Dashing through the Line-up

The locomotive pictured on the front of this post card is the successor to the

locomotive featured in last week’s blog post. This website gives us the details about this new model of locomotive: https://grokipedia.com/page/GE_Dash_8-40C The GE Dash 8-40C is a six-axle diesel-electric freight locomotive built by General Electric Transportation Systems, featuring a 4,000 horsepower GE 7FDL-16 V16 turbocharged diesel engine and microprocessor-based control systems. A total of 584 units were produced between December 1987 and 1992, primarily for heavy-haul service on North American Class I railroads. Developed as an evolution of the earlier Dash 7, the Dash 8-40C represented GE's push into advanced electronic controls, becoming the first locomotive in any major series to incorporate fully microprocessor-equipped engine management for improved efficiency and reliability. Production began with the first unit delivered to Union Pacific in late 1987, and the model quickly gained popularity due to its robust design suited for intermodal, coal, and general freight trains. Major original purchasers included Union Pacific (256), CSX Transportation (147 units), Norfolk Southern (75 units), Chicago & North Western (77 units), and Conrail (25 units). Key specifications include a length of 70 feet 8 inches, a weight of approximately 391,000 pounds, a 4,600-gallon fuel capacity, and a top speed of 70 mph, with standard features like dynamic braking, GE 752 traction motors, and 83:20 gear ratios. Early units used Rockwell International FB-3 trucks, later transitioning to Adirondack castings, and production saw minor phase changes such as relocated dynamic brake intakes and enhanced anti-climber designs for safety. The Dash 8-40C's success led to variants like the wide-cab Dash 8-40CW (built from 1989) and cowl-bodied Dash 8-40CM (1993–1994), extending the lineage until GE shifted to the Dash 9 series in the mid-1990s. Many remain in service, often rebuilt for continued freight operations. The railroad for which this “Dash 8” is working is the Chicago & Northwestern. It is seen here at the Proviso Yard in West Chicago. While I have compiled most of the concise history of the railroad below, I recommend that you go to this website for a comprehensive history: https://www.american-rails.com/cnw.html The Chicago & North Western's founding predecessor was the Galena & Chicago Union chartered in 1836. The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (G&CU) was the first railroad constructed out of Chicago, intended to provide a shipping route between Chicago and the lead mines near Galena, Illinois. The railroad company was chartered on January 16, 1836, but financial difficulties delayed construction until 1848. While the main line never reached Galena, construction to Freeport, Illinois, allowed it to connect with the Illinois Central Railroad and provide direct service to Galena. The G&CU is notable as not only being Chicago’s first railroad but also the first to operate a steam locomotive out of the city. After a very long and complicated history, including the purchase of the railroad by its employees in 1972, the Union Pacific Railroad took full ownership of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad in 1995.

The photo credit for this picture goes to Doug Koontz. I found this description on this website: https://www.tumblr.com/norfolksouthern/190314271822/doug-koontz-a-norfolk-southern-foreman-is-no. No guarantees that this is the same Doug, but if push comes to shove, I might bet some money that they are the same person. "Doug Koontz, a Norfolk Southern foreman, is no stranger to photography. Before joining the railroad six years ago, Koontz was a newspaper photojournalist in Maryland. Near the end of a freezing winter day, Koontz happened to be near Fort Hunter Mansion and Park just north of downtown Harrisburg when he saw this NS merchandise train passing over the Susquehanna River on the Rockville Bridge. He took advantage of the colorful sunset view just in time. The icy waters of the Susquehanna, juxtaposed by fading sunlight, serve as a reminder that NS runs 24/7, in all weather conditions. Koontz recalls a saying he once heard about our around-the-clock service: “A sunset on the railroad is a pretty light show in the middle of the day.” The post card was published by Audio Visual Designs.

