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.

Living up to its Mission even Today

The locomotive on the front of this post card is a Fairbanks-Morse “Train Master”. I wrote about the “Train Master” in last week’s post. This week, rather than writing about the locomotive, I will write about the railroad on which it is operating: the New York & Long Branch. This picture was taken at Bay Head Junction in New Jersey in October of 1956. https://www.american-rails.com/nylb.html tells us this information about the history and continued importance of the New York & Long Branch Railroad: The New York & Long Branch (NY&LB) was never an independent corporate entity and never operated any of its own equipment. This system started at Bay Head Junction and ran up to Perth Amboy, where it linked with the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Perth Amboy and Elizabethport line. Jointly owned and run by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey to largely handle commuter service throughout east-central New Jersey, it transitioned to Conrail ownership in 1976. Incorporated on April 8, 1868, the NY&LB was conceived with a clear mission: to connect the major cities of New Jersey's Monmouth County with the economic heart of New York City. • By 1875, the rail line extending from Perth Amboy to Long Branch was completed. On December 20, 1881, several railroads were merged into the NY&LB which included: The New Egypt & Farmingdale Railroad was incorporated on March 17, 1869. Its tracks reached from Long Branch to Belmar in 1876, though the rest of the line to New Egypt was never completed. • The Long Branch & Sea Girt Railroad, incorporated on June 18, 1875, constructed its line from Belmar to Sea Girt in 1876. • The New York & Long Branch Extension Railroad was founded on March 10, 1880, and built its line from Sea Girt to Point Pleasant that same year. • The Long Branch & Barnegat Bay Railroad, established on September 23, 1880, laid tracks from Point Pleasant to Bay Head Junction by 1881. The NY&LB marked a significant shift in the socio-economic landscape of the New Jersey coast. It transformed previously isolated beach towns into thriving seaside resorts frequented by wealthy New York residents. The easy access afforded by the railroad spurred real estate development, giving rise to an array of Victorian-style homes and seaside settlements. Beyond tourism, the NY&LB was instrumental in boosting local industries. Agricultural producers and manufacturers benefited from new markets opened by fast and reliable rail connections. Through its various incarnations—from a passenger lifeline for vacationers and locals, to an integral part of New Jersey Transit's commuter network—the NY&LB continues to epitomize the adaptability and enduring relevance of railways in American history.

This post card is another of the post cards in my collection from Audio Visual Designs. The photo is by Don Wood.

Exit, Stage Left!!

The locomotive on the front of this post card is a Fairbanks-Morse “Train Master”. It was built for the Reading Railroad Company in 1953.

Here it is switching at the railroad’s Rutherford Yard near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on May 2, 1964. The H-24-66, or “Train Master”, is a diesel-electric railroad locomotive produced by Fairbanks-Morse and its licensee, Canadian Locomotive Company. These six-axle hood unit road switchers were used in the United States and Canada during the 1950s. Advertised by Fairbanks-Morse as "the most useful locomotive ever built", the 2,400-horsepower “Train Master” was the most powerful single-engine diesel locomotive at its introduction in 1953. No competitor offered a locomotive with an equal horsepower rating until the ALCO RSD-7 entered production in January 1954. EMD followed suit in July 1958 with the SD24, and GE introduced their U25C in September 1963. While some railroads saw advantages in the “Train Master's” greater power, others thought the unit had too much horsepower. Other drawbacks were the difficulties inherent in maintaining the opposed-piston engine, inadequacies in the electrical system, and a higher-than-normal consumption of cooling water. All these contributed to poor market acceptance of the “Train Masters”—and ultimately the departure of Fairbanks-Morse from the locomotive business. Thus, the title of this blog post is "Exit, Stage Left!!"

This post card is another of the post cards in my collection from Audio Visual Designs. It looks like the post card was commissioned by the Frisco line for distribution by them. The photo is by Carl H. Sturner