Museum Mondays - The Larry Ostresh Collection III - Fallen Flags

Jun 29

From the 1960s onward the United States railroad system went through a series of mergers bringing together smaller lines culminating in the 1990s mergers that brought about the current railroad map. The railroad names that were lost in these mergers have come to be known as fallen flags.

Larry Ostresh was lucky to be a part of the railroad scene throughout this period and witnessed first hand the effects of these mergers on the railroad landscape. These mergers resulted in the uniformity of liveries on locomotives today, replacing the more varied paint schemes when these fallen flags were operating. Today’s photos take a look at some of these fallen flags.

Many of these mergers are now celebrated with commemorative locomotives that can occasionally be seen in Laramie today. Examples from the railroads pictured below include:

Union Pacific’s commemorative locomotives 1995 Chicago & North Western, 1989 Denver & Rio Grande Western, and 1996 Southern Pacific
Norfolk and Southern Heritage locomotive 8103 Norfolk and Western railway.