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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Southern Pacific freight trains photo gallery

Train navigates curve and crosses road away from camera

Southern Pacific Freight Trains: Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history, heritage, and style of the Southern Pacific all through February 2022. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Southern Pacific freight trains selected from the archives of Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. Southern Pacific freight trains carried many commodities. Famously, the SP hauled sugar beets on […]

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How the ‘Golden Spike Centennial Limited’ came to be

End of blue passenger train with sign highlighting railroad spikes

The Golden Spike Centennial Limited was born, in promoter Ross Rowland Jr.’s mind, as a reaction to the Association of American Railroads’ not planning anything special to mark the 100th anniversary of the nation-uniting event on the new transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah, in 1869. The apathy was perhaps typical of the Class I railroads […]

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Nashville’s REA terminal

Railway Express Agency Nashville terminal

Baggage-express cars are spotted at Railway Express Agency’s Nashville terminal in 1962. Several of REA’s distinctive delivery trucks can be seen on the other side of the building. Railway Express Agency photo […]

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Southern Pacific passenger trains remembered

GL130801-1

All through February 2022, Classic Trains editors are celebrating the history and heritage of the Southern Pacific Lines. Please enjoy this photo gallery of Southern Pacific passenger trains selected from the image files in Kalmbach Media’s David P. Morgan Library. This gallery was first published in January 2019. […]

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Narrow gauge electric line

Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad

The 3-foot-gauge Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn was built in 1875 and in 1928 electrified its double-track line along the shore north of Boston. Business was brisk at first, as attested by this scene at Crescent Beach, Mass. Nevertheless, the BRB&L was abandoned in 1940. General Electric photo […]

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