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Belt Railway Of Chicago: Map, Roster, Logo, History

Last revised: October 17, 2026

By: Adam Burns

The Belt Railway Company of Chicago is still operating. Reporting mark BRC. Headquarters are at 6900 South Central Avenue, Bedford Park, Illinois. The company dates itself from 1882. John Moses’s history of Chicago dates the organization to November 22, 1882, and the start of operation to May 1, 1883. The railroad’s own figures are 28 miles of main line and more than 300 miles of switching tracks. Clearing Yard is 5.5 miles long, on 786 acres, with more than 250 miles of yard track.

Six Class I railroads own the terminal. The company calls itself the largest intermediate switching terminal railroad in the United States, with approximately 450 people, and it dispatches more than 8,400 cars a day. Jerry Pinkepank’s steam list runs to 154 locomotives, ten of the numbers used twice. The diesel frames are 119: 79 built for the railroad and 40 acquired. Both rosters are on this page.

Belt Railway of Chicago Centuries with coal hoppers at South Chicago on October 6, 1996

Belt Railway Centuries and coal hoppers at South Chicago on October 6, 1996. Wade Massie photo.

On this page: Brown and the parent · Twelve owners · Clearing Yard · At a glance · Maps · The terminal today · Diesels · Steam

Brown and the parent

John B. Brown, a real-estate promoter, saw the need for a Chicago terminal railroad in the late 1870s. He and his associates chartered the Chicago & Western Indiana, the original parent. Over four years they built a belt that reached the city’s railroads and the industries of South Chicago and the Calumet. Five railroads took leases as tenants: the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago, later the Monon; the Chicago & Atlantic, later the Erie; the Chicago & Eastern Illinois; the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific, later the Wabash; and the Chicago & Grand Trunk, later the Grand Trunk Western.

Belt Railway of Chicago logo

The Belt Railway of Chicago logo. Author’s work.

Moses records the next corporate step. The Belt railroad company, of Chicago, was organized on November 22, 1882. Its stated object was a connecting transfer railroad in Cook County, between the lines already entering the county. A lease from the Chicago & Western Indiana turned that line over at an annual rental of $100,000, and the Belt commenced operating on May 1, 1883. The company’s public dating remains “since 1882.” Jerry Pinkepank, writing in Trains in October 1966, put the completion of what he called the Belt Division in August 1883.

Twelve owners

In 1910 the Belt studied a larger terminal. Seven railroads joined the original five as stockholders: the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie, the Soo Line; the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe; the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy; the Illinois Central; the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific; the Pennsylvania; and the Chesapeake & Ohio. Those twelve leased the Belt Division from the Chicago & Western Indiana starting in 1912. The Pere Marquette joined as an owner in 1924. The Chesapeake & Ohio acquired the Pere Marquette in 1947.

Mergers, and the Rock Island bankruptcy, left six owners. The company’s own affiliation list names the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation, Canadian National, the Canadian Pacific Railway, CSX Transportation, the Norfolk Southern Corporation, and the Union Pacific. FreightWaves, reporting the appointment of a new president on March 5, 2025, names the same six seats and uses CPKC for the Canadian Pacific share after the 2023 merger. There is no seventh owner on either list.

Clearing Yard

Alpheus Beede Stickney is better known for the Chicago Great Western, whose line reached Chicago in 1886. He wanted one classification yard for the city, outside the tax limits, owned in common. In 1889 he laid out a four-track circle a mile in diameter, from 55th Street to 79th Street and from Harlem Avenue to Cicero Avenue. Railroads would drop cars on radial tracks and go on their way. Ray Hurd, speaking for the Belt on April 17, 1952, said the circle was never tried, and the land went back to nature. The name Clearing stayed.

H. H. Porter picked the site up. In 1898 he laid out a gravity hump, a large one for that date. The yard opened on April 1, 1902. Hurd’s account is that the railroads gave it about a month of general use, then left it to a small switching job until August 1912. Fitting it to the Belt meant tearing it out and building it again, work that occupied 1913, 1914, and part of 1915. The Chicago Union Transfer Railway had been the company on the property. Its twelve locomotives are in their own table below.

Other transfer railroads grew up around the city, among them the Indiana Harbor Belt and the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern. Clearing remained the Belt’s classification plant. The company now describes a yard 5.5 miles long, 786 acres, with more than 250 miles of track, able to classify 40 to 50 miles of train consists every 24 hours. Alongside that yard it states a main line of 28 miles and more than 300 miles of switching tracks.

