Roger Puta Collection

Desolate, dusty Vaughn, New Mexico, population about 500, is one of those places only a railfan could love, a cluster of vacant buildings, gas stations and a motel or two at the intersection of U.... (more)

Streator was an important interchange location between Santa Fe and Conrail (New York Central/Penn Central earlier) with run-through trains operating after a connecting track was constructed by 19... (more)

On Conrail’s siding at Streator, Illinois, two trains meet in April 1984. Streator was an important interchange location between Santa Fe and Conrail (New York Central/Penn Central earlier) with... (more)

The Prince Brothers General Store closed its doors in 1984, ending 112 years of continuous operation. Here a CSX power move rolls past the store on October 11, 1986, the same year that it was plac... (more)

Coal for Kaiser

It takes eight SD40-2s to bring Union Pacific's coal train over Cajon Pass as it heads for the Kaiser Steel mill in Fontana, California. Cresting the Summit in April... (more)

By 1986, hi-rail vehicles had established their roles in MOW work, and the days of speeders were numbered, especially on Class 1 railroads. Needless to say, it was quite a surprise to stumble into... (more)

This is still mesquite and prairie grass in August, 1977, as Missouri Pacific 3186 heads to Fort Worth with another load of autos from the General Motors plant in Grand Prairie. The second unit, 3... (more)

One of Kaiser Steel's Eagle Mountain RR U30C's showed up at SP's Taylor Yard engine facility for some wheel work.

Waiting for a track delay, a trio of six-month-old Oakway SD60’s team up with a BN U33C to take a train of Powder River coal south on the Joint Line.

On a crisp April morning, a trio of Burlington Northern SD40-2’s roll past the (railroad) west end of Denver Union Station.

Missouri Pacific EMD SD40-2 No. 3097 sits at the engine facility of the small yard in Chester, Illinois, in September 1984, with two cabooses keeping it company.

MILW 22 and two more SD40-2s lead train 202 across the Columbia River at Beverly, WA. Evidence of former catenary remains on the bridge, and the bridge still stands today as a monument to Milwauke... (more)

A nicely matched quartet of N&W cabooses await their next assignment at Sandusky, OH on a typically moist May day in 1981. My recollection of living in Ohio was one week of nice weather in May an... (more)

DMIR SD18 181 idles at Keenan Yard near Iron Junction, MN on June 18, 1986. This shot shows a good detail view of a factory built Missabe SD18 from 1960, albeit in the newer Arrowhead scheme. Miss... (more)