Portent of things to come – General Electric B40-8 demonstrator 808 greets a new day in front of the NYS&W enginehouse in Binghamton, New York. The demonstration was a success, prompting the Sus... (more)

The current Allentown yard is a much different facility than it was prior to being rebuilt in 1978-9. Today, the main tracks are next to the Lehigh canal, on the opposite side of the yard from thi... (more)

The Oneida & Western was a railroad without track. Due to the Louisville & Nashville’s inability to supply sufficient empty cars and power, the Shamrock Coal Company bought its own cars and SD40... (more)

Flowers at the Gravesite

Conrail GP9B 3807 awaits the torch in the Altoona dead line. The curvature of the frame is a good indicator of the cause of death.

One of a Kind A visit to Canadian Pacific’s Toronto Yard in Agincourt, Ontario brought my only encounter with the one and only MLW M640. This 4000-horsepower monster, by 1971 standards, ... (more)

A Texas-bound Utility Fuels (UFIX) coal train is slowing to a halt in Palmer Lake, Colorado. After the entire train is on the single-track, the helpers will push the caboose back a few hundred yar... (more)

The locals have shown up to see the steam engine, but all eyes seem to be on the diesels while the fire-breathing monster simmers behind them. I’m not sure of the exact sequence here, but the 12... (more)

"Fred? Nobody by that name here!" This eastbound Rio Grande freight has an impressive six cabooses as it passes through Larkspur on the Joint Line.

”When Empty Return To…”

Well, maybe not this time. This Air Products and Chemicals liquid oxygen tank car is on a one-way trip to an appointment with a torch. The PC mill gon... (more)

On their way from their birthplace to their new home on the Santa Fe, five brand new C30-7’s travel west out of Conrail’s Collinwood yard.

The B&O coal dock stands silent over Lake Erie. In the left center are two of the "barneys" that pushed loaded cars up the slope to the loader, where the contents into the car would be unloaded a... (more)

On a very rainy April day, an eastbound Conrail freight waits for a westbound D&H train to pass. The D&H train is lead by three GP39-2's, while the CR train is powered by a typical "dog's breakfas... (more)

After spending a few days in Green Bay, my friends and I planned to move north to Escanaba to catch Chicago & North Western’s ex-N&W C628’s in ore service. While we were still in Green Bay, on... (more)

Three of a kind - For a few years, there were three GG1's at the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg. On this day, PRR 4800, or "old rivets", the original GG1, and Conrail 4859 wer... (more)

After the Lehigh Valley took over the CNJ lines in Pennsylvania in 1972, the LV main between Bethlehem and Lehighton was redundant trackage. The LV chose to keep the tracks operational, primarily ... (more)