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 …
Continue reading “Lost Opportunity – USRA Designs and Standardization”
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 …
Watch Those Drivers Roll! The Santa Fe Class 3460 Hudson
One could convincingly argue that the Santa Fe represented best practice in American railroading and was the ultimate in mobile ambience in the period 1930 – 1960. The SF had a direct route from Chicago to Los Angeles and the railroads signature trains, clad in gleaming stainless steel, were the preferred conveyance of the kings …
Continue reading “Watch Those Drivers Roll! The Santa Fe Class 3460 Hudson”
Trail Blazing TOFC
TOFC – Trailer On Flat Car represents both response to challenge and the rapid velocity of change within the railroad industry. Like most advances known to the populace, TOFC was prompted by challenge – evidence of new competition and the erosion of market share. That competition was discernable initially to carriers that were less prosperous …
Great Steam! The Southern Pacific GS Daylight Locomotives
The image remains brilliant – the streamliner with the visual impact of a bright orange and red projectile, with accents of silver and black, that still rockets through the minds of those familiar with the Southern Pacific Daylight trains. Inaugurated on March 21, 1937, that memorable image of the streamliner at speed was the product …
Continue reading “Great Steam! The Southern Pacific GS Daylight Locomotives”
Lasting Legacy of Inspection Cars
“Heads Up!” – Be Alert – was a constant warning to trackmen that labored along the mainline in the unrelenting battle to maintain the right of way. The need to be fully vigilant about the total condition of the mainline prompted regular track inspections by the army of senior operating personnel and civil engineers that …