To Saigon via Summit

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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 […]

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NS unveils Southern heritage SD40 NEWSWIRE

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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 […]

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Book Review: 72-82: Western Pacific’s Final Decade

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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 […]

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One moment sooner!

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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 […]

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Louisville & Nashville coal mines in 1966

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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 […]

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New York Central RR High Line

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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 […]

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The big engine that couldn’t

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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 […]

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