A postwar Lionel haul unboxing featuring Roger “Professor” Carp and CTT editor Hal Miller. The trains belong to a co-worker who received them from her father. He received his first Lionel train in 1941 – in fact, we have his original no. 1089 set box! Have a look at some of the well-loved and time-worn […]
Gulf Mobile and Ohio remembered: The “modern merger movement” is often said to have begun in 1957 when Louisville & Nashville absorbed the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis, in which the L&N had a three-quarters ownership. Some would argue that three similar 1947 mergers — Denver & Salt Lake into Denver & Rio Grande Western; […]
The Lionel Santa Fe F3 is a colorful O gauge icon. Roger “Professor” Carp is here to share with you what many consider the greatest post-World War II locomotive, the no. 2333 Santa Fe F3 cab unit. Interestingly, prior to its production, Lionel reached out to the manufacturer, Electric Motive Division of General Motors to […]
Three connecting short lines in southwest Georgia — the Georgia Northern; Albany & Northern; and Georgia, Ashburn, Sylvester & Camilla — were known as the “Pidcock Kingdom” owing to their onetime control by C. W. Pidcock. By 1968, when GN SW8 No. 13 ambled north with a freight on the GAS&C, they were all under […]
Nine Milwaukee Road steam locomotives move east out of Marion, Iowa, on April 5, 1954, en route to an appointment with the scrappers. A 4-8-4 hauls the grim assemblage, but dieselization is around the corner. Robert Laker photo […]
Overlooked Lionel postwar accessories? Yes, these stalwarts are well known but aren’t always top of mind when someone is asked to list the company’s greatest gems. Click here to see the 7 Lionel accessories that usually garner the spotlight. Read on to find out what the “Rodney Dangerfields” of postwar Lionel are. ZW transformer 1948-66 The […]
On Aug. 5, 1958, the last Maryland & Pennsylvania train from Baltimore heads north across the trestle at Sharon, Md., shortly before the road abandoned the south half of its 77-mile line between Baltimore & York, Pa. Lawrence W. Sagle photo […]
Fifty Years of Amtrak Trains is a beautifully crafted 256-page, all-color hardbound volume. It is a time capsule of relevant information on the first 50 years of Amtrak’s existence, including a comprehensive survey of Amtrak routes between 1971 and 2021. The volume accounts for all Amtrak routes and trains (the book is divided into state […]
In 1960, the Santa Fe opened a 44-mile line between Williams and Crookton, Ariz., to reduce grades and curvature. This view shows one of the new line’s deep cuts from the fireman’s seat on an F unit. Donald Sims photo […]
An A-B-B set of Santa Fe FT diesels rolls a 127-car freight extra west at Galesburg, Ill., in June 1953. R. R. Malinoski photo […]
Alco RS27 failure: It’s tough when professional engineers create a decent locomotive that builds on successes, and pitfalls, of the past and still nobody really wants it. That was the Alco RS27, also referred to as the DL640. Its 16-cylinder, 251B prime mover pushed out 2,400 hp. Coincidentally, only 27 were built between December 1959 […]
Tom Barker’s S gauge layout is inspired by a vintage American Flyer dealer display. It features a lot of action and fun! It appears in the July-August issue of Classic Toy Trains. Subscribers can see how he built the circular four-tier structure that’s the centerpiece of the layout here. […]
