April 2010

April 2010

By Angela Cotey | October 19, 2020

| Last updated on November 3, 2020

Trains magazine covers the broad spectrum of railroading with authoritative content, dazzling photography, and a mix of content designed to appeal to everyone from the casual enthusiast to the seasoned professional railroader.

Trains offers something for everyone who has a spark for railroading: Railroad news, insight, and commentary on today’s freight railroads, passenger service, transit, locomotives, technology, preservation, fan opportunities, and more. You’ll also see images and read stories from railroading’s glorious past, and explore the bright future of railroading. It’s all in the pages of Trains magazine.

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Features

Trains Express April 2010 downloadable package

This month’s PDF package is packed with coal stories that go back seven decades of Trains’ coverage, all for $5.95

Where’s That Coal Train Going?

By Tom Murray

A few basics to understand the complex coal rail network

Map of the Month: From Mine to Plant

How coal moves in the U.S.
By Tom Murray, Bill Metzger, and Matt Van Hattem

Bonus content for subscribers: Get exclusive access to PDFs of Trains maps!

Powder River Stories

By Fred W. Frailey

Five moments that made a difference in the life of North America’s busiest coal railroad

Black Diamonds No More?

By Michael W. Blaszak

Coal’s economics could change the railroad industry

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Huge Chance, Big Payoff

By John Gruber

Read about Robert W. Downing’s good idea

Ribbons of Change

The cars that rule the rails are ever-changing
By Bill Fahrenwald and Lee A. Clair

Bonus content: See a list of utility and merchant generators’ reporting marks and their corresponding coal car fleets

Electrifying Coal

By Scott A. Hartley

CSX carries coal to Florida’s Stanton Energy Center where it’s refined and burned

Shipping Coal to the World

By Mike Schaller

How Norfolk Southern loads export coal onto ships

They Run Coal Trains Where?

We visit 14 coal hauls that don’t fit the mold
By Various authors

Bonus content: See five more weird coal moves

Shortline Coal: Black Gold or Black Hole

By Roy Blanchard

How short lines make coal work

Railroad Reading: A Day at the Races

By Dee Brown

Milwaukee Road versus Chicago, Burlington & Qunicy

NEWS

News & Photos

High speed rail money • Union Pacific advances ‘Sunset’ upgrade • Canadian Pacific lays cool claim to Olympic fame

Bonus Content: See a vintage handcar traverse the CP’s Lethbridge Viaduct with the Olympic Flame on TrainsTube

Don Phillips

Will a different Joe Boardman please stand up?

Fred W. Frailey

Henry Flagler’s railroad, in a three-act drama

Technology

See how a Norfolk Southern track-maintenance crew replaces rails two at a time

Locomotive

Why six of the seven Class I railroads roster classic diesels to pull their executive trains

Passenger

Coach attendants are the rail traveler’s ambassador; even as Amtrak streamlines its on-board staff

City Rail

Dubai spent $7.6 billion to build the world’s longest automated rail line. Find out what it got for the money

DEPARTMENTS

From the Editor

The Pulse of a Coal Train

Fantrip

West Chicago, Ill., provides Canadian National, Metra, and Union Pacific action

Preservation

New York, Ontario & Western business car and Wisconsin ‘fish car’ shine once again

Ask Trains

Burlington Northern’s ‘Pulling for Freedom’ • Buffer bars on passenger cars • Solar panels on ballast cars

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