Built in 1910 by Baldwin, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe No. 1485 is one of 23 similar locomotives that operated into the 1950s. The railroad had 171 such locomotives built by Baldwin, and one built by the railroad itself. Photo by Harry Hall […]
GLASGOW, Scotland — Another night, another sleeper train. Tonight, I’ll be concluding my two-night experience with Scotland’s Caledonian Sleeper, taking the 11:40 p.m. train from Glasgow Central Station back to London Euston, where I started this quick excursion into Scotland on Tuesday night. Since my previous post, I have made a 418-mile, 12-hour, 45-minute trip […]
WOODSTOWN, N.J. — On Saturday, Sept. 20, steam locomotive No. 9 of the Woodstown Central Railroad will re-debut to the public, following an extensive period of repairs. In April, the Alco-built 0-6-0 was sidelined by an overheated journal on its central axle during an excursion, necessitating repairs beyond the capabilities of the tourist railroad’s South […]
50 years ago in Trains: Bombarding Beaumont in 1948 WHAT a grand and extraordinary depiction this photograph is of Standard Railroading in full and final flower! For the flagship of Southern Pacific’s New Orleans-Los Angeles Sunset Route the Sunset Limited, which is destined to become the last of America’s great passenger trains to be dieselized […]
In its heyday as “The Standard Railroad of the World,” the Pennsylvania Railroad had thousands of trackside industries systemwide to service. Each needed regular switching, and many were located in industrial complexes with tight clearances and sharp curves. The PRR developed the 0-6-0 switcher, or as they called it, a “shifter.” The first model B6 […]
Central Vermont 0-8-0 501 stands by as a New Haven sleeping car is turned on the turntable at St. Albans, Vermont, in September 1955. Photo by Philip R. Hastings […]
CALGARY, Alberta — CPKC has turned the 2024 Final Spike Tour, featuring No. 2816, the Empress 4-6-4 steam locomotive, into a 50-minute documentary that will premiere on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 at the Calgary International Film Festival. Titled The Pulse of the Continent, this breathtaking film chronicles the 76-day journey marking the first anniversary of […]
At least eight 60-centimeter-guage 2-6-2Ts of the type used by the U.S. Army on temporary railways in France during World War I are visible in this scene at Fort Benning, Georgia, after the war. Baldwin, Davenport, and Vulcan built some 296 of the diminutive engines. Fort Benning’s 27-mile line moved men and material around the […]
Summer 2025 left fans of big steam wanting more, with Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 being the sole Class I representative — and with a limited appearance at that. The remaining locomotives on the scene were few and far between, staying on short lines and tourist railroads. Good news, though: For those disappointed in […]
Embark on an epic journey back to the late 1940s and early ’50s, as depicted on Curt LaRue’s HO scale (1:87.1) Pennsylvania Railroad Panhandle Division! Originally presented in the October 2025 issue of Model Railroader magazine, this stunning layout comes to life as cameras capture various modeled rural and industrial sites along the multi-track mainline […]
Between 1942 and ’48, Baltimore & Ohio’s Mount Clare shops in Baltimore created 40 essentially new dual-service 4-8-2s. The class T-3 Mountain types were “essentially” new because their boilers came from retired Mikados and Pacifics. Here, the first T-3, No. 5555, nears completion. Photo by Baltimore & Ohio […]
New York Central 4-8-2 2952 storms through Waterloo, Indiana, 367 miles west of Buffalo, with a westbound freight in 1948. NYC called its 600 4-8-2s “Mohawks” after the river the road’s main line followed across New York state. Photo by Robert A. Hadley […]
