Half-Patched

Both locomotives in this GP9/GP30 combination appear have been pulled out of the shop before the Conrail rebranding process could be completed. Both units’ long hoods ... (more)

Before delivering its coal loads to Davenport Cement, SP's Davenport Local cut off two of its four GP9s. Note the disrepair of the rail in the yard. The photographer remembers passing through this... (more)

Drab Power on a Dreary Day

The day after Conrail’s first anniversary finds a GP30/GP9/GP39 power set in a mix of patched and unpatched Penn Central colors (colors?) approaching Al... (more)

The Pinsly organization, like many shortline holding companies, frequently swapped locomotives between its railroads. That's how Frankfort & Cincinnati S4 106 moved from its home in Kentucky to Ma... (more)

Powered by six EMD’s, a westbound Conrail manifest rolls through the Pennsylvania farmland approaching Titus. Getting a train here was challenging, as the Reading Belt Line was usually eschewed by... (more)

As an eastbound train drifts downgrade toward Altoona, an ex-Penn Central SD40 and an ex-Erie Lackawanna SD45 push a westbound up the last portion of the grade before entering the tunnel at Tunnel... (more)

Two big SD45-2s lead a heavy Santa Fe manifest up the steep grade at Woodford. The eastbound will meet an SP on the Loop that is already in the hole waiting for it. Some of Santa Fe's 45-2s are st... (more)

Near sunset, a hot 199 train wends its way through Franklin Canyon at Christie, having just exited tunnel 3, the longest on the entire railroad. The cattle on the hillside above the train give it ... (more)

The "Last Western Maryland Locomotive," spotted from an open-window coach while riding behind the PM 1225 during the 1991 NRHS Convention. No. 6573 was built in August, 1971 as the WM N... (more)

Big Alco RSD15 No. 5161 works SP's hump at Eugene Yard. Note the unusual-looking antenna atop the cab. By this time, SP's Alligators were being removed from road service, while Santa Fe's were sti... (more)

In October 1973, two EMDs idles next to each other modeling two variations of Western Pacific's paint schemes. No. 3010's scheme was an attempt to raise the profile of the railroad by putting its ... (more)

About a month before it was absorbed by UP, power of various kinds idles in front of Western Pacific's shops in Stockton. A good portion of the power you see here will be gone or in a deadline onc... (more)

Union Pacific DD40 6909 sits with a trio of UP 8000 series SD40-2s in the diesel service area in the Los Angeles yard. Photo taken with permission.

Santa Fe 8031 leads a westbound autorack train through Lugo as it approaches the summit in Cajon Pass.

Penn Central didn't like to spend unnecessary money on paint. Former New York Central RS-3 5333 had its old road name and herald painted out and went back to work in complete corporate anonymity. ... (more)