Working rail roads and their tracks.

[MossRoad]

 

[MossRoad]

Though some of you might enjoy this...

 

[ArlyA]

Naubinway, Michigan - CN L544-06 - Southbound through the birch and pine trees 02-06-26

 

[dodge man]

Looks like it’s on one of your ski trails Arly, you can’t hardly see the tracks.

 

[Cub 7274]

I worked on trains with that unit many yrs ago they were considered road units not local switcher engines

 

[BravoXray]

Naubinway, Michigan - CN L544-06 - Southbound through the birch and pine trees 02-06-26 View attachment 5058145

Looks like she's about due for a paint job.

 

[gstrom99]

Looks like she's about due for a paint job.

CN isn't too worried about paint on their locos, it seems. I see 'em faded pretty good. After CN bought Illinois Central, it took them a LONG time to convert the black IC locos to orange/black. I think the black IC locos looked better, though.

 

[ArlyA]

I read somewhere that every time one RR buys another, maintenance on everything suffers are they get larger and larger....

 

[MossRoad]

I read somewhere that every time one RR buys another, maintenance on everything suffers are they get larger and larger....

That probably happens in all industries. Redundant (or perceived redundant) services are first on the chopping block.

 

[ArlyA]

Union Pacific Steam Club Update No. 44 - Feb. 24, 2026 ​

​

Union Pacific'slegendary Big Boy No. 4014, the world's largest operating steamlocomotive, is steaming up for the western leg of its coast‑to‑coast tour to celebrateAmerica's 250th birthday with 27 whistle-stops and fourpublic display days scheduled during its journey across four westernstates. Details of the easternleg of the coast-to-coast tour – including whistle-stops and publicdisplay days - will be released at a laterdate. Four public displaydays are planned for this mighty steam locomotive during the western legof the tour, with two days each in Roseville, California, April 10-11and Ogden, Utah, April 18-19. In addition to publicstops, Union Pacific employees and their families will be invited alongthe route for special family-day events. Rail fans and othersare urged to order their 2026 Big Boy souvenirs early at Union Pacific'sstore,where they can find T-shirts, hats and othermerchandise. As part of the tour,the Union Pacific Museum will be auctioning off two cab rides in thelocomotive on April 17 in Utah, with proceeds going to the nonprofitmuseum. The auction starts Monday, March 2, and ends Thursday, March 19. Interested riders can register and view auction details atUnion Pacific Museum Charity Auction 2026 - Rail & Road Auctions.There will NOT be any passenger excursions offered onthe western leg of the tour. Big Boy will leave itshome base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on March 29, traveling across Wyoming,Utah, Nevada, and California, where it will stop near historic Mile 0,the site where Central Pacific Railroad laid the first rail ties for thetranscontinentalrailroad in 1863. In addition to thepublic display days, rail fans can see this historic machine in actionat whistle-stops in communities along its journey. Whistle-stops aregenerally 15- to 30-minutes long. Complete details of the western legschedule can be found at UPsteam.com.​

 

[ArlyA]

KCS 5005 east heads across the Aguasabon River trestle and is about to knock down the home board at Terrace Bay with grain train 324 bound for Quebec City/QGRY. This past winter there has been a steady stream of grain trains on both CN & CP from the Canadian Prairies heading east to grain terminals in Quebec on the lower St Lawrence. February 23, 2026 ~ Terrace Bay, Ontario CA

 

[GrandpaSmurf825]

The driver of this mini van decided they didn't have time to wait for this train. It was close to the last bad decision they ever made.

WATCH: Van narrowly escapes train collision in Marshall County

A van narrowly avoided a train collision in Marshall County after crossing tracks despite warning signals, prompting a safety reminder from State Center Police.

www.kcci.com

 

[MossRoad]

 

[ArlyA]

Copper Range derailment in Houghton MI. Photographer and date unknown. B&W rescue from a color slide. The lift bridge is seen the the background so its 1959 or later.

 

[bcp]

Copper Range derailment in Houghton MI. Photographer and date unknown. B&W rescue from a color slide. The lift bridge is seen the the background so its 1959 or later.View attachment 5200106

Double door boxcar with end doors, on its side. Took a minute since I thought is was simply a derailment, and I couldn't ID the car type.

Bruce

 

[ArlyA]

Double door boxcar with end doors, on its side. Took a minute since I thought is was simply a derailment, and I couldn't ID the car type.