At a glance

ItemDetail
Legal nameThe Belt Railway Company of Chicago
Reporting markBRC
Headquarters6900 South Central Avenue, Bedford Park, Illinois 60638
Gauge4 feet, 8½ inches
OrganizedNovember 22, 1882. A connecting transfer railroad in Cook County
OperatingMay 1, 1883, under a lease from the Chicago & Western Indiana at $100,000 a year. The company dates itself from 1882. Still operating
ParentChicago & Western Indiana. Five tenant railroads, then twelve owners from the 1912 lease. Pere Marquette joined in 1924
Main line28 miles
Switching tracksMore than 300 miles
Clearing Yard5.5 miles long, 786 acres, more than 250 miles of track. Opened April 1, 1902, and rebuilt in 1913–15
CarsMore than 8,400 a day. The yard classifies 40 to 50 miles of train consists every 24 hours
PeopleApproximately 450
OwnersSix Class I railroads. The company’s list still names the Canadian Pacific Railway. The 2025 appointment notice names CPKC
PresidentJerry Peck, president and general manager, from March 1, 2025
Steam154 locomotives on Pinkepank’s list. Numbers 1–5 and 20–24 were used again in 1918. Chicago Union Transfer’s 12 engines are separate
Diesels79 built for the railroad and 40 acquired. 119 frames. Yard slugs are extra

Maps

The older guide page prints the general offices at Dearborn Station, Chicago. B. H. Lee is president. The map shows the belt from Cragin and Cicero down through Clearing to South Chicago, South Deering, and Hammond, with an icing station at Clearing. The sheet is page 671. It does not carry a printed year.

Belt Railway Company of Chicago guide page with general offices at Dearborn Station and B. H. Lee as president

An earlier Belt Railway guide page, page 671. General offices at Dearborn Station, Chicago. B. H. Lee, president. Author’s collection.

The later page is the company’s sheet in a 1969 guide, page 490. The general offices are at 6900 South Central Avenue, Chicago, Ill. 60638, the same street address the railroad uses in Bedford Park. L. A. Evans is president and general manager. The map reaches Cragin, Cicero, Clearing, Hayford, Forest Hill, South Chicago, South Deering, and Hammond. A note at the foot says a location on the Belt is the equivalent of a location on each Chicago road, and that the re-icing station is at Clearing.

Belt Railway Company of Chicago page in a 1969 guide, L. A. Evans, president, 6900 South Central Avenue

The Belt Railway’s page in a 1969 guide, page 490. General offices at 6900 South Central Avenue, Chicago. L. A. Evans, president and general manager. Author’s collection.

The terminal today

Owner lines, and other railroads, bring trains to Clearing to be classified and re-blocked. The company’s current public figures are the 28 miles of main line, more than 300 miles of switching tracks, approximately 450 people, and more than 8,400 cars dispatched a day. Its timeline entry for 2000 is a different snapshot: more than 500 people, an average of 6,900 cars handled a day, an average of 3,000 cars humped, and more than 298 miles of track at Clearing.

A Belt Railway TR4 cow-calf set at Clearing Yard, Bedford Park, on October 5, 1996

A Belt Railway TR4 cow-calf set at Clearing Yard, Bedford Park, on October 5, 1996. Wade Massie photo.

On March 1, 2025, the railroad welcomed Jerry Peck as president. He is president and general manager. On August 10, 2026, he answered a Surface Transportation Board letter about inventory and dwell at Clearing. Cars handled were up 8.4 percent for the year. That afternoon the yard held about 2,928 cars, down from the 5,048 the Board had cited for Week 30, and dwell was about 16 hours. The Belt is still the Chicago transfer its owners use to classify freight.

Diesels

The first table is the 79 frames built for the railroad. No. 471 was rebuilt and is still that one frame. The MP15AC numbers 150 and 151 are the MP15DC frames 534 and 533. The second table is the 40 locomotives acquired from other railroads. Together those are 119 frames. Yard slugs follow, and they are not in the 119. The road’s six Alco C424s, 600–605, were the Centuries in the photographs.

A pair of Belt Railway of Chicago C424s in December 1979

A pair of Belt Railway C424s in December 1979. American-Rails.com collection. The six C424s, 600–605, were built in April 1965 and May 1966.