Quite the Long Pedigree

Way off in the distance you can see three GE C30-7 locomotives heading

up train number 289 on the Raleigh Division, Collier Yard, Virginia on May 26, 1979. The C30-7 was a six-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by GE Transportation Systems between September 1976 and May 1986. It was developed as an updated version of the U30C and was powered by a 16-cylinder GE FDL-series diesel engine. A total of 1,137 units were built for North American railroads. The model succeeded the earlier U30C, also known popularly as the U-Boat. It was General Electric's most successful design up until that time selling 606 examples. There are three examples of the U-Boats in my collection. They are coming soon… The "C" refers to that fact that it is a six-axle (C-C) locomotive. The "30" indicates that the horsepower rating is 3,000 h.p. in the traction motors. And the "7" indicates that it was introduced in 1976. The Dash 7 model is similar to the familiar U-Boat locomotives made by General Electric with a few important changes. "7" indicated the "Dash 7" line was introduced in 1976. The train we are looking at on the front of this post card belongs to the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. The Railroad (SCL) was formed from the merger of two long-time rivals, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL), in 1967. It became a major force in the southeastern U.S. before it was consolidated into the Seaboard System Railroad in 1983. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lines to create the Seaboard System in 1983. At the end of 1970, SCL operated 9,230 miles of railroad, not including A&WP-Clinchfield-CN&L-GM-Georgia-L&N-Carrollton; that year it reported 31,293 million ton-miles of revenue freight and 512 million passenger-miles. Because it is the merger of two railroads that had been around for a long time, it has quite the pedigree. You can see the list at this website, along with more history: https://appalachian-railroads.org/homepage/railroads-across-the-appalachians/seaboard-coast-line-railroad/seaboard-coast-line-railroad-historical-timeline/

The photo was taken by Curt Tullotson, Jr. The post card was published by Audio Visual Designs.

A True Hodgepodge of a Railroad

The locomotive on the front of this post card is a General Electric B23-7.

The "B" refers to that fact that it is a four-axle (B-B) locomotive. The "23" indicates that the horsepower rating is 2,250 h.p. in the traction motors. And the "7" indicates that it was introduced in 1976. The Dash 7 model is similar to the familiar U-Boat locomotives made by General Electric with a few important changes. The length of the locomotive was increased by 2 feet. The radiators used were bigger than those used on the U-Boats. There are two fewer side windows on the main cab. And the hood is wider than the U-Boat between the radiator cabin up to the exhaust stack. The fuel efficiency (because of a smaller 12 cylinder engine) and tractive effort were both improved with this model. A total of 536 B23-7's were built. This locomotive is operating on the Metro-North Commuter Railroad. Metro-North is the descendant of commuter rail services dating back as early as 1832. By 1969, they had all been acquired by Penn Central. The MTA acquired the Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven Lines by 1972, but Penn Central continued to operate them under contract. Service was transferred to Conrail in 1976, when it absorbed most of Penn Central's railroad functions after Penn Central's bankruptcy. The system took its current form in 1983, when the MTA took over direct operation of Conrail's commuter services in the northern portion of the Tri-State Area and formed Metro-North to run them. To understand the title of this particular blog post I recommend that you read the article in Wikipedia here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-North_Railroad

The photo credit goes to Joseph J. Trifono. The post card was published by Audio Visual Designs out of Earlton, New York.

Three for the Price of One

Last week I published a blog post that included information about the General Electric 44-Ton Locomotive. I also presented some information about the railroad that was running the locomotive, the Southeaster Railway Museum. This week I am going to focus on the railroad, assuming that you have memorized the information about the locomotive. This first post card is

a picture of a GE 44-Tonner at Evanson roundhouse in Wyoming. The back of the post card says that it is Wyoming Car Co. #8568, one of a small group of special military versions of the switcher. The picture was taken in August of 1976.

The second post card is another GE 44-Tonner. This one worked for one of the shortest railroads in history. This website gives you the history of the Hoboken Shore Railroad. http://hbs.railfan.net/ The Hoboken Shore Railroad started off as the Hoboken Manufacturers Railroad in 1902, a shortline that served a large industrial clientele running the length of Hoboken's (New Jersey) waterfront. The line had tight curves, street trackage, a float bridge - all elements that endeared the railroad to its fans. The railroad was renamed the "Hoboken Shore Railroad" in 1954, solely for the reason that "it sounded better!" Traffic started dropping off as industry on the Hoboken waterfront began closing down and moving out. The railroad operated in a limited fashion until at least 1977 and filed for abandonment in 1978. Today, very little of the railroad remains: Its main yard is long gone, enginehouse is now a parking lot, and most of the main is ripped up. A short section of street trackage remains in place from the vicinity of Maxwell House (today a brewery), running to the new park at 5th Street. The picture on the front of this post card was taken in 1975, just before Hoboken started its revival.

