Railroad Gazette (originally, Western Railroad Gazette) was a trade journal that focused on railroad, transportation and engineering topics from 1856 until 1908, when it purchased its main rival and became the publication today known as Railway Age.
Railroad Gazette (originally, Western Railroad Gazette) was a trade journal that focused on railroad, transportation and engineering topics from 1856 until 1908, when it purchased its main rival and became the publication today known as Railway Age.
In April 1856, Stanley C. Fowler, assisted by James J. Schock, began publishing the trade journal Western Railroad Gazette from offices at 128 South Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois [1] . It focused on railroad news, transportation and engineering, and included news and commentary. [2] The publication found an audience among master mechanics, who used it to learn about and discuss railroad management and technology. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
In 1870, Fowler sold the journal to Ansel Nash "A.N." Kellogg, who renamed it Railroad Gazette [8] and retained Schock. [9] [10] (Another Railroad Gazette had been established in 1843 in Rogersville, Tennessee; it focused on "internal improvement". [11] )
Later Railroad Gazette editors included Silas Wright Dunning. In the 1870s, [12] [13] the publication was edited by Matthias Nace Forney, who in 1866 had patented a concept for urban elevated railways that "later became the de facto standard for elevated railway service". [14]
From 1884 to early 1887 [15] , the publication was edited by Arthur Mellen Wellington, who used it to publish his work The Economic Theory of the Location of Railroads, first as a series of articles in 1876, [15] then as a book in 1877. [15] [16]
The American landscape architect Horace Cleveland contributed articles about tree planting efforts in the western United States. [17]
In June 1908, the publication purchased its chief rival, The Railway Age, founded in 1876 in Chicago. It changed its title to Railroad Age Gazette, then in January 1910, to Railway Age Gazette. In 1918, it became The Railway Age for good. [18]
In February–June 1872, Railroad Gazette published a series of articles written by a person using the pen name "Hindoo", and reader comments in response to the articles. [7] Hindoo was a British colonial official who was visiting the United States, who stated that the Indian railway system very rarely had problems with head-on and rear-end collisions, which were more frequent in the United States. [7] Hindoo proposed that this was due to the manner in which Indian train stations dispatched trains using telegraphs, in which a system was used whereby each train station acted as a "blocking point." [7] This blocking point system was originally devised by the British railroad industry, and forbade trains from leaving a station until a telegraph was received from the next station stating that the line was clear, upon which a clearance card was issued to the train operator. [7] Hindoo felt that the U.S. system placed too much responsibility upon a single dispatcher, who would "oversee all freight and passenger train movements on a division." [7]
Hindoo's articles provided a comparison of safety matters between Indian and American railway systems, comparisons of management systems and styles and comparisons in train dispatching methods. [7] A main contributor to the ongoing discussion was a reader using the pen name "X", and several other readers also responded. [7] In a response, X stated that the U.S. system was less expensive and more efficient compared to British and Indian methods, and posited whether another system could be used that is both cost effective and safe. [7] Additional reader responses generally concurred with X's opinion, but did not provide solid suggestions about how to remedy such problems. [7] One respondent stated that some of the comparisons were faulty as being based upon U.S. railway lines that did not use telegraphic dispatching. [7] This discourse in Railroad Gazette during this time also covered various aspects of problems and flaws in the American railroad system, and potential reforms to remedy these problems. [7]
An article published on April 18, 1884, in Railroad Gazette, written by railroad engineer Horatio Allen and titled "The First Railroad in America", states that the author (Allen) was the operator of the first locomotive run in the United States on a railroad. [19] Allen stated that on August 9, 1829, he ran a locomotive named Stourbridge Lion in Pennsylvania "three miles and back over rails of wood upon which bar iron 2 ¼ inches wide and 1 ½ inch thick was spiked down". [19]
Railroad Gazette reported about the electrification of the Erie Railroad's Rochester Division. [20]
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including interstate bus lines and telephone companies. Congress expanded ICC authority to regulate other modes of commerce beginning in 1906. Throughout the 20th century, several of ICC's authorities were transferred to other federal agencies. The ICC was abolished in 1995, and its remaining functions were transferred to the Surface Transportation Board.
GE Transportation is a division of Wabtec. It was known as GE Rail and owned by General Electric until sold to Wabtec on February 25, 2019. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generation industries. The company was founded in 1907. It is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, while its main manufacturing facility is located in Erie, Pennsylvania. Locomotives are assembled at the Erie plant, while engine manufacturing takes place in Grove City, Pennsylvania. In May 2011, the company announced plans to build a second locomotive factory in Fort Worth, Texas, which opened in January 2013.