ModelNumbersSerialOrderBuiltQtyNotes
GE/Ingersoll-Rand boxcab301——19301Built for stock and sold to the Belt in 1935. No builder number recorded here. The number 301 was used again on a yard slug
Alco HH60030068643—June 19341Scrapped June 1958
Alco HH60030268681—May 19351Scrapped June 1958
Alco HH60030368700—September 19351To Lipsett Steel
Alco S-130469501—July 19411To Precision. Scrapped May 1965
Alco S-1305–30669810–69811—June 19422305 to Relco 712. 306 to Precision
Alco S-240069564—September 19411Built for this railroad
Alco S-240372853—September 19441Built for this railroad
Alco S-240474971—January 19471Built for this railroad
Alco S-240676196—November 19481Built for this railroad
Alco S-240776517—December 19481Built for this railroad
Alco S-2408–41177056–77059—19504Built for this railroad
Alco S-6420——19571Built for this railroad
Alco RS-1450–45877877–77885—December 19499Built for this railroad
Alco C424600–6023382-05 to 3382-073382April 19653Built for this railroad
Alco C424603–6053450-01 to 3450-033450May 19663Built for this railroad
Baldwin VO-100040164412—July 30, 19421Traded in to EMD
Baldwin VO-100040270303—November 12, 19441Traded in to EMD
Baldwin DS-4-4-100040573841—July 19471Traded in to EMD
EMD GP7470–47114392–143936248May 19512471 rebuilt June 1958 as a GP9, serial 24739, order 8055. Same frame. The locomotive in the 1996 Clearing Yard photograph
EMD GP7472–47515203–152066275November 19514Built for this railroad
EMD GP7476–47717141–171426423August 19522Built for this railroad
EMD GP9480226015497June 19561Built for this railroad
EMD GP9481226025498June 19561Built for this railroad
EMD GP38-2490–4955807-1 to 5807-65807August 19726Weighted to 281,950 pounds
EMD TR2A500A–501A10512–105136027November–December 19492Cows. Later 500 and 501
EMD TR2B500B–501B10514–105156027November–December 19492Calves. Later 510 and 511
EMD TR4A502A–506A10516–105204032September 19505Cows. Later 502–506
EMD TR4B502B–506B10521–105254032September 19505Calves. Later 512–516
EMD SW9520–523——19514Built for this railroad
EMD SW1200524–526——19633Built for this railroad
EMD SW150053033095—June 19671Built for this railroad
EMD SW1500531–53233794–33795—March 19682Built for this railroad
EMD MP15DC533–53474683-1, 74683-274683June 19752533, serial 74683-1, later MP15AC 151. 534, serial 74683-2, later MP15AC 150. Same frames
EMD MP15DC535–536796302-1, 796302-2796302February 19802To ACIPCO 107 and ABCX 108
Belt Railway No. 471 at Clearing Yard, Bedford Park, on October 5, 1996

Belt Railway No. 471 at Clearing Yard, Bedford Park, on October 5, 1996. Wade Massie photo. The GP7 of May 1951, serial 14393, was rebuilt in June 1958 as a GP9, serial 24739, order 8055.

The acquired locomotives are the 40 frames below. Rebuild serials are in the Serial column when the railroad assigned a new one. Where the only serial on record is the original builder number, that number is the one printed, and the note says so.

