All Articles Tagged 'rail' (104)

This will be a short one - with a few really great pictures, although.

With the increase of passenger traffic on the New Haven's Shore Line requiring trains of fourteen to sixteen cars, the capacity of the I4 Pacifics which had been used for twenty years was severely taxed. As a result of tests with two of…

A company once known as "world's greatest travel system" had a lot to advertise.

Established in 1881, the Canadian Pacific Railway quickly evolved into a business empire. Their activities stretched far beyond the railroads: the CPR operated steamships and hotels, telegraph services and radio stations, and, quite naturally, an…

When I read that one of these locomotives was pressed into service in 1965, I could hardly believe my eyes.

But it's true. The WP class Pacifics were built for Indian Railways from 1947 through 1967. If we agree to call them 'streamliners' (in India, they prefer another definition - 'bullet nose'), here is the largest steam streamliner class…

One cannot but admire the pace of progress during the Diesel Era:

Three years after the introduction of lightweight diesel-powered streamline units, much more powerful locomotives were ready to haul full-weight trains. These locomotives, designed and built by EMC (Electro-Motive Corporation of La Grange, IL), were a serious competition…

This Sunday, our streamliner is small, electric-powered and not too fast.

The EF55 class consisted of three locomotives built in 1936 by Hitachi, Kawasaki, and Tōyō Electric in Japan. They had 2Co+Co1 wheel arrangement and were originally intended to haul limited express trains on the narrow gauge (1067mm,…

Once upon a time in the Middle East, there were mammoth-like creatures spreading steam and thirsty for water.

It comes as something of a surprise to many people to discover that in the early 1940s Iraq State Railways were in the forefront of design so far as the steam locomotive is concerned. In 1940 Iraq State Railways completed the…

I'm sure you're familiar with this beauty:

Yes, she's famous. But it's no reason for her exclusion from our streamline line-up.

The Princess Coronation Class, or as more commonly known Duchess class (or 'Big Lizzies'), is considered to be Sir William Stanier’s ‘Opus Magnum’ for the former London Midland and…

A steam wonder of the Diesel Era: streamline Garratt locomotive.

For starters, a short quote: "In 1934 the standard gauge between Algeria and Morocco was completed. The expresses Alger - Oran, hauled by the fantastic Garratts 231-132-AT, then BT, had cars for the express Oran - Casablanca..." (…

They are back again, those streamliners, with a classic Peter Ewart poster:

You don't have to guess the make - it's THE Royal Hudson, Canadian Pacific Class H1d #2850. A semi-streamliner, like a lot of its contemporaries used by the same railway.  And before we see it again, let's take a quick look at some slightly…

For once, here is something that hasn't (completely) popped out my twisted imagination: this somehow funny looking, cartoonish train is based on a real train, a passengers DMU (Diesel Multi Unit) class ДП, which in russian is short for Дизель поезд (Diesel train). Built during WWII by the company…

If you think this column has run out of steam locomotives, you're totally wrong.
 We still have got a whole st(r)eamliner fleet at our shed. And today, after four diesels in a row, it's time to pay a tribute to the forgotten Seabord Air Line locos. The railroad's name is deceptive, suggesting aeroplanes, airports, etc. Actually, SAL had (almost) nothing to do with aviation, their name…

Another European diesel-motor railcar.

Isn't it gorgeous?

Traditionally, the Hungarian State Railway, the MÁV (founded in 1868) purchased almost all of its steam locomotives from its own Machine Factory (MÁVAG). The cars, however, were produced by many private companies. These included such…

Another diesel train featured in our old Flying Americans article: the GM&N (later GM&O) Rebel.

Here is its story, told by Marty Bernard @…

Meet the fastest railcar in Poland - diesel-powered indeed.

Luxtorpeda was a common name of a famous Polish train, which ran on some of the most important rail routes of Poland in the 1930s. A Luxtorpeda consisted of a single, first-class only railcar, with its own internal combustion engine.

Luxtorpeda, sometimes spelled Lux-Torpeda (roughly…

How many horses a railroad needs to haul a full-size train? Not less than twenty-four hundred!

After the first United Pacific Streamliner, a 600hp three-car articulated set, came a 900hp six-car 10001 train, and soon afterwards - the City of Los Angeles, a six-car train hauled by a stand-alone 1200hp locomotive.…

This streamliner was supposed to become the Third Reich's standard express locomotive.

Different from all-new experimental 05 Class locos, the Class 01.10 (DRG Br.01¹⁰) was a development of the Class 01, built…

The Union Pacific history is surely the best showcase for diesel trains development.

Its high-speed trains have been already featured in our Flying Americans articles (v.1.0 and…

A million-dollar look from an old poster:

That is the Sir Winston Dugan*. Numbered 620 (and first of its class - class 620), it had a chrome grate over the smokebox to "emulate" the grills on automobiles of the time (and was the only loco given this treatment). It was dark green with yellow stripes.

The poster comes from the…

The New Haven's Comet was presented to the public as "Latest Diesel-Engine Train Built Like Airships. " *

Probably it is less famous that the Reichsbahn's "rail zeppelin". But it was built by Goodyear-Zeppelin company, a German-American joint venture created to build…

This is a short story of two steam locomotives, unsung in their day.

Bearing a striking resemblance to the famous A4 class of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), they belonged to smaller and slower B17 class, designed by Nigel Gresley in 1926-1927. The B17's had a lot in common with A1 Pacifics, built from 1924. The first of the class,…