Bruce

I've not seen those end door cars before.

 

[Highlandr]

This image that popped up on X.

But there was no commentary, so I GTS. And found this post on Reddit. With this pic...

... and this info in the thread.

It was GG1 #4846 involved in a wreck, some time under Penn Central. Workers at the Wilmington Shops used what was left and made a snow blower out of it.

According to couple old timers who worked at the shops (through the "We Salute You GG1 Facebook group), it was built without the knowledge of PC corporate management. As far as the PC knew, #4846 was already scrapped. If corporate visited the shops, it was parked on a siding behind the wheel shop where tall weeds grew, out of sight.

It was used to remove snow from the switches of the Wilmington Shops. It didn't track well, with the weight of the drivers too heavy on the rear. They said it used to run under its own power but derailed too much, with no trailing truck. If too much was put on the throttle, the lead truck would lift above the rails.

Later it ended up being pushed around by a diesel switcher, with the pantograph only to provide power to the blower that blew the snow. The "chopped" end has the blower duct pointing down at the track. It sounds good in concept but wasn't very practical. Apparently it was a little overpowered and would blow away ballast. It was scrapped around '83(?).

I'm not sure how accurate I am, l tried to stitch multiple old timers' recollections from the 70s-80s together, from comments on a facebook group nonetheless. So take it how it is. I could swear there was a book that had info on this unit but I couldn't find it.

TLDR; It was a snow blower used in the Wilmington DE Shops, built from the remains of wrecked GG1 #4846.

Found this pic on faceplant.

I guess that's what happens when you leave the guys in the shop alone.

And I guess the first picture was photo chopped to add the NYC logo/paint.

 

[bcp]

This image that popped up on X.

View attachment 5200166

But there was no commentary, so I GTS. And found this post on Reddit. With this pic...

View attachment 5200167

... and this info in the thread.

It was GG1 #4846 involved in a wreck, some time under Penn Central. Workers at the Wilmington Shops used what was left and made a snow blower out of it.

According to couple old timers who worked at the shops (through the "We Salute You GG1 Facebook group), it was built without the knowledge of PC corporate management. As far as the PC knew, #4846 was already scrapped. If corporate visited the shops, it was parked on a siding behind the wheel shop where tall weeds grew, out of sight.

It was used to remove snow from the switches of the Wilmington Shops. It didn't track well, with the weight of the drivers too heavy on the rear. They said it used to run under its own power but derailed too much, with no trailing truck. If too much was put on the throttle, the lead truck would lift above the rails.

Later it ended up being pushed around by a diesel switcher, with the pantograph only to provide power to the blower that blew the snow. The "chopped" end has the blower duct pointing down at the track. It sounds good in concept but wasn't very practical. Apparently it was a little overpowered and would blow away ballast. It was scrapped around '83(?).

I'm not sure how accurate I am, l tried to stitch multiple old timers' recollections from the 70s-80s together, from comments on a facebook group nonetheless. So take it how it is. I could swear there was a book that had info on this unit but I couldn't find it.

TLDR; It was a snow blower used in the Wilmington DE Shops, built from the remains of wrecked GG1 #4846.

Found this pic on faceplant.

View attachment 5200168

I guess that's what happens when you leave the guys in the shop alone.

And I guess the first picture was photo chopped to add the NYC logo/paint.

Bruce

 

[WinterDeere]

I guess that's what happens when you leave the guys in the shop alone.

Nearly every company for which I've ever worked has had one or two "Skunk Works" projects, some pet project of the Engineering Manager or similar, that's been kept secret from executive management. But the hardware is usually a heck of a lot smaller and easier to hide than a locomotive.

 

[ArlyA]

This corridor must have been built to move cargo off and to the lakes before the St Lawrence seaway was built?
-------------------------------------
Daylight Savings begins today. Fun fact: it takes 13 minutes for the sun to completely set over the former Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western Railroad.
From Hoboken, New Jersey to Buffalo, New York, the Lackawanna mainline, highlighted in red, stretched for 396 miles. In between these cities, the railroad passed through three states, crossed six major rivers, and traversed three mountain ranges, all within the same modern time zone.
Before the railroads helped create the standard time zones we use today, Hoboken and Buffalo would have each had their own "noon," making scheduling trains difficult over long distances.
Image: A map of the Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western Railroad. The railroad's mainline is highlighted in red.