Ghosts Of The Rails

Just a blog for any and all American Railroad fans. Here will be anything from modern day diesels, to the very early days of steam, and anything else in between. A lot of posts will more than likely be reblogged from other train tumblrs. But this one will be specifically for American locomotives and trains from all ages. So feel free to stick around or even tag me on posts about trains you’d like to see here. This of this as a collection if you will. Side blog of @kindashywriter

[railwayhistorical]

Another Bicentennial

I saw and photographed this SW1500, of the Indianapolis Union Railway, a few times in 1976. I'll work on getting the locale.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken 1976.

[railwayhistorical]

Peoria Rocket I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph both Rock Islands Rockets back in the 1970s.

This one was the first of the two, the Peoria Rocket, perhaps, and it happens to be powered by the distinctive bicentennial unit of the time: number 652 (it would later be preserved).

The train is seen traveling eastbound (inbound) and photographed from Marley Road in New Lenox, Illinois.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken September 5th 1976.

[greatwesternway]

"My doctor has forbidden me to pull."

A 1934 publicity stunt in which ten men pull the Burlington Zephyr (later renamed Pioneer Zephyr) trainset to prove how light it is… cheered on by an eleventh guy.

[railwayhistorical]

Indiana Rail Road Passenger Special (1 of 3)

We're on the former Illinois Central line to Indianapolis, which became the heart of the fledgling Indiana Rail Road.

In the first two images we see their fall leaf special atop the Richland Creek Viaduct (or Tulip Trestle), twenty-two miles west of Bloomington, Indiana. The third picture has the train stopped in Solsberry, seven miles up the track. The E-unit began life as 36A for the Milwaukee Road while the CF7 for the Santa Fe.

Three images by Richard Koenig; taken in the fall of 1990.

[dampfloks]

Nebraska Zephir (Illinois Railway Museum) 2025

(English text below)

Der „Nebraska Zephyr“ ist ein stromlinienförmiger (streamlined), vollständig aus rostfreiem Stahl gebauter Zug, der ursprünglich 1936 von der Budd Company gefertigt wurde. Der Zug gehörte zu zwei ursprünglichen identischen Zugsets, die als „Twin Zephyrs“ bekannt waren – eines der Sets wurde später als Nebraska Zephyr eingesetzt.

Die Wagen waren artikuliert: Das heißt, benachbarte Wagen teilen sich Achsen (“trucks”) und sind nicht einfach entkoppelbar.

Der heute erhaltene Zug besteht aus fünf Wagen:  1. 960 “Venus” – Power-Car + Coach (Triebwagen + Sitzwagen)  2. 4626 “Vesta” – reiner Coach (Sitzwagen)  3. 4627 “Minerva” – ebenfalls ein Sitzwagen (Coach)  4. 150 “Ceres” – Restaurantwagen (Dining Car)  5. 225 “Juno” – Lounge-/Observation Car mit Panorama-Aussicht und drehbaren Sesseln

Der Wagen “Juno” (Nummer 225) ist besonders interessant: er hat am hinteren Ende große Fenster zum Aussichtsbereich, drehbare Lounge-Sessel und ist am vorderen Ende artikuliert (teilt sich eine Achse mit dem Wagen vor ihm, daher kann er nicht separat abgekoppelt werden).

Der Zug wurde 1968 aus dem regulären Dienst genommen; eines der Sets (das „Train of the Goddesses“) wurde dem Illinois Railway Museum gespendet und dort weitgehend restauriert.

Heute wird der komplett erhaltene Zug dort für Museumsfahrten eingesetzt, oft gezogen von der originalen E5-Diesellok CB&Q 9911A “Silver Pilot”.

Wir hatten das große Glück mit diesem großartigen und phantastisch designten Zug mitfahren zu dürfen.

Nebraska Zephyr The Nebraska Zephyr is a streamlined train made entirely of stainless steel, originally manufactured by the Budd Company in 1936.

The train was part of two original identical train sets known as the ‘Twin Zephyrs’ – one of the sets was later used as the Nebraska Zephyr.

The carriages were articulated: this means that adjacent carriages share axles (‘trucks’) and cannot be easily uncoupled.

