In 1905, the Pennsylvania Railroad used 4-4-2 Atlantic-type locomotives to power the 18-hour Pennsylvania Special. With 80″ driving wheels and about 21,000 pounds of tractive effort, these locomotives weren’t as powerful as the newer 4-6-2 locomotives, but the Special didn’t … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Postcard
My recent post about all-steel passenger cars raises the question: what was the first all-steel intercity train? The first all-steel train of any kind was undoubtedly an IRT subway train. The first all-steel intercity train was also clearly a Pennsylvania … Continue reading
The end of the World’s Columbian Exposition also saw the end of the Exposition Flyer‘s 20-hour schedule. Initially, New York-Chicago passengers had to be content with journeys of at least 26 hours. In September 1894, the Central speeded up its … Continue reading
In 1901, the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) was created by merging eight locomotive manufacturers to better compete with Baldwin, the nation’s largest locomotive maker. The next year, ALCO delivered to the Missouri Pacific the first 4-6-2 built for an American … Continue reading
Before 1900, the average passenger train in America consisted of four wooden cars weighing a total of about 160 tons. By 1930, the average passenger train had eight steel cars weighing a total of 450 tons. The all-steel revolution clearly … Continue reading
In 1900, every streetcar, rapid transit car, and intercity rail passenger car in America was made primarily out of wood. The wheels, trucks, and couplers were metal, of course, but the frame, body, roof, floor, and other components were wood. … Continue reading
This postcard came with the Great Northern See America First cards shown in the previous three days. However, it isn’t from Great Northern and it isn’t really a postcard. For one thing, the size is a little smaller than a … Continue reading
Sometime in the late 1940s, SP&S adopted this timetable cover–green with its large red oval logo on top and two smaller logos of parent GN and NP railways below–and used it for about two decades. This one, dated October 1958, … Continue reading
These two pairs of See America First postcards have the same photos on the front but different rhymes on the back. The first pair shows Going to the Sun Camp. This opened as a dining hall and cabins for 38 … Continue reading
These cards are distinguished from yesterday’s solely by the fact that they are printed portrait style (taller than wide) rather than landscape style (wider than tall). The backs, of course, are still printed landscape style. Click image to download a … Continue reading