Preview November and December 2023 Trains content

Coming in November

We’re always adding new content to our website! Here’s a sneak peek at a few items coming up soon …

Travel column: The allure of holiday trains

The winter holiday season is a wonderful time to experience rail travel and to create memories that will last a lifetime. This is the busiest season for many tourist railroads and long-distance passenger carriers including Amtrak. Some tourist railroads rely entirely on special holiday trains to get them through the lean months that follow. Some even carry more passengers in a few weeks on snow excursions, Santa trains, Polar Express journeys, and other seasonally themed trips than they do during the rest of the regularly scheduled year.

Rio Grande’s 2-8-2 Mikado “Sport Model” K-28 locomotives turn 100 years old

As classic as a ’67 Chevrolet Chevelle SS and as smooth as a Rolls Royce, the Rio Grande’s 2-8-2 Mikado “Sport Model” K-28 locomotives turn 100 years old in 2023. Those 100 years have been spent hauling tonnage across some of the most difficult narrow-gauge right of way in the country and perhaps the world.

Five mind-blowing facts — New York Central passenger trains

We are 50-plus years into the Amtrak era, which began on May 1, 1971. A few Amtrak trains still carry the identity of the conveyances they imitate — California Zephyr, Empire Builder, and Crescent — to mention a few. What lives on today is a contemporary train — traveling a route similar to the original, but not quite — that is a shadow of their forebearers. When it comes to American passenger trains, names like the Super Chief, City of New Orleans, or Capitol Limited evoke a hushed reverence and the legend of exceptional service, comfortable accommodations, fine food, and a schedule well maintained.

If these few name trains are the stuff of legend, then the New York Central, its Great Steel Fleet, and trains like the 20th Century Limited are the stuff legends are made of. Many have argued that the 20th Century Limited was the finest passenger train on American rails. Argue how you like and long for the days of yore, but either way come along now for a glimpse behind the legendary standard passenger trains of the New York Central. There is more to the story than meets the eye across all the years. These are five-mind blowing facts about the passenger trains of the New York Central.

Nuts & Bones: Railfanning with your dog

The nuts and bolts — or milk bones in this case — of railfanning with your dog lie just ahead.

Dogs and trains, for some train enthusiasts, seem to go hand in hand (or hand in paw). But why is that? As a dog lover, I personally take my four-legged family member everywhere dogs are allowed to go. So naturally, this led me to question how many railfans actually take their dogs with them when they go watch and/or photograph trains. What does that look like, or more specifically, what is the proper protocol? And is it safe?

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UP NEXT: December

Great freight diesel paint schemes

World-famous Scot marks centennial

The Flying Scotsman, an A1-class steam locomotive designed for the London & North Eastern Railway by Sir Nigel Gresley, can tell many stories about its 100 years. Fast, technologically advanced, and designed with a stunning grace of line, the locomotive remains an awe-inspiring machine.