This web site is a collection of New York Central System locomotive photos. Many of the steam photos belonged to my father, the Rev. Dr. Richard D. Leonard, while some were taken by me in the 1950s. A few others came from Gary Thompson of Normal, Illinois; Tom Rock of Cleveland, Tennessee; Wayne Koch of Croton-on-Hudson, New York; William D. Volkmer; and my brother, Rev. David V. Leonard now of Binghamton, New York. The Diesel Collection consists of photos my brother and I took in the 1950s. In the NYC Fantasy Steam collection are several images of New York Central steam that existed only in my imagination!

The older steam photos here come from the 1930s, in many cases prior to the system-wide locomotive renumbering of 1936. These are generally from unknown photographers, though a few are identified. Some are photos of motive power delivered after World War II, including the last classes of steam engines ordered by the system. For additional commentary on my New York Central photography in the 1950s, visit the New York Central page in Richard Leonard's Steam Locomotive Archive. A few additional photos of NYC steam operating on the Michigan Central's Canada Southern subsidiary appear in the Canada section of our Random Steam Photo Collection. Some of the technical and historical information in the commentaries can be credited to the two-volume Steam Locomotives of the New York Central Lines by William D. Edson and H. Lansing Vail (volume I, 1997; volume 2, 2002), available through the New York Central System Historical Society.

Click on the selections below to bring up a full size image with commentary. You can also page through the collection sequentially. (In most cases, locomotives are listed in order by their final number, although the photo may show an older number.) For further enjoyment, explore the links at left, including The Diesel Collection. And have some fun with my NYC Fantasy Steam.

Dr. Richard Leonard