ModelNumbersSerialOrderBuiltQtyNotes
NRE 2GS14B140———1Built from a GP38
NRE 3G21B210–211———2To Ronsco
Progress Rail GP23-ECO23020117662-1—October 20131Rebuild serial. Ex-PRLX 425, HATX 425, CSX 6620, nee B&O GP40 4045
Progress Rail GP23-ECO23120117662-2——1Ex-HATX 430, CSX 6628, nee B&O GP40 4053
Progress Rail GP23-ECO23220117662-3——1Ex-HATX 423, CSX 6504, nee B&O GP40 3688, original serial 32648, November 1966
Progress Rail GP23-ECO23331879—April 19661Original serial and date. Ex-GSWR 4026, NS 1339, nee N&W GP40 1339
Progress Rail GP23-ECO23436775—February 19711Original serial and date. Ex-FEC GP40 403
Progress Rail GP23-ECO23536778—March 19711Original serial and date. Ex-FEC 406, nee FEC GP40 2000
Progress Rail GP23-ECO23636783—August 19701Original serial and date. Ex-WC 3005, GWWR 3005, CMW 3005, nee Western Pacific GP40 3522
Progress Rail GP23-ECO23735900—May 19701Original serial and date. Ex-CSX 6754, SBD 6754, SBD 1599, nee SCL GP40 1599
Progress Rail GP33ECO290A2170——1Core serial. Nee Canadian National 4007, later CN 9307 and HOG 1540
Progress Rail GP33ECO291A2173——1Core serial. Nee Canadian National 4010, later CN 9310 and HOG 1740
EMD SD40-2300 (2nd)786256-33786256June 19801Slug mother. Ex-FURX 8122, nee Burlington Northern 8122. The first 300 was the HH600
EMD SD40-2302 (2nd)786256-32786256June 19801Slug mother. Ex-FURX 8121, nee Burlington Northern 8121
EMD SD40-2304 (2nd)786256-4786256May 19801Slug mother. Ex-FURX 8093, nee Burlington Northern 8093
EMD SD40-2306 (2nd)786256-47786256June 19801Slug mother. Ex-FURX 8136, nee Burlington Northern 8136
EMD SD40-2308786256-30786256June 19801Slug mother. Ex-FURX 8119, nee Burlington Northern 8119
EMD SD60380847028-29847028April 19861Ex-Union Pacific 2183
EMD SW150053834495—December 19681Ex-NS 2321, nee Southern 2321
EMD SW150053936383—June 19701Ex-Conrail 9225, nee Penn Central 9225
EMD SD40-356037559—April 19711Ex-LLPX 4307, BN 7308, GATX 5086, HLC 5086, MP 3086, nee Missouri Pacific SD40 786
EMD SD40-356137549—March 19711Ex-LLPX 4304, BN 7304, GATX 5076, HLC 5076, nee Missouri Pacific SD40 776
EMD SD38-3562———1Ex-LLPX 4308, BN 7309, GATX 5088, HLC 5088, MP 3088, nee Missouri Pacific SD40 788
EMD SD38-356437545—March 19711Ex-LLPX 4302, BN 7300, GATX 5070, HLC 5070, MP 3070, nee Missouri Pacific SD40 770
EMD SD38-356537548—March 19711Ex-LLPX 4303, BN 7303, GATX 5075, HLC 5075, MP 3075, nee Missouri Pacific SD40 775
EMD SD38-357036904—December 19701Ex-LLPX SD38-2 6432, EMDX 6432, Conrail 6248, nee Penn Central SD40 6248
EMD SD38-3573———1Ex-LLPX SD38-2 6502, nee Louisville & Nashville SD40 1251
EMD SD38-356337543—March 19711To Relco 3004, then AGCR 2. Ex-LLPX 4301, BN 7301, GATX 5072, nee Missouri Pacific SD40 772
EMD SD38-356637550—March 19711To Relco 3001, then AGCR 1. Ex-LLPX 4305, BN 7305, GATX 5077, nee Missouri Pacific SD40 777
EMD SD38-357138211—May 19711Ex-LLPX SD38-2 6504, nee Louisville & Nashville SD40 1257
EMD SD38-357237538—October 19711Later Belt slug 307. Ex-Relco 3006, EMDX 6506, nee Clinchfield SD40 3021
EMD SD38-357432088—June 19661Later Belt slug 309. Ex-Relco 3003, EMDX 6500, nee Louisville & Nashville SD40 1225
EMD SD38-357534782—April 19691To NRE. Ex-LLPX SD38-2 6508, nee Chesapeake & Ohio SD40 7504
EMD GP38-2582–583787147-17, 787147-24787147September 19782Remote control. Ex-NS 5370 and 5375, nee Conrail 8240 and 8247
EMD GP38-2584787147-29787147September 19781Remote control. Ex-NS 5377, nee Conrail 8252
EMD GP38-2585787192-7787192June 19791Remote control. Ex-NS 5385, nee Conrail 8262
EMD GP38-2586–587787192-16, 787192-22787192June 19792Remote control. Ex-NS 5390 and 5392, nee Conrail 8271 and 8277

Three yard slugs were made from other railroads’ SD40-2s and were never Belt road locomotives. They are outside the 119. Slugs 307 and 309 are the locomotives 572 and 574 already counted above. Slug 301 reuses the number of the 1930 boxcab. It is a different machine.

SlugSerialOrderBuiltQtyNotes
30173748-1373748March 19741From Union Pacific SD40-2 4151, nee Missouri Pacific / Chicago & Eastern Illinois 3151. Earlier Belt number 565B
310726252-41—March 19801Ex-FURX 7276, nee Burlington Northern SD40-2 7262
312786252-20—February 19801Ex-FURX 7255, nee Burlington Northern SD40-2 7255

Steam

Jerry Pinkepank’s list in Trains for October 1966 is the steam roster. It is 154 locomotives. The early switchers and Americans carried numbers 1–40, including 1–5 and 20–24. The Santa Fe types of 1918 took those ten numbers again: class C-1 used 1–5, and class C-2 used 20–24. The 154 counts both generations. It is the list across the years. The printed classes skip 115–119 and 149. Pinkepank’s columns are class, wheel arrangement, road number, builder, and year. The largest engines are the ten 2-10-2s. The Chicago Union Transfer engines are a separate list of 12.

