"Morning Blues" PM 1225 on A frosty, blue Michigan morning, just after sunrise.
Remember This View, You Will Not See It For A While. MTA NYC Transit Subway E01 (R-77E, General Electric, 1983) is momentarily suspended off the ground while a truck backs in underneath on ... (more)
A Western Maryland freight makes an early departure out of Cumberland and thunders Westbound through the Narrows towards Frostburg on a blistery cold morning.
Eastbound mail train about to pass Dick Jensen's Pacific, former GTW 5629. The locomotive was later scrapped, following a legal dispute regarding storage fees. Note that the 5629 has a full load... (more)
A dream turns to reality, well almost. Thanks to Peter Lerro and crew for a job well done!
Ground-level view at the helper pit in Altoona. PRR Class EH30.
Here's a look at the inside of the cab and controls of Montana Rail Link F45 no. 392. When this photo was taken just a few weeks ago, the F45s future was uncertain. Since then, the locomotive was ... (more)
"Winter Wonderland" A westbound grain train rolls down the hill on an overcast snowy night.
A rough count has 90 plus locomotives stored in the usual place at Northtown Yard. Roughly 40 SD60's contrast the orange with their blue EMD paint. Northtown was the only place in the Twin Cities... (more)
The former Rock Island Silvis Shops are alive and well today, now operated by NRE. Long lines of dead engines awaiting their fate rest on the only RI trackage left of the once mighty Silvis (Kell... (more)
Two GG1s spend their retirement sitting on a siding between the D&H main and Route 7 in the tiny village of Cooperstown Jct. Hopefully, they will eventually be part of a museum near here. Note the... (more)
This was EMD's attempt, along with the GM6C, to replace Conrail's aging fleet of PRR E44's and GG1's. Apparently they didn't impress CR officials enough, so no more were built and electric freight... (more)
Q032-23 exits the eastern portal of the Howard St Tunnel, and passes through the train shed of the former B&O Mt Royal Station.
According to a Trains magazine, 5021 was removed from the Pomona Fairgrounds for restoration, or at least an evaluation. When SP 4449 was restored for the American Fredom Train, it ironically kill... (more)
I'm not sure whether it was 400 or 402, but whatever it is made a good shot
The last rays of sun catch the exhaust of a pair of 15" gauge pacifics as they race for home after a days work hauling Santa specials.
A pair of engines wait in the helper pit at Altoona. The F3a is a PRR Class EF15 and the close unit is a Baldwin Passenger Shark BP20 Number 5777, with a BLW designation DR-12-8-3000.
An accident that didn't happen...
Beauty and the Beast? Two passenger locomotives, now out of work and on display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento on March 7, 2003. Both were built by Electro-Motive... (more)
Original Kodachrome by the late Joseph Jessel Jr, a good friend who taught me much about photographic composition as it applied to streetcar views (not always the same as it is for railroad views)... (more)
This is good news for the meter gauge locos class DL537.The 1st one reconstruction of loco A9101 by NREC-U.S it's an event for the railfans. The nice is that she painted in the original scheme.New... (more)
John gets the stare-down from the hogger on Decapod I1s 4650. 123 of these brutes were built at Altoona, the last one worked until 1957.
Rebuilt at Burnham in 1969 as a Tool Car, this old 40 foot DRGW Boxcar began life in the 1940's.... This car still has a place on the Union Pacific in 2017, complete with roofwalk and high brake.... (more)
You never know what you'll run across on a sunny fall day. Union Pacific Mobile Lab brings up the rear of the northbound Coast Starlight.
A once proud member of the New York Central passenger fleet, this E8 has now been wasting away on a side track in Bellevue for 15 years.
Amtrak glides thru the old SP yard in Oakridge, amid some assorted snow-fighting equipment, and a long line of lumber cars that have been stored there for quite some time. Looks like some MOW wor... (more)
In a stunning display of winter mountain railroading, UP's Roseville to Roper manifest is finally on the move, passing an Oakland-bound stack train with a GMTX GP38-2 in consist looking a bit out ... (more)
The MIDDAY CONGRESSIONAL behind GG1 4884 rushes west as a New York bound multiple unit train sits at Elizabeth. Someone remarked that this was the "Big Boy " GG1 with number 4884. I dropped my Pan... (more)
A wide angled cab shot of the fully completed 601, but this wasn't her first trip down to Toronto, as she was unveiled at the APTA last fall as GO Transit's new locomotive.
During the night, 3 loaded hoppers fell in between the rails. Mideast Railroad Services conducts Beethoven's 'Aftermath Symphony' to clean up the mess.
