With a train of four empty pulpwood flats, a Canadian National GP9 brings a local west past the depot at Sherbrooke, Quebec.

The Rio Grande Zephyr had an appeal that just can’t be matched by today’s intercity trains. One element that may never return is the ability to stand in the vestibule and watch the train fr... (more)

In 1980, there was no internet, and news of a new locomotive or paint scheme came via magazines a couple of months after the fact, the “railfan grapevine”, or happenstance discovery. While on a tr... (more)

True Colors

One of two Lehigh Valley C420’s to retain its 1964 as-delivered “yellow jacket” paint scheme, now-D&H 413 leads a train west (D&H north) from Allentown, Pennsylvania. ... (more)

A Delaware & Hudson Belden Hill detour train comes west on Conrail’s Southern Tier line east of Lanesboro, Pennsylvania. The former Erie main line can be seen crossing the frame in the distance, ... (more)

One of the Delaware & Hudson’s big U33C’s leads a southbound Belden Hill detour train west on Conrail’s Southern Tier line. The station at Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, also known as the Starrucca Ho... (more)

CP/D&H Train 556 waits for a recrew at CSX’ East Side Yard in Philadelphia. There was always hope of getting an MLW leading on this train, but this version had two M636’s trailing. The next day’s ... (more)

Viewed from the Walnut Street bridge, CP/D&H combined trains 555/701depart Philadelphia. Today, the water tower has disappeared from the Locust Point building, and the National Publishing Company ... (more)

More Shades of Gray (CSX Version)

Already a grey railroad, with quite a few variants of its grey and blue paint scheme, also had legacy grey from the Seaboard System, Family Lines,... (more)

The southbound Orange Blossom Special travels within sight of the Philadelphia Art Museum after exiting the tunnel that passes under the Oval in front of the iconic art museum steps. The t... (more)

Thanks to a Virginia law, one of the hottest freight trains to travel through Philadelphia still had a caboose in 1987. The end of the southbound Orange Blossom Special rolls along the Schu... (more)

When Conrail first decided upon blue and white as its corporate image, quite a few units were painted without the correct lettering, and without the wheel-on-rail “can opener” logo. Outlying shops... (more)

One of Conrail’s former Erie/EL E8’s escaped the fate of its roster mates, who gave up their prime movers to the DeWitt Geep RS3 re-engine program. Shortly after the consolidation, Conrail’s mana... (more)

Only two of Conrail’s immediate predecessors rostered E8’s, and both contributed examples to the Conrail roster. Many of the Penn Central’s large roster of the EMD passenger units were conveyed t... (more)

A pair of light SD50’s crosses the Schuylkill River Viaduct in the West Falls section of Philadelphia. The stone arch structure was built by Reading Company predecessor Philadelphia & Reading Rail... (more)