ClassWheelNumbersBuilderBuiltQty
—0-6-01–12Pittsburgh188212
—4-4-013–17, 20Rhode Island1884–18876
—4-4-018–19Baldwin18922
—0-6-021–23Rhode Island18883
—0-6-024–40Schenectady1889–189217
D-20-6-041–45Cooke18925
E-10-6-046–49Richmond19004
E-20-6-050–69Alco190320
E-30-6-070–79Baldwin190510
E-40-6-080–89Alco190610
G-10-8-090–99Alco191010
G-20-8-0100–109Lima191110
H-10-8-0110–114Baldwin19135
J-10-8-0120–124Baldwin19235
J-20-8-0125–128Baldwin19254
K-10-8-0129–133Baldwin19275
K-20-8-0134–138Baldwin19275
K-30-8-0139–143Baldwin19285
K-40-8-0144–148Baldwin19305
M0-8-0150Baldwin19251
C-12-10-21–5Baldwin19185
C-22-10-220–24Alco19185

Chicago Union Transfer Railway

These 12 locomotives belong to the company that held Clearing before the Belt’s rebuild. They are Pinkepank’s second list, from the same article. They are not Belt Railway numbers and they are not part of the 154.

ClassWheelNumbersBuilderBuiltQty
—0-6-01–2Cooke19022
—0-6-03–6Dickson19024
—2-8-0101–104Alco19024
—0-4-4T51–52Baldwin18912

