Maryland & Pennsylvania 0-6-0 No. 6 gets a spin on the turntable at the beloved little road’s Baltimore roundhouse in March 1955. H. N. Proctor photo […]
Ma & Pa 0-6-0
Section: Railroads
Mikado on an M&E train
In December 1949, a Burlington Route mail-and-express train rolls west near Keenesburg, Colo., with an express boxcar (a rebuilt troop kitchen car), Railway Post Office, two baggage express cars, another RPO, and a single rider coach for the crew. Mikado 5075 provides the motive power. Joe Schick, Jim Seacrest collection […]
Bath for a BN E8
Burlington Northern E8 No. 9900 eases through the wash rack west of Union Avenue interlocking, Chicago, about 1980. Paul D. Schneider photo […]
Chicago Great Western Railroad history
Chicago Great Western Railroad history introduction Chicago Great Western Railroad history traces its roots to A.B. Stickney, who early in his adult life entered the railroad business, set to link St. Paul with Chicago. He took the legal assets of the moribund Minnesota & Northwestern Railroad, and in 1884 pushed a line under that banner […]
Preparing a K4
At the Pennsylvania’s South Amboy, N.J., engine terminal in the mid-1950s, a hostler shovels coal into the firebox of a K4s Pacific in preparation for its next run. Don Wood photo […]
B&O 2-8-2 at rest
Baltimore & Ohio 2-8-2 No. 4858 stands with a caboose at the road’s terminal at Cowen, W.Va., in May 1952. B&O adopted the name “MacArthur” for its 2-8-2 Mikado types during World War II and referred to them as such until the end of steam. Ed Theisinger photo […]
Remnant of a dream
The Kansas City, Mexico & Orient was conceived to connect Kansas City with the nearest Pacific Ocean port — Topolobampo, Mexico. Although major portions of the route were built on both sides of the border, the dream was never realized. The Santa Fe bought the KCM&O in 1924, then sold the Mexican portions. In this […]
Akron, Canton & Youngstown action
Akron, Canton & Youngstown H20-44 No. 503, a 2,000 h.p. end-cab road-switcher built by Fairbanks-Morse, crosses the Big Four (NYC) main line at New London, Ohio, with a westbound freight in 1949. The 171-mile AC&Y ran between Akron and Delphos, Ohio, but never reached Canton or Youngstown. Vaughn K. Neel photo […]
Seaboard RS3 road-switchers
Two Seaboard Air Line RS3 road-switchers work at Madison, Fla., in 1965, two years before the road merged with the Atlantic Coast Line. Alco introduced the RS3 in 1950, producing some 1,370 of the 1,600 h.p. units. Harry L. Juday photo […]
Southern Railway 4501: a 2-8-2 steam locomotive legend
Southern Railway 4501. You could write a book about this locomotive, and indeed one has been done. If it were a fable, it would be the story of a commoner becoming royalty. This is a brief look at a once-ordinary, freight-hauling 2-8-2 made into a legendary excursion locomotive. Southern 4501 history Baldwin built No. 4501 […]
Action at Union Avenue, Chicago
The location is Union Avenue interlocking at the east end of Burlington Northern’s “racetrack” to Aurora in about 1980. Amtrak train 380 from Carbondale, Ill., comes off the St. Charles Air Line (left) as a BN “dinky” from Aurora in push mode heads for Chicago Union Station (right); between them, is a BN E unit […]
The versatile 2-8-2 Mikado
The 2-8-2 Mikado-type steam locomotive was the first with a firebox behind the drivers and supported by a trailing truck. Originally conceived by Baldwin Locomotive Works and the narrow gauge Interoceanic Railway in Mexico, the first U.S. Mikado was a 50-inch drivered Baldwin built in 1901 for the Bismarck, Washburn & Great Northern. In 1902, […]
