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locomotives

US Bicentennial rolling stock

HO scale model of MILW 156 in bicentennial livery

In the mid-1970s, America celebrated its bicentennial. The well known bicentennial year of 1976 saw a large number of items repainted into special commemorative red, white and blue liveries. The railroads of the time got into the act, with a great number of them participating. Trains magazine managed to get a photo of many of these bicentennial locomotives in one photograph when they were gathered in Chicago. I got to talking about them a little with a friend over the weekend, and we started wondering about the entire bicentennial roster. So, instead of guessing about it, I did a little research and came up with a mostly comprehensive list (there are probably a couple of locomotives still unlisted) for all US railroads that participated.

Modeler's Moment - Use leased power

DPGX 2000 in Janesville

Want to add a little variety into your locomotive fleet but still keep with a prototype modeling scheme? Try adding a leased locomotive to your roster. Leased locomotives will often be painted in the colors of another railroad, sometimes still wearing the livery of a fallen flag. In this photo, we see DPGX 2000 at the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad locomotive facility in Janesville a few years ago; this locomotive is painted in an early scheme of Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad.

Modeler's Moment - Repaints and fallen flags

Double CNW logo on INRD 43429

When equipment is sold to another railroad, the buyer will often paint over the car with the new owner's official colors. Sometimes, the original owner's logo and paint shows through, giving us a clue as to the equipment's heritage. The same effects can be seen when a railroad upgrades its official paint scheme as can be seen here on this former Chicago and North Western Railway hopper. The old and larger CNW logo outline is clearly visible under the new and smaller logo, which thankfully has not been itself painted over yet. This car and another of CNW heritage were spotted behind the MG&E power plant in Madison, Wisconsin today.

Early locomotive construction depicted on worldwide postage stamps

The current issue of Topical Time, the bimonthly publication of the American Topical Association, arrived in my mailbox yesterday. The important item here for us ferroequinologists is the first cover story about the history of early steam locomotive development as depicted on postage stamps of the world. I read through it today and while there were a couple of typos (e.g. "Ross Winang" when it should be "Ross Winans", and "Golden Stake" when it should be "Golden Spike"), I didn't see anything glaringly wrong in the history. Now I wonder if I should submit my article titled "EMD F-units; on Sierra Leone 1850 (Scott) sheetlet" from a year ago. Maybe I will after adding information on other F-unit appearances on postage stamps. Or maybe it's time to put together the article I've been thinking about writing on the RPO inception and development.

Modeler's Moment - Model the fallen flags too

I'm always fascinated when I go out railfanning to find freight cars still lettered for former railroads (fallen flags), like this former Wisconsin Central covered hopper that I saw in 2004. Not only was WC no longer extant at that time, the location made the sighting all the more interesting. This car was sitting in the yard at Tacoma Rail during the tour that I took at the NMRA convention that year. So, when you're building your freight car fleet for your model railroad, add a few fallen flag cars, and don't worry so much about the region where the former railroad operated.

EMD F-units; on Sierra Leone 1850 (Scott) sheetlet

DRGW 5771

If there is one locomotive series that paved the way for dieselization in North America more than any other, it would have to be the F-series locomotives of General Motors Electro-Motive Division. The first true F unit was the FT, first produced in 1939. F units were originally designed and sold as two-unit pairs of, usually, one cab-equipped A unit and cabless B unit drawbarred together like the Denver & Rio Grande set of F9s at the Colorado Railroad Museum (shown here). EMD built almost 1,000 FT units in the A and B configurations together, while later models were produced in even higher numbers. With their high production numbers and widespread use on both passenger and freight trains up through the 1970s in regular service, the EMD F series has appeared on numerous stamp issues. Let's take a closer look at one set from Sierra Leone...

George Stephenson; on Hungary 2697 (Scott)

George Stephenson on a stamp from HungaryGeorge Stephenson (June 9, 1781 - August 12, 1848) is sometimes considered to be the "Father of Railways" for his pioneering work on British railway lines in the early 19th century. On this 2 forint stamp from Hungary (Scott catalog number 2697), issued on June 12, 1981, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth, Stephenson is pictured with a plan drawing of a locomotive of his design. The locomotive is similar in appearance to Rocket, which he designed in 1829 to participate in the Rainhill Trials. The Scott catalog says that the locomotive pictured is Nonpareil, but it also bears a strong resemblance to Stourbridge Lion, built by Foster, Rastrick and Company in 1828.

Modeler's Moment - Happy 999 day!

999 at the Chicago museum

Today is the 115th anniversary of the record-breaking run of New York Central's Empire State Express. On September 14, 1891, the Empire State Express, pulled by 4-4-0 locomotive number 999, ran from New York City to Buffalo, a distance of 436 miles, in 7 hours and 6 minutes, an average of 65 mph. Officially, the train's top speed was 82 mph, but unofficial reports put the top speed as high as 112 mph. 999 is preserved on static display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

Modeler's Moment - Not just Southern ran long-hood-forward

WSOR backwards

It's not just Southern Railway that ran their locomotives long hood forward. Just because the control stand on the majority of locomotives is positioned for short hood forward operation doesn't mean that a locomotive can't be operated long hood forward. This Wisconsin and Southern train is taking loads westward from Madison through Middleton toward Prairie du Chien.

What am I working on?

Long time readers of this site will know that I had hoped to put up one review per month. Obviously, I'm far short of reaching that goal. So, I think it's time for an update on the items that I'm looking at for review material. Rather than an in-depth on each item, I'll give you a quick first impression on each item. (Read more to see my initial thoughts)

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