A Santa Fe RSD15, SD24, and two SD45s curve toward Summit with an eastbound freight on November 14, 1970. Jay Potter People used to say that railroads held the country together. They were the proverbial ribbons of steel that kept commerce and people moving and made a lot of things possible. Today — as I […]
Train Topic: Fallen Flags
NS unveils Southern heritage SD40 NEWSWIRE
No. 3170 rests outside the paint shop at Debutts Yard in Chattanooga, Tenn., prior to its return to service. Norfolk Southern CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Norfolk Southern has unveiled a new addition to its vaunted heritage fleet: Southern Railway SD40 No. 3170. The locomotive was recently saved from the back lot; rebuilt into operating condition at […]
Tracks Ahead: Season 9 – Bear Creek Railroad
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page In this segment from the hit PBS series Tracks Ahead, you’ll visit Jerry Mickey’s Bear Creek Railroad, a basement-filling O scale (three-rail) layout. […]
Tracks Ahead: Season 9 – Bear Creek Railroad
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page In this segment from the hit PBS series Tracks Ahead, you’ll visit Jerry Mickey’s Bear Creek Railroad, a basement-filling O scale (three-rail) layout. […]
Book Review: 72-82: Western Pacific’s Final Decade
72-82: Western Pacific’s Final Decade by Ted Benson, Dick Dorn, Dale Sanders, Dave Stanley White River Productions, P.O. Box 48 Bucklin, MO 64631; 240 pages, hardcover, 12.25 x 9.25 inches; $79.95 www.whiteriverproductions.com North American railroading wasn’t always dominated by super-sized Class I railroads and a smattering of so-called regionals and short lines. Not that long […]
One moment sooner!
Rare CPA-24-5 4500 (partially hidden by a signal box) and an F3B lead NYC’s James Whitcomb Riley north at Illinois Central’s 115th Street station; second car is a C&O Newport News–Chicago sleeper. Gordon E. Lloyd What makes a perfect photo? Perhaps first and foremost, “perfect” is an abstraction, perfection being generally defined in the mind […]
Louisville & Nashville coal mines in 1966
Transition was under way for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad’s coal-hauling operations during the 1960s. The railroad’s traditional coal-loading points reflected its historic single-car movements, but the 1960s also marked the development of the unit train, with coal loaded at high speed “flood” loaders in a single train for a single consignee. Pioneering this trend […]
New York Central RR High Line
Long stretches of elevated main line gave the New York Central RR’s 30th Street Branch its High Line nickname. New York Central RR’s 30th Street Branch was known as the High Line because of its long stretch of elevated mainline track. Learn all about this interesting prototype railroad in the article below originally published in […]
The big engine that couldn’t
PRR J1 2-10-4 No. 6480 crests the hill in Irvington, heading east from downtown Indianapolis with a freight during the switchmen’s strike at Hawthorne Yard in the winter of 1951-52. Martin E. Biemer The winter of 1951–52 brought a new thrill for us railroad-crazy boys in the Indianapolis neighborhood of Irvington: Freight trains! Irvington, a […]
Tracks Ahead: Season 9 – C&NW Christie Division
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page In this segment of the hit PBS series Tracks Ahead, you’ll visit Jim Munns’ Chicago & North Western Ry. HO scale layout set in Wisconsin during the mid-1950s. […]
Tracks Ahead: Season 9 – C&NW Christie Division
Having trouble viewing this video? Please visit our Video FAQ page In this segment of the hit PBS series Tracks Ahead, you’ll visit Jim Munns’ Chicago & North Western Ry. HO scale layout set in Wisconsin during the mid-1950s. […]
Rock Island RS3 with suburban train
The Rock Island used a variety of diesel power on its Chicago suburban trains, but Alco RS3s predominated. In 1966, maroon RS3 499 has just departed La Salle Street Station with three cars. Duane Darnell photo […]