Everyone that ended up being interested in trains probably has one particular unit that "did it" for them...well this model was mine. My earliest childhood memory of trains revolves around the big DSS&A Baldwin center-cabs as they smoked, rattled and burbled about there chores next to the house where I lived in Trout Lake. By late 1964 we had moved a couple of miles west(to the burbs, more like a hay field lol) and I was living along the Soo Line's Gladstone-Sault Ste. Marie line and I no longer seen the likes of units like this...but I was hooked and made my way track-side at the sound of a horn. EMD's were my new interest, but nothing ever compared to these brutes! In this shot from my collection by Karl Henkels the 399 rests at Marquette Roundhouse. The unit was officially retired in Jan. of 67 and traded to EMD as credit on a new GP40, but it looks to be out of service already at the time of this photo. Slide has been part of my collection for years and was traded for or bought in the 80's.
An attempt to put the best picture of engines that represent each of America's railroads. When a better picture of an engine/type is found, it will be added.