And, finally, we have the 44-Tonner, Unit #10 at the Stewartstown Railroad. This website tells you about the history of this railroad. https://stewartstownrailroadco.com/ The Stewartstown Railroad, chartered in 1884, is one of the oldest, continuously running common-carrier railroad companies (STRT) in existence. It has provided freight and passenger service to southern York County, Pennsylvania, since 1885. It operates over 7.4 miles of track which runs from Stewartstown, PA to an interchange in New Freedom, PA with the former Northern-Central Railway (NCR). The Stewartstown Railroad served mostly farmers and a handful of small manufacturing firms in its early years. Unlike many railroads of the past, the Stewartstown Railroad was able to survive the Great Depression and the shift of shipping from rail to truck that occurred in the late 1950’s as a result of improved roads and highways. This was made possible by switching from Steam Engines to Gas-powered locomotives. Despite a decline in business through the 1960’s, a small group of loyal supporters (many of whom held stock in the company) utilized the Stewartstown Railroad until 1972 when Hurricane Agnes struck. While the Stewartstown Railroad remained largely unscathed, the connecting Northern Central Railway sustained major damage. The soon-to-be bankrupt Penn Central owned the NCR at the time and refused to repair the line. The USRA planners for the newly formed CONRAIL (which assumed Penn Central’s rail lines) also refused to include the NCR as a branch line. This left the Stewartstown Railroad without a connection to the outside world. Although it appeared that the Stewartstown Railroad was no longer going to be able to provide freight service, the company continued to maintain its Right-of-Way and locomotives in preparation for future service. The Company’s efforts were rewarded when the PA Department of Transportation reopened the NCR once again giving the Stewartstown an outside connection. The Stewartstown Railroad assumed trackage rights in 1985 and ran trains on the NCRy until 1992. Passenger excursion trains continued on the Stewartstown’s trackage until 2004. Today, with the tireless efforts and dedicated help from numerous volunteers, railroad enthusiasts, and the local community, the Stewartstown Railroad is back in passenger excursion service. Home to the venerable “Mighty-Mo”, a vintage 1943 Plymouth switcher locomotive, we offer various forms of train rides in some of the most pastoral scenery in the northeastern United States. Along the meandering hills and wistful forests of the Deer Creek valley. The post card was published in 1993

Lightweight and Popular

The locomotive you see on this post card is pulling a consist of a caboose from the Southern Railways, Central of Georgia Railroad and the Clinchfield Railroad. It is at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, Georgia. It is being pulled by a General Electric 44 Ton Center Cab Unit. My favourite railroad-rlated website, https://www.american-rails.com/laurinburg.html tells us this about the GE 44-Tonner: General Electric's 44-tonner was the builder's most well-known in its early line of industrial switchers with more than 400 produced between 1940-1957. This model was first powered by two Caterpillar D17000 V8 diesel engines, providing a top speed of 35 mph. A total of 373 units were produced in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. In addition, another 60 were built for the military and 43 more exported to other countries making it a successful model for General Electric. The switcher featured a symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing carbody while also providing ruggedness and reliability. The centercab carbody sported a raised cab with a tapered hood at each end. Their B-B trucks were an all-welded design, somewhat unique as most were produced from castings. They were 33 feet, 5 inches long. Ten 44-tonners were equipped with a pair of Buda 6DH1742 engines capable of producing 205 horsepower each. The Phase IV and Phase V switchers boasted 400 horsepower.

The Photo is courtesy of Howard L. Robins. I found a book on line that features photos “by noted photographer Howard Robins. Enjoy ACL, SAL, SOU, A&WP, GA, CofG, SCL, L&N, and the other smaller roads that made Atlanta, Georgia such an eclectic mix of railroading in the 1960s.” The book’s title is “Trackside around Atlanta 1956-1975 with Howard Robins” The post card was published by Mary Jayne’s Railroad Specialties, Inc. in 1994. It is 1 of 243 post cards in my collection that were published by Mary Jayne’s.