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and also in Texas through subsidiaries Colorado and Southern Railway, Fort Worth and Denver Railway, and Burlington-Rock Island Railroad. Its primary connections included Chicago, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Denver. Because of this extensive trackage in the midwest and mountain states, the railroad used the advertising slogans "Everywhere West", "Way of the Zephyrs", and "The Way West".
Railroads played a large role in the development of the United States from the industrial revolution in the Northeast (1820s–1850s) to the settlement of the West (1850s–1890s). The American railroad mania began with the founding of the first passenger and freight line in the country, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, in 1827, and the "Laying of the First Stone" ceremonies and the beginning of its long construction heading westward over the obstacles of the Appalachian Mountains eastern chain in the next year. It flourished with continuous railway building projects for the next 45 years until the financial Panic of 1873, followed by a major economic depression, that bankrupted many companies and temporarily stymied and ended growth.
The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad. Through mergers and new construction, the railroad, named Chicago Great Western after 1892, quickly became a multi-state carrier. One of the last Class I railroads to be built, it competed against several other more well-established railroads in the same territory, and developed a corporate culture of innovation and efficiency to survive.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States.
The Erie Lackawanna Railway, known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route".
The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad, abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road", the railroad served parts of the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. Its primary connections occurred in Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Toledo.
Dearborn Station was, beginning in the late 1800s, one of six intercity train stations serving downtown Chicago, Illinois. It remained in operation until May 1, 1971. Built in 1883, it is located at Dearborn and Polk Streets, to the south of the Loop, adjacent to Printers Row. The station was owned by the Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad, which itself was owned by the companies operating over its line. The station building headhouse now houses office, retail, and entertainment spaces, and its trackage yard, behind the headhouse, was redeveloped into part of the Dearborn Park neighborhood.
The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s. Until 1972, when the employees purchased the company, it was named the Chicago and North Western Railway.
The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833, and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinois, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie and across northern Indiana. The line's trackage remains a major rail transportation corridor used by Amtrak passenger trains and several freight lines; in 1998, its ownership was split at Cleveland, Ohio, between CSX Transportation to the east and Norfolk Southern Railway in the west.
The EMD E8 is a 2,250-horsepower (1,678 kW), A1A-A1A passenger-train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of La Grange, Illinois. A total of 450 cab versions, or E8As, were built from August 1949 to January 1954, 447 for the U.S. and 3 for Canada. 46 E8Bs were built from December 1949 to January 1954, all for the U.S. The 2,250 hp came from two 12 cylinder model 567B engines, each driving a generator to power the two traction motors on one truck. The E8 was the ninth model in the line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units. Starting in September 1953, a total of 21 E8As were built which used either the 567BC or 567C engines.
The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway was a Class II railroad, making a roughly circular path between Waukegan, Illinois and Gary, Indiana. The railroad served as a link between Class I railroads traveling to and from Chicago, although it operated almost entirely within the city's suburbs, only entering Chicago where it served the U.S. Steel South Works on the shores of Lake Michigan. Nicknames for the railroad included "The J" and "The Chicago Outer Belt Line". At the end of 1970, the EJ&E operated 164 miles of track and carried 848 million ton-miles of revenue freight in that year alone.
Conrail, formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do business as an asset management and network services provider in three Shared Assets Areas that were excluded from the division of its operations during its acquisition by CSX Corporation and the Norfolk Southern Railway.
The Iowa Interstate Railroad is a Class II regional railroad operating in the central United States. The railroad is owned by Railroad Development Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad was the owner of Dearborn Station in Chicago and the trackage leading to it. It was owned equally by five of the railroads using it to reach the terminal, and kept those companies from needing their own lines into the city. With the closure of Dearborn Station in 1971 and the Calumet steel mills in 1985, the railroad was gradually downgraded until 1994 when it became a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Corporation.
This article contains a list of terms, jargon, and slang used to varying degrees by railfans and railroad employees in the United States and Canada. Although not exhaustive, many of the entries in this list appear from time to time in specialist, rail-related publications. Inclusion of a term in this list does not necessarily imply its universal adoption by all railfans and railroad employees, and there may be significant regional variation in usage.
Railroad Terminal Historic District is a national historic district in Binghamton in Broome County, New York. The district includes 19 contributing buildings. Four of the buildings were directly related to Binghamton's rail passenger and freight operations, including the passenger station. Five buildings were built as warehouses, and ten were built to house retail activities with residential or office uses on the upper floors. The buildings were built between 1876 and 1910, with a major addition to one of them completed in 1932. This Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad passenger station, with its Italian Renaissance campanile, was built in 1901. For most years of passenger service to Binghamton, Delaware and Hudson Railway and Erie Railroad trains used a different station 150 yards away.
The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; Buffalo, New York; St. Louis, Missouri; and Toledo, Ohio.
