Showtime in Pasadena

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“Big, beautiful” Santa Fe 4-8-4 3779 talks it up through Pasadena’s Lamanda Park area with First No. 3, the California Limited for Los Angeles, in June 1945. Stan Kistler I lived in Pasadena, Calif., during the final days of steam on the Santa Fe. I particularly remember the 3776-class 4-8-4’s built by Baldwin in 1941. […]

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Difference between a cabless booster, a slug, and a calf

Q What is the difference between a cabless booster, a slug, and a calf?— Ken Williams, Tehachapi, Calif. A A cabless unit and a calf are quite similar. Cabless diesel units are usually considered to be road units from any builder and usually have their own designation. For example, an EMD F7 with a cab […]

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History of the Orange Line

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Orange Belt Railway President and GM Peter Demens (far right) stand near No. 7, a National Locomotive Works engine, in Pinellas County, Fla. Donald R. Hensley Jr. collection Q I recently heard about a railroad called the Orange Belt that ran through some of central Florida in the late 19th century. Who owned it? Where […]

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Presenting the past at the Mount Washington Cog Railway

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Engineer J.F. Keating carries workers aboard a flatcar on the 3¼-mile Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire on June 11, 1946. Today, the Cog runs mostly biodiesel engines. L.B. Herrin When I first visited the Mount Washington Cog Railway in 1980, exactly 30 years before my recent visit, it was an inadvertent museum, complete […]

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New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Cog Railway Locomotive Roster

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Name No. Type Builder Year built Peppersass 1 Campbell, Whittier & Co. – 1866 Mt. Washington 1 0-2-2-0 Manchester Loco. Works 1883 Ammonoosuc 2 0-2-2-0 Manchester Loco. Works 1875 Agiocochook 3 0-2-2-0 Manchester Loco. Works 1883 Chocorua 4 0-2-2-0 Manchester Loco. Works 1883 Kancamagus 6 0-2-2-0 Manchester Loco. Works 1874 Moosilauke 8 0-2-2-0 Mt. Washington […]

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