The first cover today commemorates the 30th anniversary of the first run of the California Zephyr. Postmarked March 17, 1979, in Bond, Colorado, the envelope includes a printed note saying that it was carried from Denver to Bond on the … Continue reading
Category Archives: Rockets
Although the American Freedom Train that was put together for the Bicentennial used two different steam locomotives at different times, the one that made the lasting impression — and that is still active today — was the Southern Pacific 4449. … Continue reading
The Choctaw Route, or more formally the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad, extended from West Memphis, Arkansas to Amarillo, Texas in 1902 when it was purchased by the Rock Island Railroad. Rock Island extended the line to Memphis, TN on … Continue reading
Rock Island introduced the Budd-built, GMC-powered Rockets in 1937, and this postcard is a variation of one we previously seen. It seems to be older as it only shows one headlight on the TA locomotive while the other one shows … Continue reading
Gary, Indiana is a steel town, having been created in 1906 by the United States Steel Corportation and named after that company’s chairman, Elbert Gary. So when the city celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1956, what better way for the … Continue reading
In February, 1956, just a month after the Aerotrain made its first revenue run, the Rock Island Railroad placed the redundantly named Jet Rocket in service between Chicago and Peoria. The train consisted of cars built by ACF combined with … Continue reading
While the Pere Marquette and Empire Builder were the first post-war trains, the Rock Island holds the honor of being the only railroad allowed to introduce a new passenger train during the war. In January, 1945, the Twin Star Rocket … Continue reading
The 1938 Report on Streamline Trains discusses several streamlined trains that I haven’t mentioned in previous posts, and while I don’t have a lot of memorabilia for these trains they are worth presenting for the sake of completeness. The first … Continue reading