One of Soo Line's first diesels, and only SW1 - delivered by EMC in 1939, arrives at its new home in Duluth. The small diesel had been owned by Independent Locomotive Service where it was repainte... (more)
Will Eritrea be the first country in Africa to introduce a high speed service between Asmara and Massawa? When we visited the shed in Asmara, we were surprised to discover this Eritrean "version o... (more)
Back when the D&RGW ran the Rio Grande Zephyr, the Utah Valley railfan community would come together on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays to witness the arrival of train #17, the westward zephyr f... (more)
A rare sight comes past the ex-D&H station in Port Henry, NY in the form of three rebuilt ex-SOO LNE SD60s leading 253 at 04:04! The photogenic EMDs had been gathered in a storage line until recen... (more)
'Mornin Roanoke! 67D stopped to swap crews and add fuel while the sun began its daily ritual. The 70Ace demo, 2012, had the honor of leading the empties back towards Chicago. Thanks HankDale for... (more)
While BNSF was pulling a string of cars, the first boxcars wheels jumped the diamond and this is the outcome. The only locomotive that was able to access the tail end of the string of cars was W... (more)
PRR Heritage unit 8102 leads NS freight 39G off the Delair branch at Mantua.
Former GN F45, BN 6603 follows GN practice of running locos long hood front after the lead SD45 had an axle failure at Quincy, WA. Train 3, BN's hottest train was only delayed about 15 minutes whi... (more)
Erie-built FM power #9471 sits on the turntable at St. Clair Ave. roundhouse, PRR class FF20. Behind it a Baldwin shark and showing it's tender in the stall is what appears to be #5016, leased Sa... (more)
A rare view of Challenger 3985's firebox without a boiler jacket. Challenger 3985 is currently undergoing repairs in the UP Steam Shop in Cheyenne, WY.
I happened to be in Moab, UT when a friend reminded me that the once a week UP potash local runs on a Friday, wait thats today! All my previous plans for the day were now pushed to the side as I h... (more)
Valley Railroad Mikado No. 3025 hauls the first sold-out trainload of the night, filled with families on the North Pole Express ready to visit with Santa and his elves.
No Meet No Pass and for good reason... Four Boeing planes are on the point of a manifest climbing up the gooseneck, heading across the Hannibal Bridge into North Kansas City. The tight corn... (more)
The annual Shenandoah Junction Christmas Party is in full swing. The Roadmen pose in front of an empty autorack heading west as other fans snap photos. This year's party was dedicated to "Mayor Ro... (more)
Sold to the Illinois Railway Museum by the Virginia Museum of Transportation, the locomotive was towed to Altoona, PA for a cosmetic restoration, which never happened. This summer (2017) it made i... (more)
Eastbound Q296 passes two that are waiting for new crews. 581 and 5214 were shut down so hooking them up to air allows much quicker departure time. Note the solar pannels on the Herzog ballast c... (more)
As CSX train H750 snakes it way down the New River Gorge, Amtrak’s Cardinal train #50 over takes it on the opposite side of the river on main 2.
A heavy and long train along Marias pass route, near Essex
The "San Joaquin Daylight" has just passed the summit on its eastbound trip over the Tehachapi mountains with the Monolith cement plant seen in the distance.
Due to reasons unknown to me, contractors doing work around the TEXRail line took quite an interesting approach getting their truck across the track causing delays with TEXRail trains. Joking asid... (more)
I usually shoot the Sherman's Creek Bridge from the higher angle, tonight I decided it was time to change up the angle for something different. It worked. The signs of fall are present as you can... (more)
The afternoon International to Vancouver is ready to leave on the left, while the Empire Builder has started to load on the right.
to the Decay IV. Fireless steam locomotive built by Arnold Jung LF. GmbH (Jungenthal bei Kirchberg, Austria) in 1912. The loco worked in a distillery before being placed on this wagon (abou... (more)
A former CN loco has been restored and saved from the scrap yard by a local business. Only thing its needs now is some freight cars to stretch its legs out with on some lonely unused rails. I coul... (more)
Extra 131 east rolls by a westbound extra at Beverly, WA on August 27, 1978. About a year and a half before Milwaukee's transcontinental demise, the railroad was fairly busy with about 6 trains a ... (more)
611 runs from the last rays of sunlight at control point Edna in Reidsville, NC. The sun is also about to set on the classic Southern cantilever mast, as the hoodies are in place and ready to ass... (more)
An overview of the CN yard and shops at Proctor, MN. A huge change from the days of the Missabe. Back in it's heyday it would have been all maroon and gold here but today there is only one true ... (more)
US Gypsum's Plaster City plant sports the last narrow gauge railroad industrial railroad in the United States. I've known about this operation for sometime, primarily at the lynchpin customer in a... (more)
The scrapping of a classic. At the Morristown & Erie facility amid a pile of trucks and wheel sets, the former Amtrak 486 was backed into position to let the scrappers finish their work.