Related reading

Sources

  • The Belt Railway Company of Chicago, About page. Since 1882. John B. Brown in the late 1870s. The Chicago & Western Indiana as the original parent. Five tenant leases: Louisville, New Albany & Chicago; Chicago & Atlantic; Chicago & Eastern Illinois; Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific; Chicago & Grand Trunk. A 1910 study. Seven additional stockholders: Soo Line, Santa Fe, Burlington, Illinois Central, Rock Island, Pennsylvania, and Chesapeake & Ohio. Those twelve leased the Belt Division from the Chicago & Western Indiana starting in 1912. Pere Marquette joined in 1924. Six owners after the mergers and the Rock Island bankruptcy. The company’s affiliation list: Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Corporation, and Union Pacific. Approximately 450 people. 28 miles of main line. More than 300 miles of switching tracks. Clearing Yard, 5.5 miles, 786 acres, more than 250 miles of track. More than 8,400 cars a day. Forty to fifty miles of train consists classified every 24 hours.
  • Ray Hurd, The Belt Railway Company of Chicago, before the Clearing-Cicero Traffic Conference, April 17, 1952, as the company reprints the talk. Stickney and the 1889 circle, a mile in diameter, 55th Street to 79th Street, Harlem Avenue to Cicero Avenue, never operated. H. H. Porter’s hump of 1898. Yard opened April 1, 1902. About one month of general operation, then small switching until August 1912. Rebuilt in 1913, 1914, and part of 1915.
  • John Moses, History of Chicago, Illinois. The Belt railroad company was organized on November 22, 1882, to be a connecting transfer railroad in Cook County. Lease from the Chicago & Western Indiana at an annual rental of $100,000. Operation commenced May 1, 1883.
  • The Belt Railway Company of Chicago, timeline entry for 2000. More than 298 miles of track at Clearing. More than 500 people. An average of 6,900 cars handled a day and an average of 3,000 cars humped.
  • The Belt Railway Company of Chicago, April 17, 2025. Jerry Peck welcomed as president on March 1, 2025.
  • Stuart Chirls, “Former CN and CP executive to lead Belt Railway of Chicago,” FreightWaves, March 5, 2025. Jerry Peck, president and general manager. Six owning Class I railroads: BNSF, Canadian National, CPKC, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific. More than 8,400 cars a day. 28 miles of main line and more than 300 miles of switching track.
  • Jerry Peck, president and general manager, to the Surface Transportation Board, August 10, 2026, answering the Board’s letter of August 3, 2026. Cars handled up 8.4 percent year to date. Clearing Yard inventory on the afternoon of August 10 about 2,928 cars, down from the 5,048-car Week 30 figure the Board cited. Dwell about 16 hours. Letterhead address 6900 South Central Avenue, Bedford Park, Illinois 60638.
  • Jerry Pinkepank, “How the Belt Came To Be,” Trains, October 1966. The steam classes, numbers, builders, and dates, including the Chicago Union Transfer list, and his date of August 1883 for completion of the Belt Division. The same writer’s “The Belt Railway of Chicago: A Railroad’s Railroad,” Trains, September 1966.
  • The Belt Railway’s page in a 1969 guide, the sheet reproduced here, page 490. L. A. Evans, president and general manager. General offices, 6900 South Central Avenue, Chicago, Ill. 60638. The earlier guide page reproduced here, page 671. B. H. Lee, president. General offices, Dearborn Station, Chicago.
  • This site’s EMD GP7 production roster. Belt 470–471, serials 14392–14393, order 6248, May 1951. Belt 472–475, serials 15203–15206, order 6275, November 1951. Belt 476–477, serials 17141–17142, order 6423, August 1952.
  • This site’s EMD GP9 production roster. Belt 480, serial 22601, order 5497, June 1956. Belt 481, serial 22602, order 5498, June 1956. Belt 471, serial 24739, order 8055, June 1958, the rebuild of GP7 471.
  • This site’s Baldwin VO-1000 production roster. Belt 401, construction number 64412, July 30, 1942. Belt 402, construction number 70303, November 12, 1944.
  • EMD cow-and-calf order list. TR2A 500A–501A, serials 10512–10513, order 6027, November–December 1949. TR2B 500B–501B, serials 10514–10515, order 6027. TR4A 502A–506A, serials 10516–10520, order 4032, September 1950. TR4B 502B–506B, serials 10521–10525, order 4032, September 1950.
  • The Diesel Shop, Belt Railway of Chicago diesel roster, revised July 24, 2025, https://www.thedieselshop.us/BRC.HTML. Alco serials and dates for the HH600s, S-1s, S-2s, S-6 420, and RS-1s 450–458. Baldwin 405, serial 73841, July 1947. GP38-2s 490–495. SW1500s 530–532. MP15DC 533–536 and the rebuild of 533 and 534 into 151 and 150. The acquired fleet: NRE 140 and 210–211, GP23-ECO 230–237, GP33ECO 290–291, SD40-2s 300, 302, 304, 306, and 308, SD60 380, SW1500s 538–539, SD40-3s 560–561, the SD38-3s, GP38-2s 582–587, and slugs 301, 310, and 312. Later cow-calf numbers 500, 501, 510, 511, 502–506, and 512–516.
  • Railroad Picture Archives, Belt Railway C424s. 600–602, serials 3382-05, 3382-06, and 3382-07. 603–605, serials 3450-01, 3450-02, and 3450-03, May 1966. TR4B 504B, serial 10523, renumbered 514.
  • General Electric and Ingersoll-Rand boxcab production account. The last 100-ton carbody was built in 1930 for stock and sold to the Belt Railway in 1935 as No. 301.

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    Oct 30, 26 09:14 AM

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    Toledo, Peoria & Western steam locomotives from the Rogers Consolidations of 1895 through the 4-8-4s of 1937

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  13. Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway: Map, Roster, History

    Oct 29, 26 11:12 PM

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    History of the Toledo, Peoria & Western. The Peoria & Oquawka, George P. McNear, the Santa Fe and Pennsylvania years, and the railroad that came back in 1989.

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  14. Cotton Belt Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 29, 26 07:58 PM

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    St. Louis Southwestern diesel locomotives, each frame once. Baldwin switchers, F units, and new Cotton Belt-lettered power through the GP60s of May 1990.

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  15. Cotton Belt Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 29, 26 06:52 PM

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    St. Louis Southwestern steam locomotives built since 1900. Consolidations, Ten-Wheelers, and twenty class L-1 4-8-4s. The quantity column is 297.

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  16. Cotton Belt Railroad: Map, Logo, History, Rosters

    Oct 29, 26 10:56 AM

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    History of the St. Louis Southwestern, the Cotton Belt Route. The Tyler Tap, Paramore's silver spike, the Thebes Bridge, the Blue Streak, and Southern Pacific control. Steam and diesel rosters are sep…

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  17. Pere Marquette Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 28, 26 11:54 PM

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    Pere Marquette steam locomotives built since 1900. Consolidations, Mikados, Pacifics, and 39 Berkshires. The quantity column is 503.

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  18. Pere Marquette Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 28, 26 11:48 PM

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    Pere Marquette diesel locomotives, each frame once. Two SW1s, 14 NW2s, three GE 70-tonners, eight E7As, and six BL2s delivered lettered Chesapeake and Ohio. The quantity column is 33.

