Ohio tourist railroad restores Chesapeake & Ohio GP7 NEWSWIRE

GP75704

C&O EMD GP7 No. 5704 and its new as-delivered cosmetic restoration on the Lebanon Mason & Monroe Railroad in Lebanon, Ohio. Lebanon Mason & Monroe Railroad LEBANON, Ohio – A Chesapeake & Ohio EMD GP7 has been restored to its as-delivered blue-and-gold paint scheme. C&O GP7 No. 5704 is the latest restoration project to ply […]

Read More…

Adventures of a rookie brakeman

ApalachicolaNortherndoodlebug

An old GE doodlebug provided passenger services on the Apalachicola Northern in the 1940s. Classic Trains coll. I’m clutching the grab iron on the back of a steam locomotive cab, my feet on the apron between the engine and tender. I’m vibrating head to toe, with the heat from the boiler all over me. How […]

Read More…

Fast run on the Frisco

Frisco4304

Frisco 4-8-2s 4300–4310 were intended for freight service, but could turn a fast wheel on varnish when necessary. Here No. 4304 departs St. Louis in March 1943 with a 23-car passenger train.  George W. Person Jr. During the mid-1930s, the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad started rebuilding low-drivered 2-10-2 freight locomotives into modern, high-horsepower, coal-burning 4-8-2s, […]

Read More…

Telegrapher at Wilbur

npsosuperiordepotint

Although author Dinsmore’s territory was some 1,500 miles to the west, this 1966 scene inside Northern Pacific’s depot in South Superior, Wis., would be familiar to him. William D. Middleton When I picked up Classic Trains’ Summer 2008 issue, the cover blurb about the “Kid Telegrapher on NP’s Idaho Division” caught my eye. I searched out the […]

Read More…

Illinois Railway Museum restores Santa Fe No. 92 NEWSWIRE

SantaFe92

A submitted image of Santa Fe FP45 No. 92 which Illinois Railway Museum donors helped to mechanically restore. Illinois Railway Museum UNION, Ill. — One of Santa Fe’s last locomotives to haul the Super Chief is now running again at the Illinois Railway Museum. In a Tuesday news release, museum officials say they’ve restored and […]

Read More…

Watermelon Extra

CTRGAFLshortlines

Russell Tedder’s 16-hour 70-tonner ride occurred in July 1955, when he was dispatching for the Live Oak, Perry & Gulf and South Georgia, two affiliated short lines recently acquired by the Southern Railway. Watermelons were an important source of revenue for the Live Oak, Perry & Gulf and South Georgia in the early 1950s. The […]

Read More…

Earliest recollections

JamesABrownage3

“Wee Jimmie” Brown examines a Canadian Pacific switch stand beside the Don Mills Road crossing in North Toronto. His fascination soon turned to fear when a doubleheaded freight came along. Alvin Brown Despite his son’s concern for their safety, Alvin Brown managed to photograph an eastbound freight coming and going at the crossing. Two photos, […]

Read More…