The train that survives today consists of five carriages:

960 ‘Venus’ – power car + coach (railcar + seating car)

4626 ‘Vesta’ – pure coach (seating car)

4627 ‘Minerva’ – also a seating car (coach)

150 “Ceres” – dining car

225 ‘Juno’ – lounge/observation car with panoramic views and swivel armchairs

The ‘Juno’ carriage (number 225) is particularly interesting: it has large windows at the rear end for viewing, swivel lounge chairs and is articulated at the front end (it shares an axle with the carriage in front of it, so it cannot be uncoupled separately).

The train was taken out of regular service in 1968; one of the sets (the ‘Train of the Goddesses’) was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum and extensively restored there.

Today, the completely preserved train is used there for museum trips, often pulled by the original E5 diesel locomotive CB&Q 9911A ‘Silver Pilot’.

We had the great luck to be able to ride on this magnificent and fantastically designed train.

[monstroso]

I made some stamps to function as achievement badges for our train forum. These are my favorites of the bunch, but there are more to collect and more on the way!

[r-4360waspmajor]

[4449fandom]

"4449 crossing the high bridge in Auburn before the Donner tunnels deposited all that dirt and soot"

[4449fandom]

First time she moved out of the Brooklyn roundhouse under steam!

[aryburn-trains]

IC’s Hawkeye

Sioux City–Chicago Hawkeye at 21st Street, Chicago, July 1948. Robert Milner

[alco-luvr]

The train roars westbound, a silver arrow tipped of silver, then gold, then orange.

From green farms stretching as far as the eye can see, to to the steep mountains of the west, earthen tan and back to lush green

Snaking through tunnels and over bridges, an unparalleled view, the train always reflecting its surroundings.

Not for speed, like the yellow streak to the north, but a cruise ship for the west. Vista domes for unparalleled views

The times change, the route shortens, and the arrow is only tipped with gold. It struggles on, an anomaly, a remnant of a bygone era, until it too, is bygone.

The train roars westbound, a silver arrow tipped of red white and blue. The train changes, some of the views change, but one fact remains:

This train is the greatest and final word in travel. This train is the California Zephyr

[alco-luvr]

The California Zephyr

[railwayhistorical]

Northbound

In these images, we see a northbound train, on the Louisville & Nashville, at two locations on either side of McDoel Yard—which is located on the south side of Bloomington, Indiana.

In the first photograph the train is seen south of the yard meeting a train headed southward. This line is the former Monon and we see their distinctive semaphore signals here (with a so-called doll arm in this case).

In the second shot the same northbound trains is seen north of the yard approaching the center of Bloomington. I recall that there was a former Monon U23B in the consist that day.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken March 23rd 1976.

[railwayhistorical]

Alco C430 Demonstrator

Someone on FB tipped me off that I may have unwittingly gotten a shot of an Alco C430 demonstrator unit. Once I had the chance, I did some digging and scanned a couple of slides today to confirm.

Indeed, I believe this unit, SCL 1275 is Alco 430-1 (one of three demonstrators built in March of 1967). At the time the L&N was leasing SCL units—hence the "L" applied to the unit I suppose.

This scene/seen comes from McDoel Yard on the former Monon (in Bloomington, Indiana). Two photographs by Richard Koenig; taken April 22nd 1976.

[howloopyisthat]

[railwayhistorical]

Metro North at Breakneck Ridge This is a northbound Metro North train at Breakneck Ridge on the Hudson Line, not far from Cold Spring. Storm King Mountain can be seen (vaguely due to the humidity) in the background camera right. The train is being pulled by a pair of EMD FL9s. These were built in 1960 for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad; the rail line pictured here was formerly the New York Central. One image by Richard Koenig; taken August 1988.

[railwayhistorical]

St. Joseph Swing Bridge

Here's a shot of the swing bridge at St. Joseph, Michigan. This is the third railroad bridge in this location, built in 1904 (source).

As mentioned in my previous post, the rail line here was the Chicago and West Michigan, then the Pere Marquette Railway, before being folded into the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, and finally CSX.

When taking the shot of the bridge I noticed the two brick buildings beyond. The letters thereon tell us they're now used by the St. Joseph River Yacht Club, but that didn't seem to tell the whole story (as they look too old and too substantial for this purpose).

It turns out they were built between 1891 and 1893 as the Ninth District Lighthouse Depot. One hundred years after its completion, in 1993, the buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places (source). The next time I'm in the area I will go out of my way to get a closer look at these structures.

Two images by Richard Koenig; taken June 19th 2025.

[gameraboy2]

1964 railroad safety posters