At the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Pittsburgh Region desk F (foreground), the dispatcher for the Esplen (south end of the Ohio Connecting Bridge)–Brownsville, Pa., line works with a new style of trainsheet, while his colleague on desk I, Pittsburgh–Gould Tunnel, Ohio, uses the standard type in 1956. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
Freight paint schemes When public image was a big deal for railroads, many of them went out of their way to put together great looking freight locomotive paint schemes. Passenger locomotives were an obvious choice, but for many, just as much care went into a suitable freight scheme After all, a train stopping traffic at […]
Three F units start Great Northern train No. 27, the Fast Mail for Seattle, out of St. Paul Union Depot in June 1953. Robert R. Malinoski photo […]
Delayed in transit Grain cars in transit were stalled by a brief strike in 1946. To keep grain from overheating and spoiling, cars were opened and a few (the Missouri Pacific car at left) had some grain removed. This was on the Missouri-Kansas-Texas in Oklahoma. Preston George photo […]
Rumors of the death of railroad fiction are greatly exaggerated. The veteran railroad journalist Fred Frailey made that clear a year ago with his “Seldom Willing,” an absorbing tale of an ambitious 1980s Midwestern regional railroad that outmaneuvered a far larger rival. When Fred told me his novel was coming out soon, I wasn’t sure […]
Conrail train COSY-4 eases through Berea, Ohio, on Aug. 14, 1979. The train came up the old Big Four route from Columbus and will continue east to Syracuse, N.Y. Albert D. Saleker photo […]
Most offset-side hoppers were built to AAR common designs. This two-bay Minneapolis & St. Louis 2,081-cubic-foot-capacity car, built in 1936, is typical of those in service through the 1960s. Classic Trains collection […]
The eastbound City of Portland passes the tower at Clinton, Iowa, behind two Chicago & North Western E units at 9:10 a.m. on June 4, 1953. Ahead lies the Mississippi River crossing and the Windy City. Robert R. Malinoski photo […]
The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, commonly known as the Burlington Route, had many Zephyrs. But out of all the streamlined trainsets and services famously named after the Greek God of the West Wind, which of the five where considered the most prestigious? Pioneer Zephyr Rolled out on April 7, 1934, by the […]
Missouri Pacific 0-8-0 No. 9721 (with caboose) helps a freight No. 75 up Kirkwood (Mo.) Hill in March 1946. Regular power was 4-8-4 No. 2111 closest to the camera. Helper 2-10-2 No. 1716 is spliced between. Joe Collias photo […]
New Chesapeake & Ohio GP7s hustle a southbound freight out of Plymouth, Mich., in the early 1950s. Robert A. Hadley photo […]
At the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Renovo, Pa., terminal in September 1955, a class L1s “Lollipop” 2-8-2 is prepared for a run as a Baldwin “Sharknose” diesel looks on. Philip R. Hastings photo […]
