like this one enabled small logging operations to get in business quickly and cheaply. Library of Congress photo […]

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Missabe 2-10-4 on Proctor Hill

20161128

In September 1954, Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range 2-10-4 No. 713 tramps upgrade from the docks at Duluth with empty ore cars bound for Proctor Yard at the top of the hill and then the iron range for another load. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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Dousing the hogs

20161104

Keeping hogs wet in summer heat was vital in keeping them healthy during transit in stock cars. This manual twin-handle pump soaks both decks of hogs on Swift Live Stock Express cars in a New York Central train east of Rome, N.Y. S.K. Bolton Jr. photo […]

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California Zephyr on the SP

20161117

It’s August 1951, and the westbound California Zephyr has left its normal Western Pacific route via the Feather River Canyon to detour over Southern Pacific’s Donner Pass line. Helping the CZ’s usual three WP F units up into the Sierra Nevada is an SP cab-forward. Gordon Odegard photo […]

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