Circus in Milwaukee

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus train

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 […]

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Baltimore & Annapolis fan trip

Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad

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 […]

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B&O EM-1 and Big Six

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

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 […]

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Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad history remembered

Boxy diesel locomotive with passenger train on curve

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 […]

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Southern Pacific locomotives remembered

Southern Pacific locomotives: Small steam locomotive rests adjacent to larger streamlined diesel

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 […]

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B&O Steam DVD review

B&O Steam DVD cover

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 […]

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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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