This beautiful Electro-Motive photograph features a new, A-B-A set of Rock Island F7s in May, 1949.

Seaboard Air Line's 'Sun Lounge' was an innovative concept which blended the dome car's solarium concept into a traditional car. The cars comprised a trio of sleeper-lounges constructed by Pullman-Standard in 1956. They featured a glazed roof section designed to emulate the allure of a dome car, yet with a lower profile to accommodate the height restrictions posed by tunnels along the East Coast, where standard domes could not operate. The Seaboard deployed all three cars within its premier service, the Silver Meteor, navigating the route between New York City (via the PRR between New York and Washington) and Miami. Today, two out of the three original cars remain extant under private ownership.

An Alco photo featuring New York Central 4-8-4 #6008 (S-1b), circa 1945. These powerful 'Niagaras' were wonderful machines but alas, witnessed barely a decade of service before their retirement. None were preserved.

A stunning scene of a former Chesapeake & Ohio cantilever signal glowing brightly against the snow along the CSX main line near Pence Springs, West Virginia on February 19, 2012. Loyd Lowry photo.

Terminal Station was the more expansive of the two significant passenger stations (Union Station) serving the heart of Atlanta. Inaugurated in 1905, Terminal Station served the Southern Railway, Seaboard Air Line, Central of Georgia, and Atlanta & West Point. Efforts to preserved the beautiful complex ultimately failed and it was sadly demolished in 1972. Today, the Richard B. Russell Federal Building occupies the site.

Before modern skyscrapers and air rights, natural light flooded Grand Central Terminal's concourse, as seen here, circa 1954.

This scene illustrates the hard times which befell the Rock Island during its final years as three worn-out locomotives of GE, EMD, and Alco heritage pull a freight train through Joliet, IL on April 2, 1977. The railroad was liquidated three years later. Doug Kroll photo.

The track pan, which went by different names depending upon where it was employed, was a specialized type of water feed system first developed in Britain in the early 19th century and allowed steam locomotives to refill their tenders on the fly, at-speed without stopping. The idea was simple, to improve efficiency and speed up the schedule by reducing the number of times required to stop and refuel. Unfortunately, pans proved far more difficult to maintain than originally thought but some larger railroads continued using them in some form or fashion until the end of main line steam in the 1950s.

The B&O's Strata-Domes were the first dome cars placed in service in the Eastern U.S., building on the success of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy's Vista-Domes of the mid-1940s. These cars commenced operations in 1949 on the "Columbian" and were retired from regular service by 1981, with several units preserved for posterity. To meet the tunnel clearance requirements, the dome's height was lowered to 21 inches, compared to the typical 28 inches seen on other dome cars. Interestingly, as Kirk Reynolds and Dave Oroszi note in their book "Baltimore & Ohio Railroad," the cars' low clearances did have its drawbacks; notably that for safety reasons guests could not occupy the dome section when operating under the Pennsylvania Railroad's catenary in the Washington, D.C. area. Two interesting features of the cars included a speedometer, clock, altimeter, and barometer placed at the front of end of the dome section. Then, in 1952, the B&O augmented the cars with floodlights to facilitate nightime viewing.

Milwaukee Road "Little Joe" E-74 leads a westbound freight off Pipestone Pass near Janney, Montana as the train heads for Butte on October 21, 1973. William Eley photo.

The PRC was one the largest and most prosperous streetcar lines in the nation.  At its peak it boasted 68 routes as well as two separate interurban lines. It also operated 666 PCC cars, making it the third largest fleet in North America, following closely behind Toronto Transportation Commission's 745 and Chicago Transit Authority's 683. PRC began in 1902 by consolidating a collection of smaller streetcar operations which included the Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad; Consolidated Traction Company; Southern Traction Company; and United Traction Company of Pittsburgh.  Today, just three of the original lines remain in service under Pittsburgh Regional Transit. The system was unique for its interesting mix of bucolic interurban operations, urban streetcar lines, and far reaching suburban operations where cars often had to navigate sharp curves and steep grades. PRC even utilized the Mt. Washington Tunnel, which opened in 1904 and is still in use today for light rail transit.

The Milwaukee Road's "Super Domes" were exotic for their time as the first full length domes to operate on an American railroad when they entered service in 1952. In conjunction with Pullman-Standard the railroad had ten such cars built for both its regional Hiawathas to the Twin Cities as well as its transcontinental Olympian Hiawatha . The Super Dome expanded upon the mid-car raised solariums pioneered by the Vista-Dome of the mid-1940s. When introduced they represented not only a pinnacle of luxury but also an emblematic shift in the competitive landscape of passenger rail service. When the railroad canceled the "Olympian Hiawatha" in 1961 the cars were sold to the Canadian National for service on the "Super Continental." Four cars were later purchased by Amtrak on various western trains, as well as the "Auto Train."

A pair of Western Maryland F7As assist Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 #759 with a special fan trip at Cumberland, Maryland during November of 1970. The Berkshire now sits on display at Steamtown in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Northern Pacific's flagship service, the transcontinental "North Coast Limited," is stopped at Butte, Montana on July 23, 1969. Within a year, Northern Pacific would be merged into the Burlington Northern.

Rio Grande's Vista-Dome coach "Silver Bronco" attached to the "Rio Grande Zephyr" at Grand Junction, Colorado, circa 1975. Robert Eastwood, Jr. photo. The Vista-Domes were a pioneering concept in rail travel when introduced in the mid-1940s, offering guests 360-degree views from a raised solarium section above the car. The design was later improved upon in the 1950s with full-length domes (Super Domes, Great Domes, and Big Domes), and then further enhanced with Amtrak's Superliner cars introduced in the mid-1970s.

Introduced during the twilight of the passenger rail's golden age, the distinctive Great Domes symbolize the elegance and romance of train travel, offering panoramic views of the majestic landscapes they traversed. Between 1953-1955, the Budd Company manufactured a fleet of six streamlined, full length dome lounges for the Great Northern and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. They were built exclusively for the Empire Builder, operating in this capacity from 1955 until the cessation of private passenger rail service in 1971. Amtrak incorporated all six cars into its fleet, where they continued to operate on the Empire Builder route until the late 1970s, when the introduction of new Superliner cars rendered them obsolete. Thereafter, the Great Domes were reassigned to various routes within Amtrak's system, serving until the last one was retired in 2019. Their design bore a resemblance to the Big Domes that Budd also constructed for the Santa Fe.

Missouri Pacific 4-8-4 #2113 (rebuilt from a 2-8-4 by MP shop forces in 1940) steams through Kirkwood, Missouri, just southwest of St. Louis, on a fall afternoon in October, 1950. All of the railroad's 4-8-4's were scrapped later that decade. Joe Collias photo.

Portland Union Station (Maine) opened in 1888 and served trains of the Boston & Maine and Maine Central. It was demolished in 1961 to make way for a strip mall.

Less than a month since entering service, Seaboard Air Line DR-12-8-3000 "Centipede" #4500 is seen here between assignments at Jacksonville, Florida on January 6, 1946. Warren Calloway collection/Tom Alderman colorization.