The Santa Fe Super Chief is seen at Albuquerque New Mexico in 1943. Note the wartime headlight visor on the EMC E6. Jack Delano photo, from the Library of Congress collection and my collection.
RON THUR photo from my collection
CN 103 resting inside Turnaround Diesel shop Taschereau Yd for inspection
The SL7 streamlined steam locomotive number 751 has been built in Japan by Suzuki Inc. in 1934. It was designed for a maximum speed of 130 kilometers per hours and the drivers had a diameter of 2 ... (more)
After spending the night on the Bemidji Spur, the 2nd of nine windmill trains accelerates south out of Plummer to Glenwood Yard.
Became Conrail.
Three brand new, sparkling clean GEVO units lead a UP pig train up the hill toward Tehachapi as they round the curve toward tunnel 2 on a spectacular Sunday afternoon.
RF&P 1002 has seen better days. This streamliner once wore the RF&P's gray and blue scheme and hauled passenger around Washington D.C and Richmond. Today its owned by the Virginia Museum of Transp... (more)
The rear 10 or so cars derailed about a mile back and amazingly most rerailed themselves at this grade crossing.
This photo was taken by a family member serving in Iraq who has asked to remain anonymous. Thank you Sergeant for sharing with us.
Three ALCo RS-3's sit among the trailers in what was once New York Central's Weehawken yard. Across the Hudson River is New York City.
Westbound Santa Fe intermodal train passing through Joliet, IL behind four F units.
Size comparison between a GMD GP9RM and a Hyundai Tuscon
E units, anyone? Former PRR and NYC E units during Penn Central servicing layover at Chicago, Nov. 9, 1968.
On this mild yet humid evening, UP #844 and UP #6936 race out of Brighton, CO at track speed as they bring back people to Denver from the Daddy of Em' All Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo in Cheyenne,... (more)
These things are so ugly, they're almost...no, they're just ugly.
A young gal, impressed with the sound and sight of #3254, holds her camera out for a memory as a Canadian National Mikado makes it's way past the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Station. I ... (more)
With the last lights of the day, a empty and a load of sulfuric acid are crossed at the end of the summit pass.
DURING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SANTA TRAIN UP 3985 DISGUISED AS CRR 4-6-6-4 676 IS SB AT GOFF TUNNEL AT STEINMAN, VA ON 11/19/92 ON HER FIRST RUN SOUTH.
This C40-8M, built for the CN in late 1992, was recently cut up at Chicago Heights Processing in Chicago Heights, Illinois. Canadian National has been sending some of its Dash 8 fleet here to be d... (more)
This one had been sitting a while. Originally an L&N unit, it probably never ran again for anyone. No information but from the looks of the damage I'd guess they hit a derailed car that had leane... (more)
Santa Fe 4-8-4 3751 heads east through Maine, Arizona, on its way to Chicago on August 31, 1992.
Spring has come early to Northern California!
I was never able to see these operate but I did catch one sunning itself outside the E&LS shop complex while there on business. The two Baldwin RF-16 Sharks are still there from what I understand.... (more)
Filling the sweeping curve on the approach to the 3,700-foot summit of Cajon Pass, BNSF's Southern California Christmas Train heads east for Barstow on its first crossing of the famous pass in dec... (more)
Downtown Augusta awakes to the horn of Norfolk Southern's Illinois Terminal Heritage Unit. Here it is seen running down Sixth Street as it heads to the river to cross over into South Carolina.
Santa Fe’s Train 201 behind E unit 81 zips through Fowler, Colo. on its way to Pueblo and on to Denver on April 15, 1967.
Leading it's first train since being painted into the Phase III Heritage Paint scheme, Amtrak 145 takes a break at the Cleveland Depot at 2:40 a.m. en route to Washington on the Capitol Limited.
Racing for home, the crew of 106 flies over the Dexter crossovers at sunset.
Escorting BNSF train JPTRDEN on the Joint Line on April 15, 2005 are hi-rail trucks, both in front of and following the train, carefully inspecting the right-of-way. Here the procession is slowly ... (more)