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  19. Pere Marquette Railway: Map, Logo, Rosters, History

    Oct 28, 26 11:44 PM

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    History of the Pere Marquette Railway. Timber roads, the Prince years, the Van Sweringens, the Ludington car ferries, and the Chesapeake and Ohio merger of June 6, 1947.

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  20. Nickel Plate Road (Railroad): Map, History, Rosters

    Oct 28, 26 10:51 PM

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    History of the Nickel Plate Road, the New York, Chicago and St. Louis. The Seney syndicate, the Van Sweringens, the Berkshires, and the Norfolk and Western absorption at 12:01 a.m. on October 16, 1964…

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  21. Nickel Plate Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 28, 26 10:48 PM

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    Nickel Plate diesel locomotives, each frame once. Alco switchers and PAs, GP7s and GP9s, and the GP30s. The quantity column is 440. The 1950 fleet was 117.

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  22. Nickel Plate Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 28, 26 10:43 PM

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    Nickel Plate steam locomotives built since 1900, including the Lake Erie and Western, the Clover Leaf, and the Wheeling engines that took Nickel Plate numbers. The quantity column is 786.

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  23. EMD "E9" Locomotives: Specs, Roster, History

    Oct 28, 26 10:37 PM

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    EMD E9 cab units and boosters, 2,400 horsepower, built April 1954 through January 1964. Gear ratios, specifications, and the production roster by owner, serial, and order.

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  24. NYC 4-6-4 #5344, "Commodore Vanderbilt"

    Oct 28, 26 04:31 PM

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    NYC J-1e Hudson 5344, the Commodore Vanderbilt. Alco, November 1931. Carl Kantola’s shroud, December 1934, then a Dreyfuss bullet nose in 1939. Scrapped at Collinwood in 1954.

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  25. New Jersey, Indiana & Illinois Railroad: A South Bend Shortline

    Oct 28, 26 11:05 AM

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    The New Jersey, Indiana & Illinois, the Jersey Line, ran from South Bend to Pine. Singer built it in 1905. Wabash stock control came in 1926. Two diesels, and the steam the record names.

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  26. Monon Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 28, 26 10:13 AM

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    Monon diesel locomotives, each frame once. F3s, nine BL2s, the C420s, and eight U23Bs. The quantity column is 96. The 1951 fleet was 57.

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  27. Monon Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 28, 26 10:09 AM

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    Monon steam locomotives built since 1900. Twelve-Wheelers, Mikados, light Pacifics, and thirteen six-wheel switchers. The quantity column is 148.

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  28. Monon Railroad: Map, Photos, History, Logo

    Oct 28, 26 09:55 AM

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    History of the Monon, the Hoosier Line. The New Albany & Salem, the X at Monon, Barriger's streamliners, and the Louisville & Nashville merger of July 31, 1971.

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  29. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 28, 26 09:48 AM

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    All-time diesel roster of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas. 406 locomotives, each frame once. Baldwin switchers, Alco cab units, F units, Geeps, and the SD40-2s.

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  30. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 28, 26 09:43 AM

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    Missouri-Kansas-Texas steam locomotives built since 1900. Moguls, Mikados, Pacifics, and the narrow-gauge shop tanks. The quantity column is 715.

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  31. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (Katy): Map, History, Rosters

    Oct 27, 26 11:02 PM

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    History of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas, the Katy. The race into Indian Territory, Gould, the 1923 railroad, the Texas Special, and the 1988 sale. Steam and diesel rosters are linked.

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  32. Soo Line Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 27, 26 10:55 PM

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    All-time diesel roster of the Soo Line and the Wisconsin Central. 786 locomotives, each frame once. Cab units, Geeps, the Milwaukee Road engines, and the SD60s. The South Shore's 24 stay on that page.

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  33. Soo Line Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 27, 26 10:49 PM

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    Soo Line and Wisconsin Central steam locomotives built since 1900. Consolidations, Mikados, Pacifics, 21 Mountains, and four Lima 4-8-4s.

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  34. Soo Line Railroad: Map, Logo, History, Rosters

    Oct 27, 26 10:24 PM

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    The Soo Line, from the flour millers' railroad around Chicago to the Sault, the Wisconsin Central, and the Milwaukee Road. Steam quantity 422. Diesels 786. Canadian Pacific took full control in 1990.

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  35. Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway: Map, History, Rosters

    Oct 27, 26 10:32 AM

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    The Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern, the Dan Patch Line that became a Twin Cities belt. Steam, gas-electric mules, motor cars, and the 22 diesels, through the Soo Line.

