Golden Twilight of Postwar Steam, Part 6

As the 1950s drew to a close, steam power was all but gone from the American railroads, one by one, the fires were dropped . . . in the powerful Berkshires of the Nickel Plate, on the Illinois Central, and, finally, on the Norfolk and Western Railway. . . the last major railroad in the country to rely extensively on steam power . . . which went all diesel on May 7th, 1960.

After that, just a few smaller railroads around the country burned coal in their fireboxes to pull trains. But steam on the big railroads often continued to soldier on in one specific application – primarily to power memorable passenger excursion trains. Other steamers started to run to the delight of thousands on historical preserved steam railways. While the practices continue today – it was in the late 1950s and early 1960s when some of the more memorable steam locomotives stepped out on American rails.