Locomotive profile: 4-4-0 American type steam locomotive

4-4-0 THE TEXAS WAS RESTORED IN 2017 FOR THE ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER.

4-4-0 THE TEXAS WAS RESTORED IN 2017 FOR THE ATLANTA HISTORY CENTER. Jim Wrinn 4-4-0 •YEARS BUILT: 1836 to 1928 •MANUFACTURERS: Rogers, Baldwin, Danforth, Mason, Hinkley •OPERATED ON: Nearly all North American railroads during the mid-1800s •NAMES: American, Eight Wheeler •QUANTITY: 25,000 •BOILER PRESSURE: 175 psi •KNOWN FOR: Served North American railroads during the 19th century. […]

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Locomotive profile: 4-6-2 Pacific type steam locomotive

Blue Mountain & Reading Pacific-type 4-6-2 No. 425 in Pennsylvania.

Blue Mountain & Reading Pacific-type 4-6-2 No. 425 in Pennsylvania. Jim Wrinn 4-6-2 •YEARS BUILT: 1902 to 1948 •MANUFACTURERS: Alco, Baldwin, Lima, Santa Fe, Baltimore & Ohio, Canadian Locomotive Co., Chicago Great Western, Milwaukee Road, Delaware & Hudson, Great Northern, Illinois Central, Lehigh Valley, Louisville & Nashville, New York Central, Norfolk & Western, Pennsylvania, Reading, […]

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Locomotive profile: 4-6-6-4 Challenger type steam locomotive

Smoking steam locomotive with multiple people standing in cab

Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 Challenger type steam locomotive No. 3985 pulls an excursion in Iowa in 2002. Jim Wrinn 4-6-6-4 •YEARS BUILT: 1936 to 1947 •MANUFACTURERS: Alco, Baldwin •OPERATED ON: Union Pacific; Northern Pacific; Spokane, Portland & Seattle; Clinchfield; Delaware & Hudson; Western Pacific; Western Maryland; Denver & Rio Grande Western •NAME: Challenger •QUANTITY: 252; Union […]

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Locomotive profile: 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotive

Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 No. 611 pulls an excursion in Virginia.

Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 No. 611 pulls an excursion in Virginia. Jim Wrinn 4-8-4 •YEARS BUILT: 1926 to 1950 •MANUFACTURERS: Baldwin, Lima, Alco, Canadian Locomotive Co., Canadian Pacific Railway, Montreal, Norfolk & Western •OPERATED ON: Most sizable railroads that provided fast freight and passenger service •NAME: Northern •QUANTITY: 1,115; Canadian National had more than 200 […]

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Locomotive profile: 4-8-8-4 Big Boy type steam locomotive

Smoking steam locomotive with freight train in shallow cut

Union Pacific Big Boy type steam locomotive No. 4011 ross west at Granite, Wyoming, in 1956. Jim Ehernberger 4-8-8-4 •YEARS BUILT: 1941 to 1944 •MANUFACTURER: Alco •OPERATED ON: Union Pacific •NAME: Big Boy •QUANTITY: 25 •BOILER PRESSURE: 300 psi •KNOWN FOR: Among the heaviest and most powerful reciprocating-piston steam locomotives ever built •STATUS: Eight preserved: […]

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Drew’s Trackside Adventures: Episode 42 St. Louis Gateway City

The eagerly anticipated warm-weather exploration of the rails in, around, and even under the Gateway to the West is set to rekindle Trackside Adventures! Catch up with host Drew Halverson, along with Kent Johnson, Charlie Conway, and Sherpa Allan Dahncke, as they make their way to ideal hotspots for capturing Amtrak, BNSF, NS, TRRA, UP, […]

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Remembering Nickel Plate Road freight trains

A striped train passing by

All this month — February 2020 — Classic Trains editors are celebrating the heritage, history, and images of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad. Please enjoy this photo gallery of images from the David P. Morgan Library archives at Kalmbach Media that include Nickel Plate diesel- and steam-powered freight trains through time. You […]

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Remembering Nickel Plate Road locomotives

A close up black and white photo of Nickel Plate Road No. 125

Classic Trains editors are celebrating the heritage, history, and lore of famed (and infamous) railroads. In February 2020, we celebrate the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad. Please enjoy a collection of locomotive images located in the David P. Morgan Library archives at Kalmbach Media that include the Nickel Plate Road’s iconic locomotives and […]

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Locomotive profile: 2-6-0 Mogul type steam locomotive

RIO GRANDE SCENIC NO. 1744 AT LAVETA PASS, COLO., IN 2007.

Rio Grande Scenic 2-6-0 No. 1744 at Laveta Pass, Colorado, in 2002. Jim Wrinn 2-6-0 •YEARS BUILT: 1852-1929 •MANUFACTURERS: Lima, Southern Pacific, Baldwin, Pennsylvania Railroad, others •OPERATED ON: Chicago & Western Indiana, Baltimore & Ohio, Green Bay & Western, Boston & Maine, Southern Pacific, Canadian National, short lines •NAMES: Mogul, Valley Mallet •QUANTITY: 8,000; Canadian […]

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The train dispatcher and model railroads

ModelRailroaderdispatchercallouts

A train dispatcher supervises the movement of trains over a designated portion of a railroad and also supervises the other employees involved in that movement. The dispatcher’s first responsibility is safety, to see that each train gets over the road without trying to occupy the same piece of track at the same time as any […]

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Remembering Nickel Plate Road passenger trains

A train pulling into a station

In February 2020, Classic Trains is celebrating the history, heritage, and splendor of the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad. Enjoy this photo gallery, originally published online in September 2016, as the perfect salute to the Nickel Plate Road. Return each week for another salute to the railroad of the month! See what we […]

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