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  36. Minneapolis & St. Louis Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 27, 26 10:27 AM

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    All-time diesel roster of the Minneapolis & St. Louis. 97 locomotives, each frame once. Switchers from 1938, 35 RS-1s, the FT and F-unit cabs, two SD7s, and 23 GP9s. Builder numbers included.

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  37. Minneapolis & St. Louis Steam Roster (Post 1900)

    Oct 27, 26 10:25 AM

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    Minneapolis & St. Louis steam locomotives built since 1900. Moguls, Consolidations, 35 Mikados, and five Pacifics.

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  38. Minneapolis and St Louis Railway: "The Peoria Gateway"

    Oct 27, 26 09:52 AM

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    The Minneapolis & St. Louis, the Tootin' Louie, from the 1870 charter to the Peoria Gateway and the Chicago & North Western sale on November 1, 1960.

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  39. Alco "PA" Locomotives: Restoration, Specs, Engine, Rosters

    Oct 27, 26 12:12 AM

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    Alco's PA passenger cab, 297 locomotives built from 1946 to 1953. The 244 engine, the production roster, the Delaware & Hudson PA-4s, and Nickel Plate Road 190.

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  40. Milwaukee Road Diesel Roster: (All Time)

    Oct 26, 26 01:44 PM

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    All-time diesel roster of the Milwaukee Road. 1,208 locomotives, each frame once. Alco, Baldwin, Davenport, EMD, Fairbanks-Morse, General Electric, and Whitcomb, with builder numbers.

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  41. Milwaukee Road Steam Roster (All-Time): Post-1900

    Oct 26, 26 01:38 PM

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    Milwaukee Road steam locomotives built since 1900. Prairies, Mikados, the N-class articulateds, the S-class 4-8-4s, and the Hiawatha Atlantics and Hudsons. Quantity column 1,974. Unique frames 1,951.

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  42. Milwaukee Road: Map, Electrification, Logo, History

    Oct 26, 26 01:20 PM

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    The Milwaukee Road, from the Milwaukee & Mississippi of 1850 to the Pacific Coast Extension, the Hiawathas, and the Soo Line sale. Why Lines West should have stayed.

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  43. Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad: Map, Roster, History

    Oct 25, 26 11:38 PM

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    Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad, reporting mark LSI, from the Marquette Range to the Presque Isle ore dock. The 1954 steam list and the diesels the railroad owned.

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  44. Kansas City Southern Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 25, 26 09:09 PM

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    Steam locomotives of the Kansas City Southern built since 1900, with the Louisiana & Arkansas and the Texas company.

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  45. Kansas City Southern Diesel Roster (Built New)

    Oct 25, 26 11:46 AM

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    All-time diesel roster of the Kansas City Southern. E units, F units, Geeps, SD40s through SD70ACes, Fairbanks-Morse, Baldwin, Alco, and General Electric, with serials and order numbers.

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  46. Kansas City Southern Railway: Map, Photos, History

    Oct 25, 26 12:24 AM

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    The Kansas City Southern, from Arthur Stilwell's Gulf line to Canadian Pacific Kansas City on April 14, 2023. Steam and diesel rosters, the Southern Belle, and the Louisiana & Arkansas.

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  47. Indiana Harbor Belt Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 25, 26 12:17 AM

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    All-time diesel roster of the Indiana Harbor Belt. 202 locomotive frames, each counted once. NW2s, SW7s, SW1500s, road switchers, and gensets. Slugs and boosters are outside the count.

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  48. Indiana Harbor Belt Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 25, 26 12:13 AM

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    Steam locomotives of the Indiana Harbor Belt built since 1900. 182 engines, each counted once. 0-6-0s, 2-6-0s, 0-8-0s, and 2-8-2s. The three U-4a switchers are three-cylinder Brooks engines of 1927.

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  49. Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad: Map, Rosters, History

    Oct 25, 26 12:00 AM

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    Indiana Harbor Belt, the inner belt across the Calumet, from the East Chicago Belt of May 16, 1896. Renamed June 29, 1907. Still operating, headquarters Hammond. Steam roster is the companion, 182 loc…

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  50. NYC's "P Motor" Electric Locomotives

    Oct 24, 26 11:43 PM

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    New York Central P motors: 22 Alco-GE 2-C+C-2 electrics, Cleveland Union Terminal 1050–1071, class P-1a. 3,030 hp one-hour on 3,000-volt DC catenary, then 660-volt third rail as P-2a and P-2b.

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