On its original rails in Michigan's Thumb region, the Huron & Eastern operated a group of GP9s clad in the old Pere Marquette style.

The low sun paints a warm glow over the "little" NKP excursion steamer returning from a run to Ohio, probably reflecting the spirits of passengers delighted with their experience on this Bluewater... (more)

As long as we could watch heavy manifests pulled by on multiple-track mains, we in the Midwest and Northeast might continue to delude ourselves that we weren't REALLY the "rust belt" yet!

GE's answer to the "power by the hour" proposition, these LMX B39-8s or "sharks," while normally assigned to BN, are leaning into the Millbury Curve with a westbound Conrail freight. Dinner in El... (more)

Two clean SD50s make a run for Salem hill with a CPOX ("chicken pox") coal train. Just over my shoulder is "Mt. Trashmore," a monumental landfill, but you'll never see it because RP declines to a... (more)

Luckily for GP30 aficionados, CSX chose to convert a number of them to road slugs, mated with GP40-2 "mothers" and often used at Plymouth to assist coal trains around the wye and up Salem hill. T... (more)

A red locomotive and a VTRZ trailer, two icons of modern Vermont railroading, grace a waterlogged yard near the Burlington waterfront.

Railroads typically were paralleled by communication and power lines, not always as obviously as here. The high-tension line to the left of the CR freight has long been a distinguishing character... (more)

The yellow nose may have been a throwback to an old C&O livery, but it certainly made a difference in terms of visibility.

OK, I have to admit that, purely from an aesthetic point of view and not from operational or safety concerns, the "stealth" look could be appealing, as on these GE's rounding the Plymouth wye in t... (more)

I love it when the newer paint starts to wear off and you can see remnants of older liveries peaking through, as on this B&O GP30, starting to exhibit the "sunrise" heritage on its nose.

What were they thinking (other than saving money on painting!)? A locomotive in CSX's "stealth" scheme became almost invisible in inclement conditions and not much more obvious when the sun was o... (more)

The frozen fields barely hint at the bounty soon to fill this collection of covered hoppers being distributed to the elevators farther down the line. Grain hauling before the days of unit trains!

I got into serious railfanning about the same time as Conrail was formed, so its struggles and successes made a particular impression on me. THIS is the way I'd always like to remember Big Blue.

Mail-8 slams past Nasby Tower on its eastward journey. The B40-8s were the chosen units to receive the white placard on the nose touting a "Labor-Management Project." It wasn't all that legible,... (more)