Gone, But Not Forgotten

The locomotive pictured on the front of this post card is an Alco S2 Switcher

– a sister to last week’s featured locomotive. This one is leaving the Engine House at West Point, Georgia to do some local switching. The locomotive was owned by the Chattahoochee Valley Railway. This short (9 ½ miles) railroad connected with the Atlanta & West Point and with the Western Railway of Alabama right there at West Point. The line was abandoned in 1992 after being in existence for 97 years. The information about this railroad, presented below was found at our good friends from Wikipedia. Originally the line was constructed by the Chattahoochee Valley Railroad on July 2,1895 from Langdale to Lanett, it was extended to Riverview by 1897. In 1900, the railroad was reorganized to become the Chattahoochee Valley Railway (CHV). Further expansion included new tracks south to Jester in 1899 and north to Standing Rock, Alabama by 1908. By extending tracks further to Bleecker in 1916 the railroad totaled 45 miles and connected to three other railroads. The railroad started retracting in 1932 when part of the railroad was abandoned from Standing Rock to West Point and passenger service ended. In the 1960s, a dam was constructed north of West Point, and the CHV built a short spur line to reach the construction site for delivery of materials. When construction of the dam was completed in 1973 the spur was abandoned. Around the same time, the railroad abandoned the line from Riverview to Bleecker. The railroad shut down completely on September 23, 1992, with tracks removed the following year. By the time of the abandonment the railroad numbered less than 10 miles. CHV 2-8-0 steam locomotive No. 21, built in 1924 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, is now on display at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, Georgia.

The post card was published by the same person who took the photograph: Mary Jayne Rowe. I have 243 post cards published by this lovely, now deceased lady. It was published on December 4, 1985 from Covington, Virginia.

That is a lot of Horsepower at Work

The picture on the front of this post card is another set of Fairbanks-Morse

4,800 horsepower “Train Master” locomotives. They are hauling iron ore from the open-pit mines near Ely-Biwabik to the loading docks at Two Harbors, Minnesota. This website https://www.american-rails.com/nylb.html offers us a fascinating history of how the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railroad came to be. Here is a very short excerpt from his article. I recommend that you go there and read it. Because of its unique nature the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range carries one of the most interesting histories of any railroad. The company's existence was tied directly, and almost exclusively, to iron ore. In many ways, it differed entirely from its counterparts. Its heritage, ironically, begins with gold. A gold rush hit Minnesota's Lake Vermilion region in 1865 when prospectors claimed they had stumbled upon the precious metal. This hope turned out to be unfounded, and the flurry of activity had ended by 1868. However, a few individuals stuck around after noticing the red soil appeared to contain rich sources of iron. The most notable was George Stuntz who set into motion efforts that later became the Duluth & Iron Range, DM&IR's earliest component. After studying samples, the ore was proven to be roughly 65% pure iron, an extremely exciting prospect. The Duluth & Iron Mountain Railroad (D&IM) was incorporated on January 29, 1881 by Charlemagne Tower of Philadelphia for the purpose of hauling the iron ore to market. After a route was surveyed for the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad, construction commenced northward from Agate Bay with a short segment initially opened at that location on August 28, 1883. After nearly a year of construction the entire 68-mile line was completed on July 31, 1884, serving two early docks at Two Harbors. A group of industrialists, which included oil mogul John D. Rockefeller, carried a nearly limitless stream of capital. Threatening to build a competing line of their own, Tower capitulated and sold his stakes in April of 1887 for a total of $6.4 million. The D&IR reached the western Mesabi Range in 1892 when it opened an 18-mile extension to McKinley via Wyman. This put it direct competition with a nearby road with which it would later merge, the Duluth, Missabe & Northern. On February 11, 1891 the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railway was formed and by October of 1892 it was ready for service. The two railroads remained separate corporate entities until a series of transactions in the late 1930s; first, the DM&N and Spirit Lake Transfer Railway (formed in 1907, this DM&N subsidiary eventually constructed 11 miles in the West Duluth area to serve a steel mill owned by the Minnesota Steel Company) were merged on July 1, 1937 to form the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway.

This post card is another of the post cards in my collection from Audio Visual Designs. The photo is by Lewis A. Harlow.