Santa Fe FT’s on Tehachapi

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An A-B-B-A set of Santa Fe FT diesels leads a westbound freight just below famous Tehachapi Loop in 1949. This train met an eastbound Southern Pacific freight at Walong siding on the Loop itself; steam from the SP train’s cab-forward helper is visible in the distance. Linn H. Westcott photo […]

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The bridge at Ginger Blue

Two locomotives lead a freight train across a bridge over a muddy river

The newly minted CPKC Railway, a 20,000-mile system combining Canadian Pacific (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS), sent me to Kansas City in late May 2024 to capture KCS motive power before its identity vanished under the unified railroad’s new paint. Videographers Kevin Gilliam and Mike Noonkester and I spent at day chasing this CPKC […]

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Sunset for a Union Pacific branch line train

Three yellow diesel locomotives roll through green fields at sunset

This Union Pacific branchline  train heads home at sunset near Platte Center, Nebraska on Aug. 22, 1988. The train — the Norfolk local returning to Columbus with a little bit of everything in tow — was a common enough sight at the time. The well-maintained motive power includes three, four-axle locomotives. The lead unit is […]

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Nickel Plate yard at Frankfort, Ind.

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Looking west at Frankfort, Ind., in 1944, we see the westbound yard with its east-end ladder angling off to the right, and in the distance the eastbound yard’s east ladder running the other way. Beyond the east yard ladder are the icing platform and the ice plant. Jay Williams photo […]

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