When it entered life, MC Station in Detroit was a visionary railroad station that underscored NYC-controlled Michigan Central’s commitment to moving the masses efficiently, with style and class. It was also once the tallest railroad station in the world. To the residents of Detroit, the station remained their primary base for travel for over 50 …
History of the Union Pacific Challenger Class
Much of life is the art of turning adversity into virtue. The darkest years of the Great Depression (1931-1934) provided a wakeup call for the railroad industry. Variations of best practice pre-1930 would no longer suffice, especially with railroad motive power. The Union Pacific was among the carriers that got busy and applied intelligence with …
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Veterans Day Observance – Military Railroads
The US military and our railroads have developed a strong bond that began during the Civil War. That was the first time in our pioneering Nation that national unrest and our railroad infrastructure became intertwined. In truth, had the conflict erupted much earlier, the eventual resolution would have been longer in coming, simply because our …
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Riding On Two Levels
Much confusion and a long history regarding the terms Bilevel, Hi-Level, Double-Decker, Duplex and Gallery prevails but all those tags refer to passenger cars with two levels. References into this subject state that this concept was experimentally tested in France in the 19th century. Interest in the US was tepid ironically until the bleakest periods …
Railroad Ghost Lore
Pop culture has shifted the once-dominant harvest theme for October and Halloween into a celebration of spirits, ghosts and goblins. Many excursion and tourist railroads have gotten into the swing as well, not only to celebrate the season but to fill seats on their coaches and extend the normal operating season. Beyond current cultural trends, …
Lost Opportunity – USRA Designs and Standardization
During the renaissance of the US railroad industry 1980 -2000, standardization played a material role in contributing to the efficiency most major railroads now enjoy. Gone were the days when strong-willed railroad mechanical engineers and equally stubborn suppliers fueled the creation of custom-designed locomotives and cars. Superficially, the pretense was that locomotive and car designs …
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Pace-Setter for Passengers
For decades, the proud name of the New Haven Railroad was once synonymous with passenger travel. Linking principally New York and Boston, in the era when both cities were the US financial powerhouses that drove the Nation, the NH fielded a spectrum of passenger services that ranged form the basic local, commuter train to some …
Autos by Rail
A railroad trade journal recently proclaimed that the first journey your new car will have is by rail. Despite the battle railroads wage with the publicly-funded highways and airports, not to mention the long-standing battle to get truckers to pay their fair share for use of the highways, railroads are highly dependent on revenue from …
Baltimore and Ohio Cincinnatian
To passengers along the Baltimore to Cincinnati mainline of the Baltimore & Ohio, it represented a much-needed facelift of daycoach, train service. To the B&O, the train pre-staged competing service being planned by the C&O and N&W. In the end, it was the last regularly scheduled, steam-powered streamliner in the US. Born in the brief …
Down at the Depot
The thunder of passenger trains and freight trains of all classes and descriptions once reminded communities that the railroads were the lifeblood of a town. The action occurred at the depot where any journey locally or long distance began. The depot was also the place where the products manufactured or harvested by a community went …