The Action Road

The Action Road, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Originally formed as a narrow-gauge road running south from Denver, the Denver and Rio Grande Western grew to be one of the major railroads of the western United States. The Rio Grande became known for it's mountainous routes, which were used to good effect on it's passenger trains. The Rio Grande was also one of the few railroads not to join Amtrak in 1971, continuing to run it's Rio Grande Zephyr between Denver and Ogden, Utah, until 1983. The Zephyr was the last private, intercity train in the United States.

Eventually, the Rio Grande was absorbed into the Union Pacific monolith, along with it's partner the Southern Pacific. DRGW stuff is rare in the system now-a few locomotives are still running around, as well as some old freight cars. This is an old coal hopper, one of a string I spotted parked up in rural Illinois.

Travel and Sleep, In Safety and Comfort

Pacific Peak, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Such was the motto of the Pullman Company, a name that would become synonymous with rail travel and luxury. Founder George Pullman was inspired to design a better rail car, after spending an overnight train journey trying to sleep in his seat. His design would go on to be built, in one form or another, until the 1970's.

This car, Pacific Peak, ran with the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy, and is currently on display at the Illinois Railway Museum.

Oscar Mayer

Oscar Mayer, originally uploaded by William 74.

While not the most common rail cars (especially now), box cars are probably the most versatile, with the ability to carry just about anything that can be loaded into it. Originally they were hand loaded, but of course forklifts and other devices have sped up the process. However, box cars are still a good deal slower to load and unload than other types of car, which helps to explain the decline in their use since World War II. They've been largely supplanted by intermodal containers, which can be loaded once at the factory and unloaded once at their final destination.

This happens to be an old Oscar Mayer car. That's right, the hot dog and baloney people. A lot of companies had their own fleets of box cars, which sped up the shipping process a bit and also provided a nice rolling billboard.